Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC is joined by Jimmy Dascani and Dan Veronie from Arthrex, a medical device company and leader in new product development and medical education in orthopedics. Jimmy is a licensed RN and the Healthcare Administrator Relations Director for Arthrex. Dan is a PA and serves as the Senior Clinical Specialist with Arthrex. They talk about Arthex’s new product, OrthoPedia, a free web-based platform designed for clinicians, academics and patients for all things orthopedic surgery education. Jimmy and Dan share their insights on the development of OrthoPedia, and how it is changing the game in the way healthcare providers and patients can easily access orthopaedic education at any level.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC sat down with Olivia J Wolf and Kim Wilder to discuss the current challenges, transitions and opportunities they see in orthopaedic nursing and orthopaedic nurse leadership. Olivia J Wolf, MBA, CPC is a healthcare executive, public speaker and physician advocate who sits on the board of directors for the American Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (AAOE) and is the host of The Stuck(ish) Podcast. Kim Wilder, MSN, RN, ONC, is an administrator for the Baptist Health Surgery Center in Lexington, KY. She has an extensive background in all aspects of orthopaedic nursing, is a featured presenter for NAON at various conferences and serves on the NAON Education Committee. They highlight the unique opportunity for orthopaedic nursing leadership to return purpose to the profession and the important role that associations such as AAOE and NAON play in building invaluable relationships with others in the orthopaedic nursing profession.

Matt Lowe, MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC, sat down onsite at NAON’s 44th Annual Congress in Louisville, Kentucky, with two first-time Congress attendees to discuss their journey in the field of orthopaedic nursing. Kellyann Kosma, DNP, APRN, NP-C, is the advanced practice program manager at Hartford Healthcare Bone & Joint Institute, and she discusses her experience as a podium and poster presenter at Congress. Amanda Hill, BSN, ONC, RN, the total joint registered nurse coordinator at Windy Hill Total Joint Center, talks about the impact that joining NAON has had on her career, enabling her to network while sharing the knowledge and passion of orthopaedic nursing with others.

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.