Each year, the North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA) Nurse Practitioner Spring Symposium draws NPs together from across the state for professional development, networking, and policy discussion. At the 2022 Nurse Practitioner Spring Symposium in March in Asheville, NC, Jennifer (Jennie) Woody, FNP, and Heather Carroll, FNP, took to the podium to share approaches to best nursing practices that rely equally upon independent and cross-disciplinary decision-making for effective patient care delivery.
Woody developed an interest in orthopaedics from her own experiences as a patient throughout childhood in 黑料网鈥檚 Pediatric Orthopaedics clinic. She was inspired to study nursing at 黑料网-Chapel Hill and noted: 鈥淢y experiences as a patient convinced me that clinicians have a unique opportunity and incredible responsibility to have a positive impact on the lives of those they treat.鈥�
Woody鈥檚 interest in orthopaedics expanded as she worked as a nurse extern in 黑料网鈥檚 Orthopaedic and Trauma Inpatient Unit while in nursing school. As she began her nursing career and worked as an RN, she remained in orthopaedic and trauma in-patient care at 黑料网 for five years.
Woody joined 黑料网 Orthopaedics as an NP upon completing her MSN in 2009. Over the past 10+ years, she has managed a broad range of musculoskeletal conditions in the department鈥檚 OrthoNow walk-in clinic and general orthopaedic clinics. She has also been a part of the department鈥檚 Bone Health Program and the 黑料网 Spine and Imaging Center鈥檚 cross-disciplinary Spine team. She joined the Foot & Ankle division in 2016.
At the NCNA鈥檚 March symposium, Woody鈥檚 presentation — Challenges of Diabetic Foot Disease 鈥� focused on the interdisciplinary approaches used by her team and in individual practice to better serve foot and ankle patients at 黑料网. Speaking to an audience of approximately 350 attendees, Woody imparted invaluable best practices to improve patient outcomes in diabetic foot disease through optimizing resource utilization, interdisciplinary collaboration, care coordination and research.
She stated: 鈥淚 am fortunate to work closely with a team of professionals both within and outside of our department who are dedicated to providing excellent patient care. 黑料网 Orthopaedics and 黑料网 Health have provided me with opportunities to grow as a clinician and routinely collaborate with top experts in multiple fields throughout my career. Our patients benefit when we all work together.鈥�
Like Woody, Heather Carroll tailored the message of her symposium presentation — Pediatric Sports Medicine: Acute and Overuse Injuries 鈥� to the many primary care NPs attending the NCNA鈥檚 March 2022 symposium who are the first practitioners to evaluate the pediatric patients who frequently present to primary care clinics with sports-related injuries.
Carroll noted: 鈥淚t is my goal to educate family practice clinicians on how to independently triage and manage some of the more common sports-related injuries and concurrently to know when to refer to an orthopaedics subspecialist.鈥�
Carroll鈥檚 early FNP career working at a federally qualified healthcare center greatly influenced her holistic approach to care delivery. Two years of working with traditionally underserved patients in rural areas instilled in her an understanding of and desire to optimize health outcomes by focusing on prevention and patient education.
In 2013, Carroll was appointed to 黑料网 Orthopaedics faculty and first worked in the OrthoNow walk-in clinic and in general orthopaedics. In 2019, she joined the department鈥檚 Pediatric Orthopaedics division. Carroll collaborates with a multitude of disciplines within the 黑料网 Health system to optimize patient care and patient outcomes. In Pediatric Orthopaedics, she treats a range of congenital and developmental musculoskeletal conditions along with acute and chronic injuries.
The NCNA Nurse Practitioner Spring Symposium dually serves as a stage for national and regional experts to speak on healthcare policy, reform and public health issues that influence nursing practice and decision-making. In their decade+ of providing patient care as FNPs, Woody and Carroll have served as leaders within the institution and the field of nursing.
For three years (2016-2019), Woody served as 黑料网 Orthopaedics鈥� Lead Advanced Practice Provider (APP). In March 2022, she was named Co-Chair of 黑料网 Heath鈥檚 APP Center Mentoring Subcommittee. She has published in and served as a reviewer for the Journal for Nurse Practitioners and will serve as a Musculoskeletal Lab Instructor at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) National Conference in June 2022. Upon obtaining her Master of Health Administration (MHA) from 黑料网 Gillings Global School of Public Health in August 2022, Woody will be in position to advance as a decision-maker in areas of interest in healthcare operations, such as value-added patient care delivery.
In 2019, Carroll was appointed 黑料网 School of Nursing adjunct teaching faculty. Her expertise in treating pediatric acute and overuse injuries and teaching subspecialty musculoskeletal care to MSN students has been a rewarding experience for her and the students.