09/03/2025
When I became a Registered Nurse 17 years ago, I realized early on I was a “different” kind of nurse. I actually got reprimanded once by a supervisor for “caring too much” for my pediatric patient and her family. I was punished by being taken off her care for 2 weeks to give other nurses “an opportunity to care for her and learn from her case”. I never told the family what happened… I honestly felt emabarrased at the time feeling like I had done something wrong… Was caring too much a bad attribute for a nurse I wondered? Her parents found me in the hall to ask why she wasn’t assigned to me… That was AWFUL. I was heartbroken knowing that others may not recognize the little nuances or subtle changes in her that I had grown to recognize quickly because I KNEW her. I had spent many MANY hours caring for her, learning about her, learning who she was (not just this sick child in a hospital bed), but who she REALLY was. I knew her hopes and dreams. I knew her kind and quiet soul. I knew when she was in pain before she even had to ask. I knew when she was going to be sick. I knew when she was having a bad day. I knew when her heart was sad. And I knew when she was starting to go downhill… There was a palpable connection between us.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from this was that I would always and forever refuse to conform to episodic care in medicine. I have an empathetic heart and soul and that isn’t harmful to my patients, it is HEALING in every sense of the word! ❤️
I have realized over the last year of my clinical rotations for my Family Nurse Practitioner that I can’t truly treat someone without treat the WHOLE person. And then I suddenly realized that has been it for me this whole time over my entire career; I treat the WHOLE person! I learn who they are. We build mutual trust. And then they can actually start to heal. My aim is not to just “treat” you. I want to help HEAL you from the inside out. And I believe that begins by building a relationship and giving people the time, attention, and care they deserve.
What I came to realize is that I was integrating elements of Functional Medicine into my patient care before I even knew what that was! At the beginning of this year I started researching training on Functional Medicine and how I could eventually become Board Certified as a Nurse Practitioner. The Institute of Functional Medicine is the absolute gold standard in FM training! There is truly no one better. So back in June I applied to begin the training and I just completed my first of seven total trainings with IFM that I will complete over the next 12-18 months. Yes… I am doing this while I’m still in school because I am insane…🤪 BUT, this is SO important to me and I want to be able to provide functional medicine services as soon as I am licensed in (hopefully) December when I pass my FNP boards.
I will take the big foundational course next and that will run through the end of this year. And then I will complete the following 5 additional modules:
GI
Immune
Hormone
Cardiometabolic
Environmental Health
I will be able to provide FM testing and treatments all along the way and will have select patients I chose to conduct case studies on as that is a requirement to become Board Certified. Becoming Board Certified in FM does not change or alter my scope of practice, but rather gives you as the patient the confidence in knowing that I, as your provider, am formally educated and an expert in this field!
If you are looking for a functional medicine provider in your area, go to www.ifm.org and click “Find a Practitioner”. After I complete the next training in December, I will appear on that list! Currently there is only 1 in-person Board Certified provider within 200 miles of Panama City… Our community needs better and I plan to deliver with love, curiosity, empathy, and expertise! ❤️👩🏻⚕️
