I get questions all the time from family, friends, neighbors, other nurses, and my students about hormone replacement therapy. Should I take it? Is it safe? What about bioidentical hormones? Can I balance my hormones naturally? What would a functional approach look like? And honestly, I understand why these questions are coming up so often. Women are tired of being dismissed. We’re tired of being told that exhaustion, weight gain, sleep disruption, mood changes, heavy periods, hot flashes,...

Learn how holistic nursing certification aligns with functional nursing and supports professional growth.

In recent years, an interesting theme has been surfacing more and more in conversations within functional medicine. At conferences and gatherings of clinicians, researchers are talking about factors that influence health far beyond biochemistry and lab results. Two that come up often are joy and isolation- how connection, community, and emotional well-being shape our physiology just as much as diet, sleep, and nutrients. But I’ve been thinking about another factor that may be just as...