Description

Ontario has a few team-based programs for musculoskeletal (MSK) care and a number of you work in interdisciplinary/ interprofessional clinics – but there’s room for more opportunities. In this episode, we speak with Kristy Naulls, an award-winning Nurse Practitioner (NP) about how collaborative care is improving her clients' or patients’ outcomes. Kristy works at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, is actively involved in the Primary Care Low Back Pain program, and has been working with OCA’s Opioid and Pain Reduction Collaborative and its tools. She shares her experience and offers ideas you can apply to expand your opportunities to effectively coordinate care with an NP or MD.

Topics Covered:

• Motivation for becoming a nurse practitioner (NP)
• NP's introduction to chiropractic care
• Value of chiropractic care to NPs
• How NP assesses patients for manual therapy
• NP's process for selecting the type of manual therapy for each patient
• NP's priorities when selecting a chiropractor to refer to
• Barriers and solutions to collaborating with primary care providers
• Pandemic's effect on collaboration between primary care and chiropractors
• Addressing the opioid crisis with collaboration
• Using OCA's Opioid and Pain Reduction Collaborative tools
• How chiropractors can provide extra value to NPs

Key Links to References/Resources Discussed:

• Primary Care Low Back Pain Program
• Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) - Manual Therapy as an Evidence-Based Referral for Musculoskeletal Pain Tool
• OCA Chiropractor's Pain Reduction Toolkit

About Kristy Naulls:

Ms. Naulls is a full-time Nurse Practitioner (NP) at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and is also a Certified Respiratory Educator.  

She graduated from Queen's University in 2004 and worked at Kingston General Hospital for eight years before moving to Belleville to work as an NP.  

Ms. Naulls has a Master’s degree in nursing and enjoys teaching NP students online as a course instructor for Athabasca University.

She is a well-regarded clinical preceptor for NP students from a variety of universities

Ms. Naulls won the Patient Choice Award from the NPAO in 2015 and is a big advocate for patient-centered care and the benefits of working in a collaborative, multidisciplinary model of care.