Center for Healthy Living profile: Deidre Dudley
March 7, 2013
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Deidre Dudley, nurse practitioner at the Center
for Healthy Living. (Rodney McPhail/HR Communications)
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This is the second in a series introducing staff who work at Purdue's new Center for Healthy Living. Deidre Dudley, one of two nurse practitioners at the center, is featured today.
Why did you choose a career as a nurse practitioner?
I chose to be a nurse practitioner to offer clients and patients the most holistic approach to appropriate health care. I enjoyed being a registered nurse, and I wanted to make a difference in the lives of my patients in the most cost-effective manner possible. The expanded scope of practice and services that being a nurse practitioner offered allowed me to do these things. I love being a family nurse practitioner!
What is a nurse practitioner? How does an NP differ from an MD?
According to Maverick Health: The short answer is that doctors study diseases and how to cure them, while nurses and nurse practitioners study people and how to heal them. A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with formal education in the care of the sick, plus advanced education and training in the diagnosis, treatment and management of common and chronic illnesses.
Physician and NP care and knowledge overlap and are complementary, but each has a core expertise that is distinct and unique. NPs make ideal primary care providers because of their holistic and wellness orientation that emphasizes health education, risk identification and reduction, and preventive care through lifestyle modification.
Why is it important for everyone to have a primary care provider?
A primary care provider is responsible for promoting your health by coordinating your health care services. You may see other providers, but your primary care provider offers a central point where all the elements of your care are known and recorded.
We're told the center will take a holistic approach to health care. What does that mean?
There are many aspects to good health. A holistic approach to maintaining and improving your health involves all these many aspects. What is happening? Why is it happening? How does altering one aspect of your life or health affect other aspects of your life or health? There is a cause-and-effect relationship that must be considered, and a holistic approach takes this into consideration and offers the best approach to a healthy life.
What do you enjoy in your time away from the job?
I enjoy my family and fiber arts. I weave, embroider, sew, knit and crochet. I love to travel and participate in mission opportunities around the world.