Primary Care New Patient Office Visit

The emphasis in Courtney’s practice is to promote healthy living and disease prevention. Her goal is to teach patients the steps to take and give them the tools they need to manage diseases through lifestyle changes. She doesn’t believe that anyone wants to take medication for diseases that could potentially be managed through lifestyle changes alone. Courtney started out college as a dietetics major, but changed to nursing when she realized that nursing treats the entire patient and not just a part of his/her life. She had been a Registered Nurse for 10 years with mostly Intensive Care Unit experience but decided to go to graduate school to become a Family Nurse Practitioner, because she wanted to prevent patients from getting so sick that they needed ICU care. Additionally, as a hospital nurse, you don't get to see what happens to patients once they are discharged, and as a FNP, she is able to follow them across the spectrum of care.