When I was first diving into the world of functional medicine, I did what a lot of us do. I looked for protocols in the courses I took. I wanted something structured. Something safe. A set of steps I could follow with confidence and consistency. Something that would work for every patient. I was a primary care provider at the time, and I’d see people struggling with fatigue, gut issues, or hormonal imbalances and immediately think, What’s the functional medicine protocol f

The short answer? Yes. And the time has never been better. After years of educating over 1,000 nurses and nurse practitioners in functional medicine and holistic nursing, I can tell you with certainty that more nurses than ever are ready to leave burnout behind and step into leadership through a functional, root-cause approach. And for many of my students, that path includes launching their own business. Many never considered entrepreneurship until they find functional medici

Explore functional medicine nurse training designed for RNs and NPs. Learn how to get started, stay within scope, and lead root-cause care with confidence.

If you’re a nurse or nurse practitioner searching for a functional medicine certification program, you’re not alone. More and more RNs and NPs are seeking meaningful ways to deliver root-cause, whole-person care - and functional medicine speaks directly to that calling. But as the number of programs offering a “certification” grows, so does the confusion about what those credentials actually mean. And I'm getting a ton of questions on this subject, so...... Let’s clear things

Functional nursing isn’t a trend. It’s a professional transformation , and it’s already happening. If you’ve ever wondered what it really  looks like to integrate functional medicine into nursing practice, you're not alone. One of the most common questions I get from nurses is: “What can I actually do  with this training?” The answer? A lot more than you might think. At this point, I have trained over a thousand nurses and nurse practitioners who are now weaving functional me

If you’re an RN or NP who completed the Functional Medicine for Nurses course that I developed and taught through the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy (INCA), you’ve likely heard the news: the program is coming to a close at the end of this current cohort. And if you’re anything like the many students I have heard from recently—you’re probably asking: “Now what?” “Is there a next step?” “How do I keep growing in this specialty I love?” You’re not alone. The truth is, functiona

In my recent blog,   Are Labs Within a Nurse’s Scope of Practice? Let’s Reframe the Conversation ,  we explored one of the most common roadblocks nurses face when transitioning into holistic or functional practice: lab testing. The feedback I received afterward was overwhelming, and familiar. “I want my patients to have access to labs, but I’m terrified of crossing scope boundaries." “My patients are asking for testing, but I don’t have a safe way to support them.” “I feel st

Functional Medicine’s Promise—and Its Problem Functional medicine has changed the way many of us think about health. It’s upstream, it’s root-cause, and it finally acknowledges what we as nurses have known all along: healing is about the whole person, not just a disease code. Patients leave functional medicine offices feeling heard in ways they never have before. They finally have a provider asking about their sleep, their stress, their nutrition, their story. But here’s the

What Most People Still Get Wrong About Nurses I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how often people misunderstand what nurses actually do. It’s something I hear constantly- people assuming nurses “can’t diagnose and treat” or that we’re “not supposed to make decisions, rather follow orders” in patient care. And if I’m being honest, it’s something that really frustrates me. Nursing as a profession is extremely undervalued in our current healthcare system, and we're misunderst

Learn how functional nurses work with lab data within scope of practice, focusing on education, patterns, and whole-person care.

Are your beauty products making you sick?! I share my thoughts and top recommendations.

Originally published in October 12, 2022. Updated November 8, 2025 by Dr. Brigitte Sager, DNP, IFMCP, Founder & CEO of the Institute for Functional Nursing One of the most common questions I get asked regarding practicing functional medicine as a nurse is about scope of practice, and for good reason! It is a confusing topic, and we do not want to put our hard-earned licenses at risk! I first created and taught the Functional Medicine for Nurses  program to help RNs and NPs

Originally published July 26, 2022 and updated November 8, 2025 by Dr. Brigitte Sager, DNP, IFMCP — Founder & CEO of the Institute for Functional Nursing (IFN). When I first wrote about the partnership between functional medicine and nurse coaching, I was exploring how these two disciplines could come together to create more meaningful patient care. At the time, I was teaching a short course in functional medicine for nursing, and I was helping nurses begin to integrate root

This article was first published July 19, 2022 and updated November 8, 2025 by Dr. Brigitte Sager, DNP, IFMCP — Founder & CEO of the Institute for Functional Nursing (IFN). The Call to Heal Again In recent years, countless nurses have changed specialties, left the bedside, or questioned their calling altogether. The pace of modern healthcare, endless charting, and production metrics have left many of us wondering what happened to the art of nursing. I hear it constantly—from

After ten years of bedside nursing in the hospital setting, I transitioned to the role of primary care nurse practitioner three years ago.