A diagnosis of any rheumatic disease, and especially psoriatic arthritis (PsA), can throw patients’ lives off the rails. They are enjoying outdoor activities, time with the family, regular vacations, and then “Wham!” They have to start thinking in advance about every...
When I think of cardiovascular risk factors, the usual ones initially come to mind. Things like genetics, unhealthy lifestyle, smoking, obesity, minimal exercise, a low-quality diet, uncontrolled hypertension, and depression.1 For the patient with psoriasis and...
Rheumatology Nurse Practice: Managing the Common Comorbidities of Psoriatic ArthritisReceiving a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), or any chronic illness, requires acceptance of a new reality. The struggle to accept and cope with this new reality can have a...
The patients that come through the doors of our rheumatology practice every day often arrive with a unique set of beliefs regarding their disease and preferences regarding treatment. As healthcare providers, our experience and training has instilled us with a...
As healthcare professionals specializing in rheumatology, we know the importance of seeing patients as individuals as we interact with them and hear about their experiences managing their chronic illness. Clinicians treating patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA)...
"She's flaring again. She had a hard time even going to school this week and hasn’t been able to play at all for her basketball team this season. She wants to know why the medicine isn’t working, and I don’t know what to say to her anymore!” When mom or dad calls...
When providers attempt to identify and eliminate some of the barriers to successful treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), they quickly realize that there is no shortage of hurdles to overcome. Some of the barriers that patients encounter are reasonably within the...
Over the course of our careers, nurses, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare providers come into contact with hundreds and perhaps thousands of patients. While a big part of our job is providing medical-related education to these patients, we often learn just as...
It was Monday morning. I was feeling optimistic about the coming week. Of course, there would be some unforeseen challenges—there always are— but nothing that I wasn’t feeling ready for. But then I opened up my inbox and was immediately disheartened. There was a...
As someone who relies on several immunosuppressant medications to function, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was very, very scary for me. While the news kept trying to reassure people by emphasizing that the virus primarily impacts those who are elderly or have...