Functional Nursing: Tools, Presence, and Hope for Modern Nurses- Thomas Sult MD, IFMCP and Elizabeth Sult BSN, RN, NC-BC

"A lot of what we do is give patients hope. Give patients hope and listen to them. And that, in itself, is so healing. I think it's so healing and transformative, ...even if they don't get to where they were before, they become the best version of themselves that they can be." ~Elizabth Sult BSN, RN, NC-BC

"In conventional medicine, the question is, what's the diagnosis? And once you know the diagnosis, then there's sort of these algorithms that, you try to see if they help. But in functional medicine, once you understand what's the diagnosis, the question is, really, why? Why do you have the diagnosis?

And that's where these antecedents, triggers, mediators, all these kinds of ideas come from— to get to the why. But I like to say that the antecedents, triggers and mediators are kind of like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, right? Because an antecedents from one frame might be a trigger from another frame.

And so, you know, getting to the real root cause. You might think, Oh, I got to the molecular medicine cause. But actually, it was a spiritual mal-alignment that caused the biochemical issue, because it caused all this stress and strain and all that trickles down to the molecular medicine."  ~Dr. Tom Sult MD, IFMCP

Ah-Ha Moments

• Functional Nursing asks a different question: Not just what’s the nursing diagnosis? But, why is this happening?  And what does this body need to heal? It’s about raising wellness so illness has less space to take hold
• The Functional Nurse listens for patterns, stories, and turning points. Elizabeth and Tom highlight how powerful it is when Nurses can really listen, and help patients connect the dots in their own health journey
• Functional Nursing and Integrative Nurse Coaching are a natural fit. When Nurses combine root-cause thinking with coaching presence, patients feel seen, supported, and empowered to take steps that fit into their busy lives
• The nervous system matters deeply. Functional Nurses learn about how long-term stress and fight-or-flight affect digestion, immunity, hormones, and healing, and why joy, safety, and regulation are essential parts of care
• This work restores dignity and hope for patients and nurses. 

Links and Resources

• Functional Nursing: A Functional Medicine Framework for Nurses
• Functional Nursing + Lifestyle Nursing Dual Certificate Pathway
• Just Be Well website
• Book: Just Be Well by Thomas Sult
• Email for questions:

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