Zivian Spotlight: Grace Isoken Ogala, DNP, FNP-BC
Zivian Health is proud to support advanced practice clinicians. In addition to providing healthcare compliance and collaboration support, we want to share the stories of the healthcare professionals we serve.
Today we spotlight Grace Ogala, DNP, FNP, a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner who currently practices in Georgia State.
Ogala spoke with us about her journey as a healthcare professional, her experience with Zivian Health, and her recently published book, Victory Steps to Overcome Diabetes. Read on to learn more!
Early Inspirations: Family
Grace Ogala is from Delta State in Nigeria. She has had a deep interest in “science and research” since she was very young.
“I loved plants,” she said. “I had my garden; I would grow new plants and get so excited about it. My father would see me doing this and it touched his heart. One day he told me, ‘You’re going to be a doctor.’”
She is the only healthcare professional in her family and credits her father as the inspiration for a large part of her career.
Although biology and science were her first love, Ogala’s first profession in Nigeria was accounting. She decided to pursue nursing when she migrated to the United States. She started her practice as a registered nurse in 2009, became a Nurse Practitioner in 2016, and then earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2019.
“When I got my doctorate, my father was so excited,” said Ogala, jovially. “He said, ‘I told you that you were going to be a doctor, and you did it!’”
Ogala now prides herself as being a compassionate, knowledgeable, and experienced Family Nurse Practitioner with over seven years in practice as a healthcare provider.
A New Mission: Overcoming Diabetes
As Ogala strove to earn her doctorate, her mission as a healthcare professional began to take shape.
She obtained her doctorate in nursing practice at Wilkes University, Pennsylvania, where she completed a doctoral research project focused on exploring the benefits of diabetic patient education on hemoglobin A1C, a blood test for diagnosing diabetes.
Soon after, Ogala herself was diagnosed with diabetes. She discovered that her A1C and blood sugar were dangerously elevated and realized that she needed to make some drastic lifestyle changes.
“I was terrified when I was diagnosed because a close relative died of diabetes,” she said. “So, I used my experience and knowledge from my research project to develop a plan to take care of myself.”
At that time, Ogala said most of her diet was carbohydrates. “I changed everything about the way I ate,” Ogala said. “ I moved from processed carbohydrates to whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, wheat, oats, then fruits and vegetables, and lean meats like salmon, mackerel, and chicken breast.”
“I also began exercising – I exercised on the treadmill, weightlifting, abdominal crunches, cycling, even just walking briskly in the park,” said Ogala. “I just changed my whole life, and it helped me tremendously in losing weight and overcoming diabetes.”
She noted that her new diet did not sacrifice flavor. In her cooking, she incorporated spices like cinnamon, ginger, cilantro, rosemary, turmeric, and others that have been shown to reduce blood sugar.
In just 7 months, she decreased her hemoglobin A1C from 10.1 to 5.4, and her current A1C is now 4.9. She also decreased her blood sugar from a highly elevated level of 428mg/dl to a stable fasting blood sugar range of 78 to 80 mg/dl. Incredibly, she no longer requires diabetes medication.
Sharing Her Story: Victory Steps To Overcome Diabetes
Once again, she was inspired by her father to share information about overcoming diabetes to help people manage diabetes effectively.
Dr. Ogala shared, "I decided to write a book to fulfill my father's wish and to spread awareness about diabetes management worldwide. My journey of overcoming diabetes inspired me to share the knowledge and strategies that helped me achieve victory over this condition."
Her book, Victory Steps to Overcome Diabetes, attempts to address critical gaps in diabetes management by providing comprehensive guidance on navigating the complexities of the disease. Drawing from her experience in healthcare and extensive research, she offers weight loss strategies, dietary recommendations, stress management techniques, and explores the importance of exercise. With a holistic approach, she covers essential topics like skin care, stress management, oral health, regular exercise, eating healthy by using the plate method, and diabetes foot care, equipping readers with the knowledge needed for effective self-care.
Along with the important research and guidance for diabetes management, Ogala’s book also offers hope to those living with diabetes and empowers them to live healthier and fulfilling lives. Her primary message is one of optimism and encouragement, emphasizing that overcoming diabetes is possible with the right guidance and determination.
“We need to slow down,” she said. “At the time I was diagnosed, I was working seven days a week as a single mother. When we are stressed out, it affects our bodies. I tell my patients, ‘Please, manage your stress.’ In the book, I provided stress management techniques like singing, meditation, walking, laughing, watching comedy shows, praying, speaking to a good friend on the phone, dancing, gardening, and simply doing things that make you happy.”
The Importance of Patient Education
As mentioned earlier, Ogala’s doctoral research project focused on diabetic patient education. The findings of this research project revealed that diabetic patient education improves the knowledge of diabetes patients and decreases hemoglobin A1C.
“Patient education is vital,” she said. “It is the missing puzzle piece in the U.S. and worldwide. In my research, I found that patient education decreases A1C in diabetic patients. All the patients in the study had positive results within 3 months and their doctors had to adjust their medications very quickly.”
She recalls receiving a text message from a doctor whose patients were in the study saying, “I don’t know what you told my patients, but all of them are having tremendous results of decreased A1C.”
Patient education and empowerment are the central message of Victory Steps To Overcome Diabetes. Ogala believes that patient education is all about providing patients with the knowledge and skills they need to manage their health effectively and make informed decisions.
Experience With Zivian Health and Future Plans
Ogala is a member of the Zivian Health family. She currently collaborates with a physician in the Zivian network and is planning on opening her practice in the near future.
Ogala’s new practice will focus on weight loss management and diabetes education — she recently became an American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coach, joining a national team focused on educating people about ways of decreasing their risk for type 2 diabetes through weight loss and regular exercise.
Regarding her experience with Zivian Health, Ogala shared, “My experience with Zivian has been great. They are the best! The staff is very respectful, accommodating, and they were willing to work with me. I’m so grateful to Zivian Health. I tell all of my colleagues they are the best and most affordable collaborating company out there.”
Zivian Empowers Compliant Collaborations for Advanced Practice Providers
Zivian thanks Dr. Grace Ogala for sharing her story with us! We’re proud to be of service during an important time in her career as a Nurse Practitioner, and we look forward to the continued success of her mission to spread encouragement and important information about diabetes management across the world.
Zivian empowers Advanced Practice Providers by connecting them with physicians inside a secure and convenient platform to form long-term, compliant collaborations.
