Experienced Nurse Practitioner
- Experienced Nurse Practitioner with more than 2 decades of experience in the medical field. My specialty is adult-gerontology. I provide Primary Care for patients age 12 and up.
- Accomplished RN and Health Care Educator with experience in acute care, medical-surgical nursing, home health, quality assurance, staff training, academia, management and leadership, and hospital staff development.
- In 2018, I became an AANP board-certified Nurse Practitioner.
I provide compassionate care and listen to my patient's health concerns, collaborating with them to make informed decisions about their health. I educate patients about preventative care as well as provide comprehensive medical care including physical assessment, diagnosis, ordering tests, and prescribing medications and treatment.
For example, I provide preventative health assessment and screening for early diagnosis and treatment. At every visit, patients are educated on lifestyle recommendations for disease prevention and health promotion.
The heart of my practice is in providing compassionate care to all patients, teaching them to take control of their health to the extent they are able through taking prescribed medications and treatments, preventative health care recommendations, and lifestyle modifications. I use motivational interviewing techniques, ask questions and provide explanations with a goal of increasing compliance to their treatment plan and health goals.
[If you are a patient seeking Nurse Practitioner services, these are only available to residents of Arizona and you must be an established patient to receive health care services.]
My varied background includes health coaching, meditation, and yoga training. I'm passionate about preventative care and whole-body wellness. I've even written a book and published a journal for tracking your progress in improving "health numbers" like blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cholesterol, and more.
For example, I provide preventative health assessment and screening for early diagnosis and treatment. At every visit, patients are educated on lifestyle recommendations for disease prevention and health promotion.
- Chronic and acute illnesses I assess and treat regularly in my practice include hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, COPD, GERD, and anemias.
- Following the review of their current medications, lab work, and diagnostic tests, I diagnose and develop treatment plans, order medications as needed, teach lifestyle modifications, order follow up testing, or refer to specialists.
The heart of my practice is in providing compassionate care to all patients, teaching them to take control of their health to the extent they are able through taking prescribed medications and treatments, preventative health care recommendations, and lifestyle modifications. I use motivational interviewing techniques, ask questions and provide explanations with a goal of increasing compliance to their treatment plan and health goals.
[If you are a patient seeking Nurse Practitioner services, these are only available to residents of Arizona and you must be an established patient to receive health care services.]
My varied background includes health coaching, meditation, and yoga training. I'm passionate about preventative care and whole-body wellness. I've even written a book and published a journal for tracking your progress in improving "health numbers" like blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cholesterol, and more.
Nurse Practitioner Skills
Clinical Skills
Registered Nurse Skills
- Provide health care services for Medicare and older adult, chronic disease follow-up and management (hypertension, chronic kidney disease, COPD, for example), and sick visits. Order and interpret lab, imaging, and test results. Prescribe medications. Refer to specialists. Counsel and provide education regarding disease management, testing, and medications.
- Assess and diagnose acute illness age 12 and up, order and refill prescriptions, provide women’s health services, perform physicals for Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), insurance, and sports. Administer vaccines, provide TB tests, venipuncture for labs.
Registered Nurse Skills
- Insert peripheral IV lines. Access CVC, PICC, implanted port access, and care. PCA pump. Assessment and care of IV lines, dressing changes, and removal of PICCs and CVCs.
- Postoperative care including pain management and IV antibiotics, blood transfusions, hydration, TPN, NG, and PEG tube insertion and care, chest tubes, tracheostomy tube care, suctioning, urinary catheter insertion/care/removal, JP drain care/removal, suture/staple removal, wound care (surgical, pressure ulcers, trauma, other).
- Care of post-operative patients: orthopedic, abdominal (appendectomy, cholecystectomy, other abdominal surgical procedure care including bowel resection, ostomy care, and teaching).
Healthcare Leadership Skills
Communication
- Clear communicator and engaged listener. Queries patients regarding their knowledge and desire to learn. Educates and counsels patients according to willingness and depth of prior knowledge. I make an effort to ensure orders are clear and understandable and ask questions of staff to ensure messages are transmitted clearly.
Flexibility
- Capable of adjusting to circumstances as they present in the work environment, with patients, and family members.
Collaboration
- In partnership with patients, collaborate with office personnel, providers, specialists, families, caregivers, and community resources for optimal care to improve health status or provide for palliative care.
Analytical Skill
- Development and refinement of clinical practice by gathering and reflecting on information from multiple sources as well as learning patient responses in clinical practice have honed my critical thinking. I am always learning and open to exploring new treatment advances.
- To guide my practice, I've developed a personalized reference for commonly prescribed drugs, commonly ordered tests using evidence-based resources. When I encounter something new, I go to the evidence, gather and analyze what I learn. My reference is continuously updated as new diagnoses are encountered.
Compassion
- Compassion is an action demonstrating concern for the well-being of others and acting in ways that support them in to reach their full potential. This extends to patients and health care staff.
Patience
- Pressures come from multiple sources in health care, not the least of which is patient satisfaction. I pride myself of making service recoveries whenever encountered. Patients who are ill or even those who are not ill deserve to be heard and understood. I can't make amends for every unmet need, but I can certainly provide a compassionate listening ear. Most just want to be heard.
Leadership
- Leading and organizing the delivery of care to promote optimal patient outcomes and staff satisfaction are essential in health care organizations including primary care offices. Frequent assessment of priorities and integration of feedback from staff and patients contribute to a successful healthcare organization.
My Professional Profile
- Board Certified Adult-Gero Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AANP)
- Graduate Certificate in Health Care Education
- Advanced clinical training for diagnosis and management of adult patients
- Practiced in healthcare leadership, education methods & direct patient care
- Advocate for health promotion, disease prevention & health education
Nurse Practitioner Experience
Nurse Practitioner, Internal Medicine
Nurse Practitioner, Convenience Clinic
- Assess, diagnose, and treat patients ages 60-99 for chronic conditions including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, osteoporosis, and chronic kidney disease.
- Assess, diagnose, and treat Adult patients with acute illness.
- Perform 50-100 Annual Wellness visits per month. Review screening tests, provide patient education on preventative health, and order tests and labs as indicated.
- Document visits in the EHR: Health Fusion.
Nurse Practitioner, Convenience Clinic
- Assess, diagnose, and treat patients age 12 and up for acute and chronic illness.
- Provided low-cost care for those without health insurance.
- Prescription refills.
- Women’s health, paps, breast exams, birth control.
- Physicals for health insurance, school, sports, and Commercial Driver's licenses.
- Administered vaccines, TB tests.
- Provided venipuncture for labs.
- Minor procedures (cryotherapy, wound care).
Educator Experience
Associate Professor, Adjunct Faculty, and Clinical Nursing Instructor
Online and ground courses:
Staff Development:
Online and ground courses:
- HLT 250, Health Care Systems and Transcultural Health Care (2010 – 2011)
- HLT 302, Spirituality and Christian Values in Health Care and Wellness (2010 – 2011)
- NSG 131, 231, Clinical Nursing Instruction (2004 – 2006, 2013 - 2014)
- AHS 114, Nursing Assistant (2014 – 2018)
- HIM 240 Disease Process (Pathophysiology) (2014 – 2016)
- HIM 173 Legal & Ethical Aspects of Health Information Management (2015 – 2017)
- AHS 140 Pharmacology (2016 – 2107)
- AHS 130 Medical Terminology for Patient Care Staff (2017 – 2018)
- AHS 100 Introduction to Health Care (2017 – 2018)
Staff Development:
- Development and implementation of numerous trainings for health care organizations.
- Facilitation of hospital and nursing orientation.
- Orientation and mentoring of new nursing staff and employees.
Management & Leadership Experience
Education Program Manager
Nurse Extern Program Coordinator
- Supervision of $1,000,000 budget for organization-wide education and training.
- Executive level management with supervision of multiple programs including staff and nursing orientation, computer-based learning management system, multi-media production, library, and leadership training programs.
- Oversight of the development, coordination, delivery and tracking of education and training for a medical center and off-campus clinics.
- Point of contact for a grant funding the implementation of a Simulation Lab with delivery of televised medical education in Women's Health to remote locations using a high-fidelity manikin, one of only two manikins issued under the government grant.
- Oversight of new employee orientation, facilitator in new supervisor training.
- Mentor Certified
- Six Sigma Green Belt
- Developed and implemented an Education and Training Program Manual to coordinate access, content, delivery, evaluation, and improvement of education & training for all employees.
Nurse Extern Program Coordinator
- Supervision of $250,000 budget for Student Nurse Extern Program.
- Community relations with local colleges to promote Nurse Extern Program.
- Participation on interview and selection panel with Nursing Leadership.
- Developed, coordinated, implemented and facilitated Nurse Extern Orientation and Training
- Developed and implemented a Mentor Program for Nurses and Allied Health Professions.
- Instrumental in changing attitudes toward students and trainees by teaching mentoring skills.
- Facilitated Infection Control, Basic Life Support, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support training in hospital and nursing orientation
