As a nurse practitioner who cares for children with cancer, Rachelle has extremely specialized, high-level clinical skills, including a focus on cutting-edge treatment that uses the patient’s own modified immune cells to fight their cancers. She is an investigator in cancer research and has been published in major scientific journals. And sometimes, her practice involves doing whatever is necessary to make a child feel even a little bit better: She’s been known to play epic games of UNO with a patient who is feeling down. She never forgets a birthday, a favorite color, or a pet. She uses her deep expertise to walk with families in the most difficult moments of their lives.
Because Rachelle understands so well the importance of nurse practitioners and other advanced practice providers (APPs) in meeting patients’ needs, she has dedicated herself to making sure other APPs are recognized and supported. Through her leadership on the APP council, Rachelle is contributing to the clinical advancement of other providers, helping them brainstorm ways to learn more and do more for patients, working to the top of their licenses.
Rachelle never stops asking questions about how care could be improved: She is currently an investigator on a study that is examining the collaboration between APPs and physicians, a relationship that is crucial to high-level care, but one that has been under-researched, at least until now. Working on many complex levels at once, Rachelle is improving care for her own patients, and for the community at large.Â