Lindsey Haines brings broad nursing background to Game Day Men’s HealthBy Brandon Jones
Lindsey Haines, the new nurse practitioner at Game Day Men’s Health, brings experience in intensive care, cardiology, mental health and palliative care to a role she says is about helping patients keep doing what they love.
Haines joined Brandon Jones and fellow nurse practitioner Joel Kearse on the latest episode of the BrandoM Podcast to discuss her background, her approach to patient care and her move to the Rapid City clinic.
For Haines, the work has a personal connection. Watching her parents and grandparents remain healthy and active helped shape her interest in supporting patients as they age.
“It’s fun watching people who want to stay active as grandparents, as great-grandparents, and keeping people doing what they love,” she said.
Haines and Kearse have known each other since nursing school. She spent about seven years working as an intensive care nurse before returning to school to become a nurse practitioner.
She began her nurse practitioner career in cardiology, then moved into psychiatry, where she worked for five years and gained experience in both adult and children’s mental health.
During part of that time, she also worked in functional medicine, which she said introduced her to a greater emphasis on nutrition, hormones and patients’ long-term health goals.
Haines later worked in palliative care at Monument Health for about a year. She described the emotional demands of that work as difficult and said the opportunity at Game Day came as Kearse was preparing to step back somewhat from his role.
Now, she hopes to bring those varied experiences together in conversations about how patients want to feel and function in the years ahead.
That means asking patients to think beyond their current weight or symptoms and consider what they want their lives to look like five, 10 or 15 years from now, she said.
Haines described her experience in functional medicine as an approach that asks why a patient is experiencing a problem, including how nutrition and other factors might contribute.
“Just kind of looking at the body as a whole and kind of figuring out what’s driving those symptoms,” she said.
During the interview, Jones asked whether someone could take too many supplements. Haines said she favors tailoring those decisions to the individual, using conversations about diet and laboratory testing to help assess a patient’s needs.
She said food should supply much of a person’s nutrients and emphasized that patients differ in what they eat and absorb. Her approach, she said, is to identify specific needs rather than recommend a lengthy list of supplements in hopes that something helps.
Haines also discussed the frustration patients can feel when they continue to feel unwell despite being told their laboratory results fall within normal ranges. She said listening to their concerns and discussing their goals are important parts of her work.
Although the clinic primarily focuses on men’s health, Haines said she would also like to see more women use its services.
As she settles into her new position, she acknowledged the relationships Kearse has built with existing patients and expressed enthusiasm about joining the team.
“I’m excited to be here,” Haines said.
Listen to this podcast anywhere you listen to your favorite podcast’s just look for The BrandoM Podcast.
https://gamedaymenshealth.com/rapid-city-sd
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