Caring for people is a holistic art combined with science. I’ve witnessed the shift from bedside care to an increasing "technician" mindset; while labs provide data, they don't provide the story.
I graduated from San Diego State in 1990 with my bachelors in nursing while my husband was in the Navy. I truly enjoyed all of my roles in both adult and pediatric critical care nursing, completing all the certifications and flying rescue flights. I loved the fast paced work with compassionate, collaborative, dedicated, and hard driving professionals who fought for their patients.
Eventually I went on to more schooling, completing my Masters of Science degree and most recent certification in Adult Health Nurse Practitioner in 2011 from UW Madison. I see patients age 12 and up.
I wanted the time to sit and talk about health and prevention of severe illness; to trade the ventilator for a conversation and a solution that might prevent the crisis altogether.
I have worked in geriatrics, primary care/internal medicine, mental health, in the hospital and out, and certified in advanced diabetes care. I have had the privilege of working with resource poor systems and patients, teaching me about how much we can do together. One of the highly experienced physicians I worked with was very fond of saying, "if you simply let people talk they will tell you their diagnosis," and he was right.
I am here to bring what I know and to do what I can. I have a passion to build bridges between science and the simple principles that have always kept people healthy. To put it simply, I have one foot in standard medical care and the other in a garden where I am determined to grow food, or the kitchen where I got rid of (most) processed foods for the sake of some very important people. I’m not the best at anything, don’t have to be, and the garden has weeds, but the weeds are telling stories too.
So I’m here to learn what your needs are, and how I can help. If I can't, I will help you find someone who can. Every person has resilience to heal as they learn how to care for themself. The greatest compliment anyone can give me is that they feel better and don’t need my help anymore.
