Her adventures started when she took a job as nurse on a Carnival Cruise at the turn of the century. The travel was a selling point, but Denise Gruzensky loved nursing in this unique environment. She worked as a nurse practitioner but could also work as a nurse when needed. Gruzensky’s taken advantage of the world of online consulting and sees a lot of good in this shift. When she found out her dog had diabetes, she used that as a teaching opportunity to write a children’s book that lets kids with diabetes know that they’re not alone. Beth has a wonderful conversation in this episode with Denise about all of this. 

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I am a certified family Nurse Practitioner with my master’s degree in Nursing from the University of San Diego.  I’ve worked in Emergency Medicine, Carnival Cruise Lines, Indian Health Services, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and a concurrent career for the last six years as a Legal Nurse Consultant. I love continuing education, career development and I’m passionate about patient education and preventative care. My practice philosophy: “I believe in treating the whole patient. They are best equipped to partner in their care and wellness when they understand why we make recommendations and are empowered to participate in their healthcare decisions.”

In 2021, when our family moved, I remained with my practice and transitioned to a primarily virtual practice.

I assisted with Adventist Health’s AHEAD (Adventist Health Early All-Around Detection) program, piloting remote cancer risk evaluation screenings. I am a graduate of the 2022 IC.

I am a wife, a mother to four littles and a fur kid (dog). We love being outdoors hiking, biking swimming, camping and more.                                                                                                                 

I grew up loving all animals. As an adult, I developed a passion for rescues. In addition to writing, I volunteer for local animal shelters, work as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and I’m a mom to four humans-and a dog. We are a forever family through adoption which all started when I rescued Harley.

In “Not Like the Others” you are introduced to Harley, my rescued Yorkshire terrier. He will learn the meaning of a forever family and unconditional love.

How do you talk to your child about their newly diagnosed illness? How do you tell your child their pet has an illness like diabetes? What can you do to explain loving unconditionally? The answer is “Harley’s Story”.

I believe pets teach us important life lessons. “Not Like the Others” is the first book in my series “Life Lessons from Fur Friends”.