Over the past 8 years of working as a Nurse Practitioner at CSUSM providing health care to our students, I have had the opportunity to answer many medical questions and discuss many of your health-related concerns.

      In an effort to reach out and share health-and-wellness information with a wider audience, I have decided to write a weekly column for our SHCS website referencing student’s FAQs.

    Many of you have asked me “What is a Nurse Practitioner?”, so I have decided to start my columns by addressing this question in general, then tell you a bit about my own medical background and philosophy of care in particular.

    Nurse Practitioners are Registered Nurses with advanced clinical skills and training and are licensed to provide health and medical services with an emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) use a holistic approach to diagnose and treat common medical conditions.  NPs order lab tests, Xrays, prescribe medications, treat common illnesses and injuries and provide women’s gynecological services.

    NPs take the time to assess how your lifestyle affects your health and are experts at teaching self-care concepts to patients while working collaboratively with other health team members as your advocate to assure that you get the care you deserve.

My professional background includes many years of hospital nursing most recently working in a busy local Emergency/Trauma Center. I have Master’s degrees from UCLA and USD and have experience working in the field of Women’s Health, Orthopedics, Dermatology and Family Practice settings. I have extensive experience educating and counseling patients and their families about a variety of medical conditions.

    I am deeply committed to my role in healthy lifestyle promotion and disease prevention. Using a holistic approach I believe that good health is a collaborative affair, and I respect each student’s needs and perspectives regarding their health care process. I support and augment each person’s self-care practices with educational conversations and informational handouts.

    If you have health-related questions or concerns, please schedule an appointment at SHCS extension 4915 with either myself or one of our other health providers, and we will be happy to meet with you.