Tell us about yourself and your family.
I am a Florida native and grew up here in Port St. Lucie. I achieved a Bachelor’s of Nursing degree from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2007 and worked as a Labor & Delivery nurse for 9 years. I moved to Memphis, TN for several years and this was when I decided to further my education and enrolled at The University of Memphis. I achieved my Master’s Degree in Nursing and became a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2016. Since graduating I have worked in an urgent care setting and in primary care.
I have 3 fur babies; two cats and the best 2-year-old labradoodle, named Brody. In my free time I enjoy cooking, biking, swimming, DIY projects and spending time with family & friends.
Tell us about your practice.
At Healthy Results, it is our goal to create a welcoming environment in which patients feel comfortable and cared for. We aim to care for patients as a whole, not just their diagnoses or current problem. We provide basic primary care services and offer access to vaccines, lab draws, injection therapies, EKG, breathing treatments, skin biopsies, etc. We also provide access to CBD products and essential oils. We try our best to accommodate urgent and sick visits with same day or next day appointments.
What is a nurse practitioner? What is your specialty?
Nurse practitioners (NP) are registered nurses with advanced training above that of a basic nursing degree. Nurse practitioners achieve at minimum, a Master’s Degree in Nursing and specialize in a specific area of care. We become nationally certified in this area and licensed in the state we practice in.
I chose the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty and by doing so, I was trained to care for patients across the lifespan, from newborns to seniors. Just like a primary care physician, FNPs provide lifelong, comprehensive care through disease management, health education, and preventative health services. I am able to order lab tests, imaging studies, treat minor acute injuries and prescribe medications. In most states NPs have collaborative agreements and are supervised by physicians. However, more and more states are allowing NPs to practice to the full scope of their education and training without this collaborative/supervisory relationship. Florida actually just made this change in 2020.
Why did you decide to become a nurse practitioner?
As a young child I had an innate desire to become a nurse because I was fascinated by health, medicine and caring for other people. I had an ill grandmother that I played nurse with and she always would tell me, “One day you’re going to be an amazing nurse”, and I know today I would make her proud by doing just that. I knew by becoming a registered nurse I would be able to fulfill this calling per say. As I learned more about the profession and began working at the bedside, I realized I wanted more autonomy and wanted to play more of a role in health prevention, not just caring for patients who were already ill.
The nurse practitioner role blends what I love best about nursing – the advocacy for people, patient teaching, and patient-centeredness of my profession – and what I love about medicine: making the diagnosis (solving the puzzle of what the symptom or problem is), the clinical decision-making, and providing treatment. I also like the level of autonomy nurse practitioners enjoy, I’m accountable and responsible for my own practice.
As a NP, I feel so honored when people are comfortable enough to share both the joys of their lives – the births, the experience of being a new parent, as well as the difficult parts of their lives – something they’re afraid of, a new symptom or disease they are coping with, or even a sexual problem. People talk about intimate personal issues: domestic violence, concerns about alcohol use or fears about death or dying. They trust me to listen and to help. The relationship and bond that develops between us is often like no other.
What are your future plans?
My future professional goals include returning to school to achieve a Doctorate in Nursing Practice degree (DNP). This would provide further training and opportunity to become involved in research, developing evidence-based care protocols and influencing health policy. I have also always had an interest in teaching at the university level and hope to do so in the future, I see this as a great way to give back to my profession.