Celia McIntosh, co-chair of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Neurology Community, shared insights on her career and the field of neurology in a discussion published on July 7. McIntosh highlighted the wide range of conditions treated by neurology nurse practitioners, from depression and migraines to Alzheimer’s disease.
McIntosh described her professional journey, which began as a home health aide before she became a registered nurse working in critical care areas such as cardiac step-down units and intensive care. "I decided to go back and become an NP because I really wanted to do a lot more with patient advocacy," she said. Despite initial setbacks when seeking nurse practitioner positions due to lack of experience, McIntosh found her place in neurology. She said the specialty offers both clinical complexity and opportunities for whole-patient care: "At any given time, you’re seeing a different variety of patient. Right now, I may be seeing stroke, in the next hour I may be seeing seizure and I may be seeing someone with myasthenia in a couple more hours. The flexibility and the variety of patients is really great." She added that advances are happening quickly within the field.
Addressing migraine management, McIntosh called migraines "complex" conditions that can significantly disrupt daily life: "Sometimes people throw around the term ‘migraine’ very loosely, but it can be very debilitating for the patient to the point where it’s affecting their day-to-day function." She noted that migraines disproportionately affect women—approximately three times more frequent than men—and impact education, careers, family responsibilities, and social life for about 90% of those living with migraine. New therapies are emerging for treatment; she pointed out calcitonin gene-related peptides as an example.
McIntosh also emphasized connecting neuroscience with advocacy by addressing social determinants that influence neurological health outcomes: "My advocacy work is grounded in the belief of improving neurological health... Maybe they don’t have good housing... Maybe they don’t have transportation." Her approach involves coordinating care beyond hospital walls.
Discussing involvement with AANP leadership roles, McIntosh said, "NPs are some of the most trusted professionals... we have over 461,000 NPs. Being a part of AANP you can have mentoring, professional development, advocacy opportunities and leadership."
