Ep. 23 - Fertility Planning with Palliative Patients

This episode of Palliative Perspective introduces Sari Williams, RN, FNP-C, a supportive care provider based in California.

In this episode, Sari speaks on her experience as a supportive care provider delving into the intricacies of her profession, including what fertility planning looks like for a palliative patient. Sari describes what she finds to be most impactful about her occupation, as well as what keeps her motivated to continue in this important field.

About Sari:

Sari Williams, RN, FNP-C started nursing in 2009 on a telemetry floor in a hospital in downtown Los Angeles. After a few years, she transferred to the ICU/trauma unit at that same hospital. Sari was accepted to the MSN program at Cal State Long Beach. At the same time, she was pregnant with her first daughter! Because of the Master's course curriculum, Sari started working at a different hospital, now part-time in their ICU. During her Master’s program for Family Nurse Practitioner, Sari had two daughters and went back to work as a bedside RN once school was done. In the ICU, Sari saw a lot of patient cases play out in different ways, but what stuck with her the most was the suffering at the end of life that could have been prevented with more attention on goals of care and end-of-life planning. Pursuing the palliative care field felt like the next right step in her nursing career. While Sari was looking for continuity with her patients initially with a focus on disease prevention, she realized through bedside practice that continuity can still exist while not focusing on prevention. What Sari loves about her job is helping patients find a new normal, to help them meet their goal of maintaining a level of function and engagement with life that they find meaningful.