A Frontline Perspective on Evolving Atrial Fibrillation Management Strategies
Interview With Rebekah Eutsler, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Interview With Rebekah Eutsler, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
© 2026 HMP Global. All Rights Reserved.
Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of EP Lab Digest or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates.
Interview by Jodie Elrod
EP Lab Digest talks with Rebekah Eutsler, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, about her moderated session (session 5) at Western AFib 2026.
- Atrial fibrillation (AFib); pulsed field ablation (PFA); GLP-1 therapy; AF clinic care: Panel discussion emphasized multidisciplinary AF management, integrating procedural considerations (including PFA), GLP-1 therapy, AF clinic workflows, and collaboration across specialties to support long-term patient success.
- AFib symptom management and risk-factor modification; pre- and post-ablation care: Nurse practitioners reported managing patients across the AF care continuum, addressing symptom burden, weight loss, alcohol reduction, sleep studies, and CPAP use. A key theme was optimizing these factors without unnecessarily delaying ablation while using available tools to improve outcomes.
- Long-term AFib care coordination; GLP-1 therapy continuation: Discussion highlighted that GLP-1 therapy is a long-term treatment, raising questions about responsibility for ongoing management after successful ablation and clinic discharge. Participants emphasized structured AF clinic programs and partnerships with primary care, emergency departments, urgent care, cardiology, and other specialties to support continuity of care and help reduce AFib recurrence.
Reviewed by Jodie Elrod, Managing Editor
Transcripts
You moderated a session that covered topics ranging from symptom-driven management and GLP-1 therapy to the AF clinic experience and PFA. What were the key themes or takeaways from the discussion? Were there any points of consensus—or debate—that stood out to you?
I think the overall takeaway is that AF management is a multidisciplinary approach for patient care. You have to look at the technique of the procedure, which they discussed with PFA, and also with GLP-1 therapy. I think it also plays a role in how to manage a patient through the AF clinic experience and in partnering with other specialties to help manage long-term patient success of AF.
As a nurse practitioner working closely with patients across the AF care continuum, how does your role give you a unique perspective on issues such as symptom burden, weight management, and expectations around procedural therapies like PFA?
I think, as a nurse practitioner, we have a unique perspective on this because we see patients pre-, post-, and sometimes intra-procedure, and we follow them until they're successfully post-ablation and can be released from the EP clinic. In terms of seeing the patient pre-ablation, we have to manage their symptoms, and we understand that weight loss and lifestyle factors can be a big part of the management of AFib. But we also don't want to prolong their ablation. So it's important to use all the tools we can to avoid delaying that procedure.
Even though we would like to see patients achieve weight loss, decrease alcohol intake, have their sleep study done, and be placed on CPAP, we don't want to delay therapies by holding off on ablation procedures. At the same time, we want to make sure that we are looking at all those other factors, like sleep apnea, GLP-1s, and alcohol reduction, to know that we're going to set the patient up for success.
Given the range of perspectives shared during the session, what message would you most like attendees to take away—particularly regarding how we balance symptom relief, rhythm control strategies, and comprehensive AF management in clinical practice?
I think that the discussion that came after our panel speakers' presentations was really great. One of the biggest discussions was GLP-1 management. As they said, it's a long-term therapy, and we usually don't follow our patients for more than a year in our clinic if they have a successful ablation. So we talked about how we can continue care for those patients who are on GLP-1s for long-term therapy, and who is going to manage that and take on that responsibility.
Again, I think that's where looking at the respective specialties we can partner with is important, to make sure those patients are managed effectively on these medications and to allow for a decrease in the recurrence of AFib.
One of the good takeaways from that discussion was the AFib clinic experience. One of the most important things is reaching out to all the respective clinics that we get referrals from—our primary care providers, the ED, urgent care centers, and even cardiology clinics. Having a good, structured organization helps ensure that AFib management remains a long-term aspect of patient care. We need to make sure that we partner with these respective clinics to continue that care along the way so that, again, we can reduce the recurrence of AFib.
The transcripts have been edited for clarity and length.
