Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC sat down with Dr. Mary O’Connor to discuss the impact that social determinants and individual behavior choices can have on musculoskeletal disparities in our nation. Mary is an orthopaedic surgeon with over 23 years of experience at Mayo Clinic and Yale University School of Medicine and is Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vori Health. As the chair of the board of Directors for Movement is Life, a multidisciplinary coalition with a mission to decrease musculoskeletal health disparities among women and underserved individuals, she shares about the success of their community-based program, Operation Change which focuses on early intervention, education, behavior change and advocacy.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC sat down with Christen Nelson RN, BN, ONC to discuss the value of patient optimization prior to orthopaedic surgeries. Christen has been an orthopaedic nurse for 15 years and is currently the lead orthopaedic nurse navigator at Yale Newhaven Hospital. She explains the importance of patient optimization to identify modifiable risk factures for complications post-surgery. Christen shares more information and how she has received positive feedback from patients on the optimization and nurse navigation processes.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC sat down with Claire Gill to discuss bone health, osteoporosis, and menopause. Claire Gill is the CEO of the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation, founder of the National Menopause Foundation and hosts the Bone Talk podcast. She shared that 18-20% percent of the population have osteoporosis, and that for those over the age of 50 - about half of all women and a quarter of all men will break a bone due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. Barriers to bone health care include a lack of access to bone density machines (DEXA) and the cost since many insurance plans do not reimburse it. Claire explained that people may prevent osteoporosis by consuming calcium and vitamin D, as well as doing weight bearing and muscle strengthening exercises to maintain healthy bone mass. She is optimistic about the future of bone health because healthcare professionals are getting more knowledgeable about preventing and treating poor bone health.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC, sat down with Dr. Karl Siebuhr to discuss technological innovations in orthopaedic surgery. Dr. Siebuhr is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who founded Reconstructive Orthopaedics of Central Florida and uses new technologies in his practice due to their positive impacts on patient outcomes. Dr. Siebuhr provided background of how robotic assisted surgery uses automation and artificial intelligence, but it is still driven by the surgeon. He shared his predictions for the future, including that robotically assisted surgeries will continue to develop and become the standard of care because it reduces costs and complications of orthopaedic surgery.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC, sat down with Diane Jeselskis, BSN, RN, ONC and Lisa Holtz, RN, MSN, ONC, to discuss their organization’s practice at combating the opioid epidemic. Traditionally, the healthcare system prescribes opioids to patients with a no pain goal, but the practice has led to a high distribution of opioid use has led to a high distribution of opioid prescriptions and poor patient outcomes. According to the CDC, 75% of drug overdoses in 2020 involved opioids. Diane and Lisa discuss other modalities such as nerve blocks, regional and peripheral anesthesia as well as non-narcotic medication like anti-inflammatories and NSAIDs to reduce pain. In addition, we’ll discuss patient situations for cold compression devices, deep breathing, and injectable medication treatments that can be used 2 weeks post- surgery. They’ll discuss multimodal pain management and ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols for orthopaedic surgery patients to reduce readmission rates, costs, and length of stay, as well as improve patient satisfaction. 

The new host of No Bones About it, Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC, sat down with Jessica Carlson, MSN, RN and Michelle Osborne, DNP, RN, NE-BC at NAON's 43rd Annual Congress to discuss their backgrounds, podium, and poster presentations.

Jessica Carlson, MSN, RN presented the podium session “Journeys to Bone and Joint Wellness with Personalized Education and Treatment Pathways” along with her colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Jessica works with the Center for Bone and Joint Health at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital to focus on nonoperative whole person wellness through the lens of social determinants of health. This session provided an outline for an innovative, personalized approach to diagnosis, workup and interventions.

Michelle Osborne, DNP, RN, NE-BC is the director of Patient Care Services at Northwell Health and manages the surgical orthopaedic unit at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital. In 2022, this unit won the NAON Orthopaedic Nursing Excellence (ONE) Award which acknowledges professionalism in nursing practice through demonstration of exemplary care for patients, and achievement in quality outcomes, collaborative interdisciplinary work environments, and professional growth opportunities. Michelle presented the poster titled “Nurses Using a Collaborative Approach to Improve Hospital Length of Stay & Patient Experience on a Surgical Orthopedic Unit”. Michelle explained how the inter-professional team collaborates to optimize patient care and outcomes.

We are so excited to sit down with another organization, the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) for a discussion with two great Nurse Practitioner educators. Our hosts Jennylynn Balmer and Bryan Combs sit down with Kathleen Geier, and A.J. Benham a great team from Jackson Orthopaedic Foundation. The focus for these educators is on advanced practice nursing in primary care settings, and the nursing process in caring for patients.

We learn so much about each other, education of NPs as both organizations see a growth of NPs in practice, and the organizations themselves. Make sure to tune in as you’ll take away a new perspective.

On No Bones About It, Bryan sits down with Chris Hemmer, DNP, ANP-BC, RN, FAANP.

Topping the list of patient health issues in the ER are chest pains, abdominal pains, headaches, and MSK conditions such as fractures, dislocations, sprains, back or neck pain.

With primary care, back pain or other MSK pain are in the top five for complaints seen in clinics. Chris and Bryan talk about lacking specific ortho training as they began their own careers,  and how an NP may feel that lack of preparedness to assess and treat.

The quality of life issues with MSK have changed with an active, aging population -60 is the new 40. There are patients in their 80’s healthy enough to receive knee replacements.

With this aging population, there are opportunities and advances for the role of Ortho NPs and really Ortho certified RNs too.  This episode talks all about the resources to seek and the opportunities available with a professional organization.