news-record.com

MCLEANSVILLE — Sometimes people wonder about all the degrees listed behind Susan Apple Fuller’s name.

Fuller got her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1986 and while working has earned four more health degrees.

Recently, the Gibsonville native decided to use a nurse practitioner degree from UNC Chapel Hill to open her own practice. Fuller Primary Care opened in August at 5405 Frieden Church Road.

Because nurse practitioners can practice independently in North Carolina, she can have her own client base. Fuller can address any concerns a family doctor can, she said. She has a collaborating physician, Zack Hall in Reidsville, whom she can call at any time for questions or concerns.

Fuller’s nurse practitioner degree is in family medicine, so she can treat people of all ages.

“I’m very family-oriented,” she said. “I really like working with children and teenagers, and I have a big interest in children with ADD and ADHD.”

One of her degrees is in psychiatric mental health.

Fuller said she focuses a lot on disease prevention and stresses that patients have a responsibility for their health.

She tries to look at the whole patient instead of just focusing on one problem or disease, Fuller said. For example, if someone is suffering from depression or anxiety, she tries to address major stress in the patient’s life that might be contributing to the problem. She also considers how a medical condition might be affecting family or social life.

Fuller also will tell it like it is, she said.

“I’m very honest, and I expect them to be honest with me,” Fuller said of her patients.

Fuller Primary Care is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed from 1 to 2 p.m. for lunch. The office number is 697-1550.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 449-4610 or jamie.kennedy@news-record.com.