Profiles in Telehealth: A Full-Time Telehealth NP Takes Her Practice on the Road
We spoke with Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Christine W., to learn how she leverages her multi-state licensure to care for patients remotely while traveling across the United States with her fiancé in their RV.
What’s your background? What did you do before practicing telemedicine?
I am a board-certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and started practicing as an NP in 1998. I worked in cardiology for 20 years and moved to long-term care 5 years ago. Around the same time, I started my path into telemedicine. Now I work full time for Wheel, and I'm loving it!
What’s your life like outside of work?
I have a son who just turned 20 and is a junior at East Carolina University. I recently moved from Charlotte, NC to Munds Park, AZ. My fiancé and I love to travel. We spend a lot of our days on the road in our RV, traveling around the US. Working in telehealth allows me to work and travel, which has been an amazing experience. In my free time I enjoy hiking, kayaking, and most anything outdoors.
What brought you to telemedicine?
I started my virtual care journey with Wheel in 2019. It took a while to get to the point where I could be full time, but as soon as I realized I needed to be licensed in more states, it took off! I started telemedicine because working in long-term care, I realized that access to healthcare in our country is limited. There are so many people that need care and cannot afford it, that it makes me want to give back. Wheel has given me that opportunity.
What’s your Wheel Moment of Freedom?
I love to travel, but I really haven't seen much of what our country has to offer. So my fiancé and I (who also works from home) bought an RV last year, and have a goal to travel to every state and take in the beauty of our country. Providing virtual care with Wheel has allowed me that opportunity, where no other job in nursing has.
What do you think the future of healthcare holds?
Access to care has always been a problem in this country. The COVID pandemic actually helped our healthcare system in that it made people (and providers) realize that healthcare can be done from a distance, efficiently and safely. I feel that virtual health is the future of medicine and I'm so excited to be part of it.
Thanks, Christine, for being an essential member of the #WheelCareTeam!
Interested in joining our team of virtual care clinicians? Learn more about working in telehealth with Wheel.
Discover more clinician experiences in our previous Care Team spotlight interviews with an LCSW who transitioned to full-time telemedicine, a clinician who leveraged the flexibility of telehealth to complete her doctorate, and a telehealth NP on the COVID frontlines.
