Since she joined the Bailey Bariatrics team in 2019, Chika Okwufulueze, APRN, FNP-BC, has been passionate about giving her patients the best care possible. After three years, she has received a new certification that will help both her patients and her community at Bailey Bariatrics.
Inspired by her grandmother, who was a traditional midwife, Okwufulueze studied to become a registered nurse in 2015 and board-certified family nurse practitioner 2018. She became interested in bariatrics because it is easy to see when she successfully helps a patient achieve a total transformation.
“If you give someone open-heart surgery, and they recover from it, people don’t usually see what recovery they have done,” Okwufulueze says. “But if someone goes through the process of getting their weight down and getting healthier, it’s very obvious, and you can tangibly see what improvement you have made in their lives.”
To continue her education in bariatrics, Okwufulueze hit the books again in 2019 to study for the Certified Bariatric Nurse (CBN) Program, put on by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. She just recently passed the certification exam.
“You can still practice obesity medicine without that certification, but that certification increases your knowledge base and also gives you that advanced level beyond anyone who hasn’t done it,” says Okwufulueze. “Obesity is one broad field of medicine that encroaches on other fields of medicine. You should be able as a provider in an obesity clinic to manage other co-morbid conditions.”
This certification expanded Okwufulueze’s knowledge of bariatric science and allows her to provide the best and most complete care for her patients.
“It gives you that broad knowledge to take care of your clients pre-surgery and post-surgery,” Okwufulueze says. “The need to constantly upgrade my knowledge base in order to provide the best care for my client is what drives me.”
Okwufulueze will take her recertification exam in three years, and every three years after that.
“It's safe to be where you are, but science is moving rapidly,” Okwufulueze says. “Don’t limit yourself, don’t stop. Always advance your skills. Always.”
To learn more about Bailey Bariatrics, click here, or call 918-376-8410 to speak with a staff member about weight-loss surgery or about the metabolic management program.