Are You A Nurse Looking to Have More of An Impact? Explore Health Coaching

Ever ask yourself:

“What additional impact can I make as a Registered Nurse?”

“How can I incorporate health coaching into my current nursing profession?”

“What health coaching program would be best for continued learning?”

Then you are in the right place!

FMCA co-founder, Elyse Wagner, MS, CN, LMHCA explored how nurses can have even more of an impact by becoming Functional Medicine Certified Health Coaches (FMCHC). Hear from FMCA alumni with backgrounds in nursing that are currently working in the nursing industry and/or health coaching industry.

DID YOU KNOW: Nurses make up an average of 20% of Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA) students training to become health coaches each year.

Why? Well, for two main reasons:

1- Nurses can use the credits obtained from this program and apply them to their hours of contact hours of continuing education. FMCA’s Health Coach Certification Program is approved by the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC.)

2- In recent years, studies have identified that the science of nursing combined with the principles of health coaching can create synergy and provide innovative health care for overall patient/client wellbeing. Here are some ways nurse health coaches can impact patients/clients:

- Create and sustain a rapport with the patient/client that promotes health using the coach approach
- Integrate concepts from complexity science to help stretch and change patients’/clients’ understandings and views
- Use tools and activities to help patients/clients explore their readiness to change
- Assist patients/clients to explore healthy routines by enabling self-knowledge and self-care activities
- Advocate for structural changes that enable the promotion of group health coaching for hospitals and communities

Nurse health coaches can be found working in all healthcare and wellness settings, in or outside of a hospital setting.

Meet a few of our alumni who are nurses AND health coaches:

Maria Gattey, RN, CEN, FMCHC
USA | September 2018

Maria Gattey, RN, CEN, FMCHC is a Registered Nurse and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach with a passion for helping people understand, realize, and access the life-changing power within them. With a background in conventional medicine and knowledge and experience in Functional Medicine, emergency medicine, and holistic nursing, Maria uses positive psychology and motivational interviewing to help her clients change their behavior and transform their lives. As a HeartMath Certified Trainer, she helps the people of the St. Charles Healthcare community to reduce stress, build resilience, and tap into their potential, so they can be fully present and engaged in all areas of their lives.

Patty Haling RN, FNP, FMCHC, NBC-HWC
USA | September 2019

Patty Haling is a retired Family Nurse Practitioner and Nationally Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach. She brings to her coaching practice over 20 years of clinical nursing experience in the areas of Cardiovascular Nursing, Electrophysiology, Emergency Nursing, Family Medicine and Community Health. Having worked with acutely and chronically ill patients from all walks of life and at all stages of change, Patty takes an approach to coaching that combines clinical insight and training in traditional medicinal interventions with a deep love and appreciation for the guiding principles of Functional Medicine. She has been studying and implementing Integrative Nutrition and Functional Medicine in her own life for the past 18 years and has seen firsthand how dramatically one’s health can improve when the root causes of disease are identified, removed, and replaced by a healthier diet and lifestyle. In 2018, Patty created Kitchen Table Wellness, LLC, a private health coaching practice.

Ann Mesinger Swietnicki APRN MSN, MHN, CIM, FMCHC
USA | February 2021

Ann Mesinger Swietnicki is an ANCC Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, licensed in the state of Connecticut for the past 25 years. She obtained her Master’s degree in Nursing at Sacred Heart University in 1996. She then furthered her education at the University of New Haven with a Master of Human Nutrition in 2006. She is certified in Integrative Health (2020) and completed her certification as a Functional Medicine Health Coach in February 2021. She has worked extensively in Family Practice, Allergy & Immunology, and Geriatric/Rehabilitative Medicine.

Are you ready to make an impact in your nursing career or have any questions? Schedule a call with our Admissions Team!