Partners In Practice

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Joanna Petrides, PsyD Career fatigue is a staggering epidemic where not only the healthcare professionals suffer, but so do their patients and family members. Join Dr. Jennifer Caudle as she speaks with Dr. Joanna Petrides, Clinical Psychologist and Resident Research Director of Family Medicine at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, about the warning signs physicians need to be aware of and the preventative measures that can be implemented to help keep them healthy.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Guest: Joyce Ross, MSN, CRNP, CS, CLS, FNLA, FPCNA One in two adults in the United States has a total cholesterol over 200 mg/dL, while one in three has diagnosed cardiovascular disease. The ACC/AHA's recently released Lipid Guidelines have provided new recommendations for treatment of dylipidemia, but they have also created some controversies and confusion in expert circles around best practices moving forward. Helping to dissect these Guidelines and shed light on the rationales behind the new recommendations is Joyce Ross, certified registered nurse practitioner and clinical lipid specialist.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP The annual cost of chronic pain in the United States is as high as $635 billion a year, which is more than the yearly costs for cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Over 100 million Americans are affected by chronic pain, and by extension, pain is the number one diagnosis in primary care. Joining host Mimi Secor to discuss new insights on this ever-present malady is Brett Snodgrass, Family Nurse Practitioner in private practice in Bartlett, TN specializing in pain management and palliative care. She is President of the Greater Memphis Area Advanced Practice Nurses, and also hosts a popular blog called The NP Mom.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Nurse Practitioners were first introduced into healthcare systems in 1965 by Loretta C Ford, and since that time the role has expanded to include over 189,000 NP's in practice today. Joining host Mimi Secor to review the first half-century of the Nurse Practitioner profession and its ongoing priorities and challenges is the founder of the NP movement herself, Dr. Loretta Ford. Dr. Ford is past Dean and Professor Emerita at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, and is an internationally known leader in the nursing field.     

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP There are approximately 55 million women of menopausal age in the US. In fact, about 6,000 women reach menopausal age every day. For many, the spectrum of physical changes and their associated impacts on daily life aren't always anticipated or well understood. Clinicians of all levels have unique opportunities to provide guidance and treatment options for patients experiencing more severe effects of menopause; however, they don't always know what to ask, or how to ask it. To address this knowledge gap, host Mimi Secor welcomes Barbara Dehn, popularly known as Nurse Barb, a practicing Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, award winning author, and a nationally recognized health expert, to discuss clinical approaches to helping patients through the more difficult symptoms of menopause.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Host Mimi Secor welcomes Women's Health Foundation founder and Executive Director, Missy Lavender, to talk about innovative ways to bring women into pelvic health programs across the U.S. Through her foundation, Ms. Lavender helps address issues of ignorance and intimidation that often pervade both patient and medical professional circles when it comes to gynecological and bladder health maintenence.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Guest: Helen Carcio, NP Mimi Secor is joined by Nurse practitioner Helen Carcio, Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Director of the Health and Continence Institute in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Ms. Carcio trains doctors and advanced practice clinicians in how to set up community based continence centers.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Modern clinical practice places high value on the skill of multitasking. Yet recent date indicate that multitasking leads to increased errors and decreased productivity. To better understand how multitasking impacts patient safety and personal wellbeing, host Mimi Secor welcomes Dr. Joanne Perron, Co-Chair of ACOG's District IX Committee on Physician Work-Life Balance. Dr. Perron lectures extensively on traditional and novel mindfulness practices to mitigate burnout among the medical community.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Guest: Pratt Bennett Nurse Practitioners often put their patients' health and well being before their own. A career as an NP can be stressful, overwhelming and the pressure of juggling work and home can make life feel like it is spinning out of control. Pratt Bennett owner of Make That Leap!, a Boston, Massachusetts life coaching company focused on Nurse Practitioners joins host Mimi Secor to talk about how NP's can reduce stress to be happier on the job and at home.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Guest: Terri Warren, NP The CDC has recommendations when it comes to the treatment, testing and counseling of patients who may have sexually transmitted infections or at high risk of contracting an STI. There are a number of ways to test for diseases like gonnorhea, chlamidiya, and syphillis and that can be confusing for NPs and their patients. Nurse Practitioner Terri Warren with the Westover Clinic in Portland, Oregon explains to host Mimi Secor some of the most important changes recommended by the CDC to help reduce the number of sexually transmitted infections in the country especially among teens.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Mary Fargen, PA-C Physician assistant Mary Fargen, 2011 AAPA Humanitarian PA of the Year, fell in love with the people of Haiti when she traveled there on her first medical mission in 2004. Since then, she has been to the island more than a dozen times, volunteering her time working with medical providers to help improve medical care. Following the devestating earthquake in January 2010, she ramped up her efforts to help Haitian providers, working with the Hatian and Caribbean American Organization of Texas, based in Kileen, Texas. Ms. Fargen tells host Lisa Dandrea Lenell the personal story of her work in Haiti.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Nguyen Park, MS, PA-C Almost 4 million people in the US have high triglycerides. What can you do to help improve your patients' health? Nguyen Park, clinical assistant professor in the physician assistant studies program, at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the benefits of fish oil for treating hypertriglyceridemia. They also look at the risk factors, causes and other treatment options for this very common disease.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Luis Ramos, PA-C Legislation was introduced last year to legally authorize physician assistants to practice in Puerto Rico, the only US territory where they're not. This week's guest, PA Luis Ramos, began the push to bring PAs and other mid-level providers to Puerto Rico. He joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the obstacles and barriers to including mid-level practitioners in the island's medical community. They also talk about the first class of PAs in Puerto Rico training through Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in partnership with Universidad Metropolitana.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Patrick Killeen, PA-C As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passes its first anniversary, Patrick Killeen, president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss some main legislative changes, geared toward improving patient care and outcomes, that the AAPA hopes to see implemented by the 112th United States Congress. The topics include: physician assistants' ability to continue treating patients through end-of-life hospice care; clearance to prescribe medication for opioid addiction; and eligibility for Medicaid electronic health record initiative payments.

Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Guest: Kirsten Wister, NP After years working in clinical practice in rural Arizona, NP Kirsten Wister had a vision for her own practice that would allow her to offer integrative medicine and treat poor and needy patients. Like some other rural states in the US, the state of Arizona allows NPs to run a practice without a physician's oversight, as well as admit patients to some acute and sub-acute facillities, and prescribe medication. She and host Mimi Secor talk about how she opened her practice in Sierra Vista, 75 miles south of Tucson, in March 2011, and the patients who were invested in having this practice in the community to the extent that they staffed it voluntarily, and the value she's found in collaborating with physicians despite the fact Arizona law does not require it.

Guest: Barbara Phillips, NP Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Thousands of nurse practitioners across the country run their own practices. But for those who have never been self-employed, the challenges of starting their own business can seem daunting. Nurse practitioner Barbara Phillips, business coach, consultant and CEO of NP Choice, LLC, joins host Mimi Secor to discuss how to start your own business in seven steps, from the concept stage to the day you open your doors to patients.

Guest: Julia Pallentino, MSN, JD, ARNP-BC Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Family nurse practitioners frequently see patients with gastrointestinal complaints. When can the family NP treat the patient, and when does the patient need to be referred to a GI specialist? Julia Pallentino, board certified nurse practitioner at GI Associates of Tallahassee in Tallahassee, Florida, discusses with host Mimi Secor common gastroenterological problems and their diagnostics and management. What can family NPs learn from the specialist about screening and treating gastroenterological conditions? On a related note, how can NPs convince the colonoscopy-phobic patient over 50 to begin colon cancer screening?

Guest: Julia Pallentino, MSN, JD, ARNP-BC Host: Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP Though the number of malpractice suits involving nurse practitioners is extremely low compared to other medical providers, as the number of nurse practitioners increases, so does the number of malpractice suits. Nurse practitioner Julia Pallentino, a former medical malpractice attorney in Tallahassee, Florida, joins host Mimi Secor to explain what she calls the "4 C's" of reducing risk of a lawsuit— communication, caring, competance and charting.

Guest: Robert M. Blumm, PA-C Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Even in times of economic recession, the job outlook for physician assistants is very good. Money Magazine recently ranked PA as the second best job in the country, and US News and World Report ranks PA as the top career in America. However, like most jobs, there is still increased competition for employment. PA Bob Blumm, surgical assistant and distinguished fellow of the AAPA, talks with host Lisa Dandrea Lenell about what you need to do to get prepared for your next job interview.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Robert M. Blumm, PA-C One of the appealing aspects of the profession for many physician assistants is flexibility in employment. Is there a "norm" in terms of employment? Many PAs have developed jobs outside the traditional clinical setting, including in TV, film, forensic medicine and academics. Bob Blumm, distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the array of jobs available to physician assistants, and where career growth opportunities may lie in the future.