Melissa Fitzpatrick is a dedicated nurse leader who has always tried to enhance patient care delivery and nursing satisfaction and excellence in all of her roles. She received her Associate’s degree in Nursing from Gwynedd Mercy College in 1977 and her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the same institution two years later. Melissa graduated Cum Laude with her Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 and immediately assumed roles of increasing complexity and responsibility from Nurse Manager to Clinical Nurse Specialist in Philadelphia. Her career took her to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and then to Duke University Medical Center before leading industry initiatives at SAS Institute and at Hill-Rom. She is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Fitzpatrick and Associates, a healthcare consulting firm based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In all of her roles, Melissa has used her knowledge and resources to educate patients, families and communities so that they can enhance their health and prevent illness and injury. Keeping patients out of the hospital has become an important goal for our healthcare delivery systems and is essential to managing chronicity and decreasing the cost of healthcare delivery which has skyrocketed over the years.
Here are some tips that will keep you healthy.
Preventive health care and wellness are becoming more of a focus as we try to avert illness and injury. Assuring that our neighbors have vaccinations, screening mammography and colonoscopy and regular dental and physical check-ups is essential to elevating the health of our nation. Managing chronic illness, medications, nutrition and exercise are not new thoughts but certainly more important than ever. The epidemic of morbid obesity in the US is having an alarming negative impact across all age groups and increasing the risk of such diseases as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. It is essential that we start education at the earliest moment…prenatally….so that we give everyone the chance at the healthiest start to life. Then, our schools and communities need to do their part to assure adequate and healthy nutrition throughout the school day with exercise and physical activity to go with it.
Helping families to make the time for activity together is fun and effective! Getting everyone involved in walking, biking, swimming and managing food portions is a key to healthful living. Nurses are at the center of this essential community education and are the key to role modeling healthful living.
Here are some tips that will keep you healthy.
Preventive health care and wellness are becoming more of a focus as we try to avert illness and injury. Assuring that our neighbors have vaccinations, screening mammography and colonoscopy and regular dental and physical check-ups is essential to elevating the health of our nation. Managing chronic illness, medications, nutrition and exercise are not new thoughts but certainly more important than ever. The epidemic of morbid obesity in the US is having an alarming negative impact across all age groups and increasing the risk of such diseases as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. It is essential that we start education at the earliest moment…prenatally….so that we give everyone the chance at the healthiest start to life. Then, our schools and communities need to do their part to assure adequate and healthy nutrition throughout the school day with exercise and physical activity to go with it.
Helping families to make the time for activity together is fun and effective! Getting everyone involved in walking, biking, swimming and managing food portions is a key to healthful living. Nurses are at the center of this essential community education and are the key to role modeling healthful living.
