Why I Strive: How a Nurse Practitioner Found the Support to Do More for Patients and Thrive in Her Career

As a nurse practitioner at Strive Health, Gina Green, APRN, MSN-BC, has built her career around a passion for helping patients and a longstanding interest in kidney care. Her path to becoming an NP was anything but traditional, taking her from roles as a certified nursing assistant and nurse to caring for patients across multiple long-term care facilities before finding the opportunity she had been looking for at Strive: The chance to focus on kidney care and make a greater impact on patients’ overall health.

Nearly six years later, Gina is helping patients navigate complex kidney conditions while working alongside a multidisciplinary team to preserve kidney function, coordinate care and prepare patients for what comes next. We sat down with Gina to discuss her journey, what a typical day looks like for a Strive nurse practitioner and why the clinical autonomy, collaboration and support she found at Strive made it such a meaningful place to build her career.

Q: What led you to become a nurse practitioner, and what ultimately brought you to Strive?
A: My path was a little different. I always say I did everything backwards. I had my children first and went back to school when they were older. Once I started, I went straight through my associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

I’ve always loved patients and helping people. I’ve worked as a certified nursing assistant, nurse and nurse practitioner, and every role gave me an opportunity to make a difference. But as a nurse practitioner, I felt I could do even more to help patients with their health.

Before Strive, I worked across multiple long-term care facilities, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. But kidney care had always interested me. When I came across an opportunity with Strive and learned that the focus was kidney care, I remember thinking, “Finally, here’s my opportunity.”

That was almost six years ago, and I’ve been here ever since.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you at Strive?
A: I start by getting everything ready for the day: Reviewing my patients’ charts, previous visits, blood pressures and recent labs plus anything else I’ll need to ensure my interactions with patients are timely, connected and valuable. Our medical assistant helps make sure the most current information is available.

We also have short team huddles. That might include me, two other NPs, our registered nurse and medical assistant. We spend about 15 minutes reviewing the day’s patients and identifying what we need ahead of their appointments. If we’re waiting on an echocardiogram result or another test, for example, our medical assistant can start tracking it down.

The idea is to be as prepared as possible before we’re face-to-face with the patient.

Then the visits begin. We’re caring for people with kidney disease, but many also have heart failure, COPD, diabetes, hypertension and other conditions. That means looking at the whole picture — medications, labs, blood pressure, daily weights and collaborating with specialists and PCPs to incorporate any updates or changes they’ve made to the patient’s care plans.

Education is also a huge part of my job. I don’t just tell patients what I want them to do. I tell them why. I’m a “why” person myself. If somebody tells me to do something, I want to understand why it’s important, and I think patients deserve the same thing.

Q: When you think about your “why,” is there a patient or moment at Strive that captures what makes this work meaningful to you?
A: It’s meaningful every day with every patient, but there is one patient I’ll never forget: Vicky. When I first met her, her kidney function was at 12%, which is Stage 5 kidney disease. Her kidneys could no longer remove enough waste and extra fluid from her blood. We had a lot of work to do, and we needed to do it fast.

What stands out to me is how the entire Strive team came together around her. It wasn’t just me. Social workers, nephrologists, medical directors, registered dietitians, nurses and care coordinators all had a role. We were able to address what she needed from multiple directions and make a real difference in her life.

That’s what I love about this work. As an NP, I’m empowered to practice at the top of my license. If a patient needs medication, I can prescribe it. If they need labs, I can order them. I can collaborate with their nephrologist, primary care provider, cardiologist or other physicians to help make sure we’re doing everything possible to protect their kidney function.

Our goal is to help patients preserve that function and stay off dialysis as long as possible. If dialysis does become necessary, we help them understand what’s happening and prepare for that transition, so they aren’t suddenly in the hospital wondering, “What happened to me?” We walk with them through those steps.

Q: What feels different about being an NP at Strive?
A: Everything is different. In my previous role, I was on call two days a week for 24 hours at a time, covering 10 buildings. I could get calls or need to fax prescriptions in the middle of the night and then get up and work all day. I was also seeing so many patients that I often didn’t have time to finish my documentation during the day. I’d come home at around 5 p.m. and sometimes chart until midnight, then get up and do it all over again.

There really is no comparison. At Strive, we’re not on call. I don’t spend my weekends catching up on charts. I have much better work-life balance.

At Strive, we leverage technology to help with administrative tasks, which allows our clinicians more time to what we love — build human connections and trust with our patients so we can support them with the needs that matter to them.

Q: People with kidney disease often have complex needs. How does the broader Strive team help you care for the whole patient?
A: Kidney disease doesn’t happen by itself. As I mentioned before, our patients may also be managing heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, COPD and other conditions, so we have to understand how all those pieces fit together.

For a patient with heart failure, for example, we may be reviewing whether they’re on the appropriate medications, monitoring their blood pressure and daily weights, educating them about what to watch for and collaborating with their cardiologist and other physicians.

The team also allows us to match the level of support to what each patient needs. If I start a complex patient on a new medication, I may want to follow that patient closely. A less complex patient may be able to follow up with one of our registered nurses instead. If their PCP is already ordering labs, I can review those results rather than asking the patient to have the same labs done again.

We also share our notes with the patient’s other providers so everyone can stay informed about what we’re doing. That coordination matters. The goal isn’t to duplicate what other clinicians are doing; it’s to work together to simplify care for the patient.

Q: What would you want another nurse practitioner who is considering applying for an NP role at Strive to know?
A: The leadership support at Strive is phenomenal. That’s something I didn’t always have in previous jobs and, let me tell you, it makes such a difference. I meet one-on-one with my manager regularly, and if I have a concern, question or problem, I know I can reach out. What means the most to me is that my concern becomes their concern. I’m heard, and I know that people care about helping me find an answer.

As a Strive NP, I love that I can focus on practicing at the highest level of my role, technology that makes documentation easier, a multidisciplinary team I can count on
and a schedule that gives me time to recharge and enjoy my life outside of work.

It’s still busy. Patient care is always going to be the priority. But I don’t feel like I’m doing it alone. I love my patients, I love the people I work with, and I feel supported in the work I do. After almost six years, those are the things that continue to make Strive special to me.

If you’re an NP who’s ready to make an impact in kidney care, head over to our Careers site and search “Clinical Care Delivery” to apply for our open roles: StriveHealth.com/Careers