AvitaCare Atlanta Nurse Practitioner Michelle Sariev’s professional healthcare trajectory hasn’t exactly gone by the book. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Originally an English major who went on to work in the advertising and restaurant industries, she came into nursing as a second career. “I decided to go back school and study nursing because I thought it would challenge my ambitious brain while also offering the flexibility that would foster my goal of being a writer,” Michelle says.
At Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, she quickly realized nurses’ massive impact on compassionate care. “At Emory, they don’t just produce nurses; they produce people who are convinced they’re going to change the world,” Michelle says. “I’m lucky to have experienced it.” After working for six years in the emergency department, she gained a strong appreciation for the importance of primary care and preventive health. She also realized that her heart was in caring for marginalized communities.
“Nursing at an urban emergency department in Atlanta gave me my first taste of serving underserved populations, and I realized how much I loved it,” says Michelle, who eventually became a certified nurse practitioner. “I like being where people not only need good care, but also non-judgmental, personalized care.”
At Emory, they don't just produce nurses; they produce people who are convinced they're going to change the world.
Becoming an NP at a historic time in fight to end HIV
Michelle earned her nurse practitioner certification in 2012, and her first job out of school was with a primary practice in Atlanta that served the LGBTQ+ community. That was a historic year in the fight to end HIV: The FDA has just approved pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the form of Truvada.
The doctor Michelle worked with was an HIV specialist with the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM), fully immersed in the research behind PrEP, and ready to prescribe PrEP to patients. “It was pretty incredible,” she remembers. “We immediately saw a huge impact.” Her collaborating physician was also an expert provider of gender-affirming care.
Michelle got her feet wet and hit the ground running. She joined AAHIVM and earned her specialist certification to show her commitment to the latest advances in HIV care and prevention for her patients. A year later, she was elected co-chair of the Nurse Practitioner Committee.
“AAHIVM is an organization whose members are a mixture of physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, as opposed to many other organizations that are more segmented,” she says about her dedication to the academy. “Not only that, but they bring nurse practitioners to the table. It was just such a cool mix.” Today, Michelle is an AAHIVM national board member.
I like being where people not only need good care, but also non-judgmental, personalized care.
Focusing on the health of the whole patient
No conversation about Michelle’s healthcare philosophy is complete without a discussion of nursing theorist Margaret Newman’s Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness, which proposes that “every person in every situation, no matter how disordered and hopeless it may seem, is part of the universal process of expanding consciousness—a process of becoming more of oneself, of finding greater meaning in life, and of reaching new dimensions of connectedness with other people and the world.”
“Her whole idea was that rather than thinking about a chronic condition as a negative part of a person that needs to be fixed, consider illness as part of their whole consciousness and their experience in the world,” Michelle explains.
One of the reasons Michelle became a nurse practitioner was because the field focuses on the patient as a whole person. “Over the course of my career working in the emergency department and primary care, it became evident how intertwined physical and mental health are,” she says. “As nurses, we should ask ourselves how to meet patients where they’re at to optimize their health. It’s a much more effective way of helping them meet their personal goals.”
As nurses, we should ask ourselves how to meet patients where they're at to optimize their health. It’s a much more effective way of helping them meet their personal goals.
Specialized care that benefits the whole community
Michelle’s natural career progression led her to specialize in primary care with a focus on HIV prevention and treatment and gender-affirming care. Serving as an ally who compassionately cares for often marginalized communities has made her a better provider for all her patients, she says. For example, she cites her work in gender-affirming care as giving her a heightened understanding of hormones, which allows her to more comprehensively serve her patients experiencing perimenopause.
She credits her colleagues at AvitaCare Atlanta—from the doctors to the medical assistants—for working in tandem to serve patients’ individualized needs. “Of course, I’m biased, but I love our big group of nurse practitioners,” she says. “We’re all extremely focused on the patients’ whole health and preventative care. That we have each other to bounce ideas off of makes the medical center a wonderful setting for our team members and patients.”
We’re all extremely focused on the patients’ whole health and preventative care. That we have each other to bounce ideas off of makes the medical center a wonderful setting for our team members and patients.
TEAM MEMBER SNAPSHOT
Name: Michelle Sariev, BSN, MS, NP-C, AAHIVS
Title: Nurse Practitioner
Location: AvitaCare Atlanta (An Avita Care Solutions company)
Advice for patients seeking a culturally competent provider who understands LGBTQ+ health and gender-affirming care:
“Look for providers who proudly talk about what they do on their profiles and websites. Seek out folks who are doing advocacy work or collaborating with other types of providers in the community. The best gender-affirming care providers are proud of what they’ve done to prepare to be resources, rather than gatekeepers, to their patients.”
Favorites:
- Wellness app: “I like the Calm app. And I’m really digging an app called CHANI right now.”
- Book: “I usually toggle between reading a hard copy of a fiction book and a memoir on Audible. I just finished Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens, and I’m almost done reading the novel Evil Eye by Etaf Rum.”
- Music: “Prince is probably my all-time favorite. I love Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. And I was cheering loudly for Beyonce to finally get Album of the Year at the Grammys.”
- Destination: “New York is my favorite city. I’m heading to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, next, and I love it down there. It’s fun and super safe for the LGBTQ+ community.”
- Food: “Italian’s my favorite. I love checking out new restaurants in Atlanta.”
