Clinical Challenges in Primary Care

• Assessment and Intervention of COPD: The Latest Treatment Recommendations 1.25
• Asthma: Assessment, diagnosis, and management 1
• Best and Worst $4, $9, and Other Drugs: Optimizing Your Choices of Affordable Generics 1.75
• Case-based Approach to HTN Management: Combination Therapy is Essential 1.25
• Chest Pain Differential Diagnosis: Who Needs an ECG? 1.6
• Complex Case Studies in HTN, DM, Dyslipidemia 1.75
• Dizziness, Vertigo, and Syncope: Assessment and Treatment 1.5
• Inflammation: Prevention, assessment and treatment of a frequent common denominator in diseases 1.5
• Low Back Pain Assessment and Management 1.7
• Psychiatric Medications: An Update on the Newer Drugs 1.4
• Rx Essentials: Nutraceuticals Prescribing Update 4

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald

DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, FAANP, CSP, FAAN, DCC, FNAP

Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald is the founder, president, and principal lecturer with Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, (FHEA), an international provider of nurse practitioner certification preparation and continuing education for healthcare providers.

An internationally recognized presenter, Dr. Fitzgerald has provided thousands of programs for numerous professional organizations, universities, and national and state healthcare associations on a wide variety of topics including clinical pharmacology, clinical assessment, laboratory diagnosis, healthcare, and nurse practitioner practice. For more than 25 years, she has provided graduate-level pharmacology courses for NP students at a number of universities. In addition, she practices as a family nurse practitioner at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence, MA.

Dr. Fitzgerald also holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, where she received the Alumni Association Award for Clinical Excellence and is also an Adjunct Associate Professor. Dr. Fitzgerald is a member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for Neighborhood Health Plan in Boston, MA.

Dr. Fitzgerald is the recipient of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ Lifetime Achievement Award, given in recognition of vision and accomplishments in successfully developing and promoting the nurse practitioner role, the American College of Nurse Practitioner’s Sharp Cutting Edge Award, the Outstanding Nurse Award for Clinical Practice by the Merrimack Valley Area Health Education Council, and one of the 50 Leaders in 50 Years by the Solomont School of Nursing, UMass Lowell. In addition, Dr. Fitzgerald received the Loretta C. Ford Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium for demonstrating longevity, integrity, professional achievement, and advocacy in advanced practice nursing. She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a charter fellow in the Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Dr. Teresa Judge-Ellis

DNP, ARNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP

Teresa Judge-Ellis, has been in nursing over 30 years and has been a nurse practitioner for over 20 years. She is dually board certified in family practice and psychiatry-mental health.

She is a nurse educator with a strong practice background in integrated care combining primary care and psychiatry in both rural settings and with people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders in community-based locations with individuals experiencing chronic homelessness or housing transitions. Dr. Judge-Ellis enjoys working with others and identifying and bridging gaps that exist in the current system of fragmented care for people with serious mental illness, substance use disorder, medical illness, and insecure housing. She is a strong voice for health care reform in this population to meet the quadruple aim: lower cost, excellent outcomes, high patient satisfaction, and fulfillment in the work-life of health care providers. Dr. Judge-Ellis has been on the faculty at the College of Nursing since 1999. From 1999-2011 she served as the Family Nurse Practitioner program coordinator. She began her nursing career as an Army nurse and practiced for over 13 years as an integrated primary care/psychiatry NP. Her current practices are through the College of Nursing Faculty Practice in partnership with local community non-profits on site at Cross Park Place and the 501 project, initiatives of Shelter House, and with Chatham Oaks, a residential care facility for people with serious mental illness in transition after exacerbation of their illness.

In 2005, Dr. Judge-Ellis was awarded the Friends of Iowa Civil Rights, Inc. Individual Award and the Catalyst Award from the University of Iowa Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity in recognition for her leadership efforts towards developing cultural competence and the elimination of health disparity. In 2013, Dr. Judge-Ellis was inducted as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She was awarded the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Excellence in Leadership-Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in 2018, the American Association of Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence in 2019 and the Benter Award for Organizational Leadership from the Iowa Chapter American Psychiatric Nurses Association in 2021.

Dr. Judge-Ellis received a master’s degree in nursing from Pacific Lutheran University (Family Nurse Practitioner) in 1996 and completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice (with a post-grad Psych-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner emphasis) from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in May 2008. In 2022 she finished a two-year fellowship as a VA Quality Scholar with a focus on homeless veterans.

Dr. Judge-Ellis has served as President-elect, President and Past President for the Iowa Nurse Practitioner Society (INPS). She was a leader in the formation of a state NP policy and legislative committee that coordinates legislative efforts and employs a lobbyist on behalf of Iowa NPs. Dr. Judge-Ellis served as a board member for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties and has attended national leadership conferences through both the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the American College of Nurse Practitioners and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Dr. Judge-Ellis is an associate lecturer for Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. She is also co-host of Friends of Flo, a podcast that serves as a “touchstone for nurses across the practice continuum to share stories, exchange ideas, learn, and support one another.”

Dr. Sally K. Miller

PhD, AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP

Dr. Sally K. Miller, is a Fitzgerald Faculty member. She presents the Fitzgerald Nurse Practitioner Certification Exam Review & Advanced Practice Update for family, adult-gerontology primary care, adult-gerontology acute care, and psychiatric-mental health. She also teaches pathophysiology and pharmacology courses.

Dr. Miller is certified as an adult-gerontology acute care, adult-gerontology primary care, family, and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). She practices in rural health with NextGen Family Care Clinic and iCarePsychiatry in Las Vegas, NV. Dr. Miller is a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and a clinical professor at the Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions, Philadelphia, PA. Additionally, Dr. Miller is the APRN consultant/investigator to the Nevada State Board of Nursing.

Dr. Miller has presented a wide variety of pharmacology and clinical topics at local and national conferences, including the National Conference of Nurse Practitioners, AANP, and the University of Colorado Annual Nurse Practitioner Symposium. In addition, Dr. Miller conducts workshops in collaboration with other Fitzgerald faculty on suturing for primary and urgent care. She created the following Fitzgerald Health programs (available at ): Assessment and Intervention in Common GI Disorders: PUD, Gastritis, GERD, and IBS; Assessment and Management of Low Back Pain; Prescribing for the Relief of Symptoms; Evaluation of Dizziness, Syncope and Vertigo; Primary Care Management of Acute and Chronic Pain Syndromes; The Differential Diagnosis of Chest Pain: Who Needs the ECG?; and Controlled Substances: A Focus on Safe and Effective Prescribing. In addition, she developed and presented the programs Cardiac Rhythms: The Clinician’s Approach to Accurate Interpretation; 12-Lead ECG Interpretation: A Primary Care Perspective; and Beyond the Basics in 12-lead ECG Interpretation, which are also available at .

Dr. Miller is a member of numerous professional organizations, including AANP, the American Nurses Association, the Academy of Correctional Health Professionals, and the Nevada Nurses Association. She has been published in several nurse practitioner journals including the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Biological Research for Nursing, Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, Journal of Primary Health Care, Journal of Correctional Health Care, and Advance for Nurse Practitioners. Dr. Miller has also served as a content reviewer for many of these publications.