APPS News

As a new physician assistant in 2007, Erika Jacumin, PA-C, saw firsthand the enormous impact deep brain stimulation (DBS) could have on the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. Now, she’s helping to manage patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders in our Morreene Road Clinic. For this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Jacumin talks to us about her previous work helping patients with movement disorders.

Cherith Godwin comes from a family of nurses, but hesitated to enter the field herself. Fortunately, she reconsidered and is now a member of our neurocritical care team in our neuro intensive care unit (Neuro ICU).

For Emily Elfreich, ARNP, taking care of some of Duke University Hospital’s most critical patients is all in a day’s (or a night’s) work. The nurse practitioner diagnoses, assesses, and treats patients in our Neuro Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU) in 12 and 24 hour shifts. In this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Elfreich talks to us about thriving in a busy, high-stress environment, her career path in nursing, and enjoying traveling, her rescue dogs, and reality television as stress relievers outside of work.

An eight-hour shift can be exhausting on its own, but for Kimberly Holzmacher, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, her workday is only getting started. As one of our newest advanced practice providers (APPs), Holzmacher typically starts work on our Stroke Service before 5 a.m. and often works until 8 p.m. or later. For this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Holzmacher talks about why she’s been drawn to helping patients with stroke since nursing school, how this work compares to working in the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, and the joys and difficulties of her job.

Sarah Parker, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, got her first direct exposure to neurological injuries as a high school student, after her brother suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. His altered state, disrupted memory and long but productive road to recovery fascinated Parker, who eventually joined our neurology unit in Duke University Hospital. Several years and a master’s degree later, Parker is rejoining neurology in a dual role that combines research and clinical work in our ALS Clinic on Morreene Road.

Irene Abella, APRN, NP-C, never thought she would leave her first love, public health, for neurology. Fortunately for our Department, her initial stay in our neuro intensive care unit (or Neuro ICU) in 2008 infected her with a love of the field, and she has stayed with us ever since. In this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Abella talks to us about her nursing experience in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, her current work treating (and listening to) patients with sleep disorders, and how Duke has changed in the 12 years since she arrived.

When Ashley Underwood, PA-C, MMS, joined our providers at our Morreene Road Clinic this summer, it was both a return to a previous role in headache management and an evolution of her work treating patients at Duke Pain Medicine. In this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Underwood talks to us about how her work and her patients’ needs in each of these settings compare.

Neurological conditions do not occur in a vacuum. A patient hospitalized for a heart attack may suddenly have a stroke. A patient with a metastatic tumor could suddenly start having a seizure. Our providers within the new Division of Hospital Neurology specialize in helping patients with these complicated, overlapping conditions throughout Duke’s three hospitals.

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are essential for the function of the Duke University Health System and the Duke Department of Neurology, where they treat patients within all of our major disciplines. To help mark National NP week, this week’s spotlight interview shines on Duke Raleigh’s John Howell II, MSN AGACNP-BC, whose typical week includes patients with stroke, seizures, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions.

This week’s “Spotlight” interview shines on Sandra Napier, MSN, FNP-BC, a member of the acute stroke team at Duke University Hospital. Napier talks to us about her work reviewing the vital signs trends, medications, and diagnostics for stroke patients, collaborating on multidisciplinary teams to develop tailored care plans for those patients, and mentoring medical and advanced practice students in the hospital.