Championing Women's Health
Carrie Snyder,MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, is a nurse navigator for Beebe Healthcare. In her role, she works directly with patients and medical offices to provide support for the patient's journey through the healthcare system. Carrie specifically helps guide patients in areas of women's health, orthopaedics, surgery, and cardiac services.
Have a question for Carrie. Contact her here.
Q: Why is women’s health important to you?
Carrie: I truly feel that women are the CEO’s of their family’s healthcare. We tend to make the appointments for our children and for our significant others, and we are that driving force behind eating healthy and getting our screenings done.
I think women’s health is really important because we often put everyone else first. As a woman myself, I tend to put everyone else around me first, but I’ve realized we have to take time to take care of ourselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves, then we can’t take care of others. Women’s health is so much more than taking care of our uterus and our breasts. It’s the whole picture, it’s the whole female.
History shows that healthcare has catered to men, but I think we’re making advancements. Woman are different than men in lot of ways. For example, we present different symptoms when we’re having a heart attack and our mental health is different. Providers need to be aware of these differences and accommodate as needed.
Q: How do you tackle health as a woman?
Carrie: It’s a daily, conscious decision to be healthy. I definitely am by no means perfect when it comes to this, but I make it a point to see my primary care doctor for a physical every year, I have a yearly skin check, and I get all my routine cervical screenings done. I try to exercise—that’s definitely a daily, conscious decision.
I think the hardest part about being a woman is finding the balance between being a caregiver and taking care of yourself. I think as long as we’re aware of that, then we’re doing a good job. I try to identify those times when I need a break and when I need to focus on myself and take the time to do that.