“I don’t like to put people in a box. Every person is different, so what they expect out of care is different.”
As a gastroenterology nurse practitioner, Jennifer Verna, AGACNP, helps patients with digestive issues including chronic constipation, GERD, inflammatory bowel disease and diseases of the liver.
She fell in love with gastroenterology during graduate school because of how complex the conditions can be. She pointed to acid reflux, which can be seen as simple. In fact, she says it is a complex disease.
“Each patient is different. You can have a standard diagnosis, but the symptoms and how each person deals with it can be completely different. This is what makes it complex,” Jennifer said. “It is the detective work I have to do to find answers to these complex conditions that I love the most.”
She takes time to make sure she understands what each patient is experiencing with his or her condition. From there, she tries to understand each patient’s goals and then work within that framework to make improvements.
“The most rewarding thing is to give the patients more quality of life,” Jennifer said. “Gastrointestinal conditions can stop people from doing many different things in their life, so it is really cool when you can help them do those things again.”
Jennifer received her master's in nursing from Marquette University in Milwaukee. She is a board-certified adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner.
Jennifer enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking and spending time outdoors with her husband and dogs.