Navigating Menopause: A Conversation with Nurse Practitioner Kristen Nawyn

In this episode of The Peri and Pause podcast, Jamie Gallagher launch the “Meet the Nurse Practitioner” series by introducing Kristen Nawyn, a board-certified adult gerontology nurse practitioner and Menopause Society–certified menopause specialist. Kristin shares her path from ICU nursing through the pandemic to palliative care interests focused on goals, values, and quality of life, and explains how a family medicine preceptorship revealed the gaps in menopause care and shifted her career. She discusses limited menopause education in graduate school, her oncology research on chemotherapy-induced early menopause in premenopausal cancer survivors, and how sudden induced menopause differs from natural menopause. Kristin describes common “loss of self” experiences in perimenopause, the biology of hormonal fluctuations, the need for anticipatory guidance, and how she builds trust with patients, addresses long-term hormone therapy concerns, and advocates for whole-person, time-rich menopause care.

00:42 Podcast Intro and Guest Spotlight

02:08 Kristin’s Nursing Origin Story

03:10 What Palliative Care Really Is

04:35 From ICU to Nurse Practitioner

05:52 Discovering the Menopause Care Gap

08:43 Graduate School vs Real Menopause Care

10:37 Thesis on Chemo Induced Menopause

13:04 Losing Your Sense of Self

15:05 Natural vs Induced Menopause

16:52 Better Care for Cancer Survivors

17:46 Staying On Hormones

18:57 Risks Of Stopping

21:02 ICU Lessons On Aging

22:50 Earning Patient Trust

25:52 Midlife Women Carrying It All

28:24 You Are Not Crazy

29:00 Whole Person Menopause Care

30:43 Emotional Weight And Guilt

32:36 Closing Thanks And Wrap

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This podcast exists to normalize, explain, and elevate the midlife healthcare conversation—so women feel informed, believed, and empowered to demand better care for their bodies and lives.

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