From the time Natalie was little, she knew she wanted to work in healthcare. And from the first time she learned about HIV care, she knew this was her calling.
“I saw that people living with HIV didn’t always get the best care, or that they were stigmatized. And I just thought, ‘I can do better than that. I can make their lives better.’ ”
At Vivent Health, that’s what she does every day. As a Nurse Practitioner, her main goal is to help her patients achieve their goals.
“I want to meet people where they’re at,” she says. “We might have a textbook version of what we tell patients. But I want to know what’s important to you, because that’s what important to me. And then we’ll find a way to help you reach your goals, in your life and in your health.
Providing medical care is only of part of her job, Natalie says. Some days, the most important thing she can do is be a shoulder to cry on. And at all times, she’s a relentless advocate for her patients.
“So many of my patients have told me, ‘Nobody has ever cared about me as much as you do,’ ” she says. “It means so much to know I’m somebody they can trust.”
Natalie is also passionate about supporting pregnant and chestfeeding moms.
“Moms can be stigmatized for their decision to want to chestfeed their baby with an HIV-positive diagnosis,” she says. “For me, it’s a privilege to work with them and their other medical providers, to advocate for them, and to help them achieve their goals in how they want to feed their infant.”
Natalie has a Bachelor’s in Nursing from University of Missouri, a Master’s in Nursing from Maryville University, and a Doctorate in nursing from Saint Louis University. She works with all patients living with HIV with a specialty in pregnancy and chestfeeding with HIV.