Caring for the Whole Person With Pulmonary Hypertension, With Susanne McDevitt, DNP

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) care is built around measurable endpoints — hemodynamics, functional class, biomarkers, echocardiographic findings, exercise capacity. But for patients living with the chronic, progressive, life-limiting disease that disproportionately affects young women, the clinical picture extends well beyond those numbers. At the Association of Pulmonary Advanced Practice Providers (APAPP) National Conference, held June 28-20 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Susanne McDevitt, DNP, ACNP-BC, Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, participated in a PH fireside chat session that centered on the extra-clinical dimensions of PH care that need more attention.¹

The session, led by Melisa Wilson, DNP, APRN, BC, brought together 4 expert APPs for a dialogue on whole-person care in PH — including conversations about intimacy concerns, pregnancy and contraception counseling, the timing and framing of palliative care discussions, and APP well-being and resilience in a high-demand specialty.

High Anxiety and Depression Comorbidity Rates With PH

The psychosocial burden of PH is substantial and well documented. Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in this population, compounded by losses that extend across functional ability, occupational capacity, and social and family participation. McDevitt was direct about the role of APPs in addressing this dimension: it is not optional, and it is not purely a referral function.

"Discussions about mental wellness along with physical wellness should be part of every patient visit for pulmonary hypertension, no doubt," she said. APPs, she argued, are well positioned to hold these conversations — evaluating for fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and depression as a routine part of the clinical encounter — while also knowing when to engage social work and community resources.

She also raised the sustainability challenge for APPs themselves. Working in a therapeutically intensive, emotionally demanding specialty like PH or PH-ILD carries real risk of burnout, and McDevitt described the fireside chat's closing focus on APP community-building, resilience, and self-care as a dimension of professional life the field needs to address more openly and more often.

McDevitt had no relevant disclosures to report.

References

1. McDevitt S, Reed L, Rivera M, Wilson M, Young C. PAH fireside. Presented at: Association of Pulmonary Advanced Practice Providers Annual Meeting (APAP 2026); Las Vegas, NV.

2. Lowe B, Grafe K, Ufer C, et al. Anxiety and depression in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Psychosom Med. 2004;66(6):831–836. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000145593.37594.39