Season 1 Episode 20: November 4, 2025 - Advancing Vascular Access: A South African Nurse Practitioner’s Journey Toward Better Patient Care

In this episode, Louise Esterhuizen discusses her journey as a nurse practitioner in South Africa, focusing on vascular access and infusion therapy. She shares her passion for improving patient outcomes through better practices and the challenges she faces in advocating for expanded nursing roles. The conversation highlights the importance of standardization, collaboration among health care professionals, and the need for structured education to enhance patient care. Louise emphasizes the significance of finding support within the nursing community and the impact of international best practices on local health care.

Louise Esterhuizen, RN, B.Cur

Louise Esterhuizen, RN, B.Cur is a private nurse practitioner with over 37 years of experience in the medical industry, pursuing a Master’s in Vascular Access Education. Her career spans diverse areas such as medical sales, clinical training, vascular access, cardiothoracic surgery, nursing education, and digital marketing. As a private nurse practitioner, she specializes in providing safe vascular access for patients requiring long-term IV therapy, including chemotherapy, antibiotics, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Ms Esterhuizen is passionate about improving skills necessary to excel in this area, to enhance overall patient outcomes. Her dedication to safe vascular access, particularly in peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs), has earned her a spot as South Africa's representative on the Global Vascular Access Network (GloVANet) and World Congress on Vascular Access (WoCoVA) committees. As the Founder of the Vascular Access Multidisciplinary Practice, Ms Esterhuizen has collaborated with independent clinicians to establish vascular access teams in hospitals, ensuring patients receive the correct vascular access device from the outset. She is a lifelong learner and committed to innovation, continual improvement, and effective problem-solving.

Host: Derek Fox, MSN, RN, VA-BC, CRNI®, NEA-BC

Guest: Louise Esterhuizen, B.Cur

In this episode, Louise Esterhuizen discusses her journey as a nurse practitioner in South Africa, focusing on vascular access and infusion therapy. She shares her passion for improving patient outcomes through better practices and the challenges she faces in advocating for expanded nursing roles. The conversation highlights the importance of standardization, collaboration among health care professionals, and the need for structured education to enhance patient care. Louise emphasizes the significance of finding support within the nursing community and the impact of international best practices on local health care.


 

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