Rachel Fidino was a freshman at Washington State when she experienced a life altering moment. Her sister had preeclampsia and ended up coding on the operating room table after an emergency C-section. It was after witnessing her sister’s complications and how the health care team was able to care for her, that Fidino knew she wanted to go into nursing.
Fidino obtained her BSN and worked as an OB nurse for 7.5 years while she attended graduate school. It was her passion to help women beyond delivery that led her to become a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. Fidino is board certified as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (2012) and in cancer genetics (2017).
Fidino joined the Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health Board of Directors in 2018 where she realized there was even more she could do as a Women’s Health Advocate. Fidino felt that obtaining a terminal degree as a Doctor of Nursing Practice would bring her education and work experiences together and open more doors for her to make an impact on a larger scale. After researching many DNP programs throughout the country, Fidino felt that Missouri State University offered all the elements she was looking for.
In 2018, Fidino started The Healing Hands Project a 501c3 in Seattle Washington and currently serves as the non-profit’s CEO. Healing Hand’s mission is “To empower homeless women with dignity, knowledge, and basic human rights by improving menstrual health, access to necessities, and quality of life,” (thehealinghandsproject.org). With a lack of access to these resources, The Healing Hands Project provides low-income, homeless women, and incarcerated women with education and menstrual hygiene kits. In January, The Healing Hands Project, received a 30k product donation from LOLA – a producer of organic feminine care products. These products will be distributed to the most in-need populations around Washington.
Drawn to policy work, Fidino was asked to be a reviewer the Momnibus bill to help end maternal mortality in the United States. Fidino also serves on the Expanded Carrier Screening Coalition for the US. She has been actively working within Washington State to change legislation by increasing the number of carrier disorders that are covered by insurance. Knowing what recessive congenital disorders, a woman may carry can offer more reproductive options and preventative care.
Fidino is also the sole author of a breast cancer imaging bill that has so far been passed in eight states. The imaging bill allows for a certain population of women who are high-risk for breast cancer to have preventative screenings covered by insurance at 100%.
More recently, Fidino has opened her own Women’s Clinic in Kennewick, Washington. New U Women’s Clinic & Aesthetics’ focus is to provide prevention and wellness services while inspiring their patients to feel empowered and educated when it comes to making health care decisions.
Rachel Fidino will graduate with her DNP this May. We look forward to reading more of her work as she continues to make an impact in women’s health.