Talking MSN Interview with Kim From Emergiblog

I have been lucky enough to have continued to blog even after graduating from my Master's Program 4 years ago. It has been difficult at times due to burn out. Several bloggers have made comments regarding such on their own sites. Sometimes, it's due to not feeling adequately commented upon. We all love comments which is why I almost always try to leave a small one on every blog I visit. Sometimes, it's due to a little frustration about one's writing style. I envy people who's writings seem to flow well and are witty. Kim at Emergiblog is one of my absolute favorites and is such a prolific writer and is hilarious! I honestly don't know how she keeps it all rolling with a full time job, school and maintaining her sites. Kudos to anyone who can do it as well as she can. I was honored to be approached by her to be interviewed for one of the many sites that she writes for. Masters In Nursing is a website that discusses various aspects of Master's Degrees in Nursing and gives advice to others on finding the correct route to go about it. I attended the first online MSN program through Florida State University. It was hard but very worth it. I encourage anyone who is interested in furthering their degree to go for it! We need you out here, especially with the shortage of Family physicians. I welcome any comments and questions about what I do as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Studies prove effectiveness of nurse practitioners - The News Herald

Studies prove effectiveness of nurse practitioners - The News Herald

Beth Guy was one of my adjunct professors as Florida State University and is one of my inspirations. I am very happy to repost this here on my blog for others to enjoy. Please go to the article and click on the urls that show the actual data that supports our claims. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide comparable care to our patients all over the country. If you agree, please write to your Congress and Senate and let them know how you feel. It helps to have the support when critical legislation is being voted on.

Parkinson's Disease In The Crossfire Refers To NPs and PAs As Extenders

Thanks to Carla Gibson ARNP for passing along a CME opportunity that refers to NPs and PAs as "physician extenders". I stopped by their website and left them the following response. "I am surprised and disappointed that you are referring to ARNPs as physician extenders in your CME course. We are licensed and many are board certified to provide primary care to our patients. My patients often do not lay eyes on the doctor. If he provides no service to my patients, how can I then be an extension of him? Another term that I find offensive is mid-level provider. In my and my patient's opinions, I give top level care to them and their families. Mid-level implies mediocre care at best. Please consider changing your terminology in your CME course. Thanks." What do you think about these terms?

Get Yourself A Whole New Perspective With A NP Student!

I was wandering around on some of the Nurse Practitioner message boards and realized just how many students there are that can't seem to find  preceptors in their areas. Most of the students that are working on their RN-MSN degrees live in a larger city than I do. I am really surprised to see that there aren't that many NPs willing to take a student under their wing.

I wonder why? The first reason that pops into my head is that we are often so busy with the background work of patient care. Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork! Actually, I am supposed to be working on some now but decided to enjoy myself and write a blog post instead. A little break from the dullness is how I see students. Often, they can bring out the best in us. We get so bah-humbug with the standard patient care but to a student, it's a goldmine! Things we see on a regular basis are new and interesting to the new student and sometimes can make us think just a little harder.

Put your name out on the NP boards and websites and find a student who will so very much appreciate your time. The ones who do are usually the ones who are completing their degrees online, like I did, while working full time in a hospital setting. It was hard work but so well worth it! While I was surfing the web, I also found an interesting link about the Anatomy of A Doctor and found it to be very similar to the Anatomy of A NP as well. We both like to figure out problems and to help patients. The timeline is a little shorter for NPs though. I have often wondered if physicians found that the length of time in their college studies was really necessary or was a lot of it busy work? How much of those inorganic and organic chemistry classes gets used in real life patient care really? In the NP program that I went through, I was surprised to find that they were still focused on theory and I wanted more medical content. I never was a big fan of theory but expected that in the higher level of NP education that theory would take a breather!


Via:RN to MSN

Nurse Practitioner Loves Students

I am currently working with a FNP student and am really enjoying our interactions. I really get a kick when I see the light come on in a student's eyes as something clicks into place. I remember how nervous I was and hoped that the preceptor wouldn't ask me a question that I didn't know the answer to and that it would make me feel really stupid. It's not all that different that regular nursing school! You guys thought it got easier? Nope.

It actually gets a little harder in my opinion. You have to come up with so many differentials in the office setting and it comes from collecting a body of knowledge as a nurse and then building on it over time. That's why I wondered how effective a NP can be if they haven't spent a lot of time on the hospital floor honing those skills of subtle nuance changes in patient's conditions.

You will also become somewhat of an expert in certain types of skills in the office setting. My seemingly particular skill is gallbladder disease. I tend to attract bad gallbladders for some reason. They also come in waves.

Unfortunately, waves of other types also come into my setting. Cancer is one that I am getting tired of swimming through, especially this time of year. I hate when bad things happen around the holidays. You never enjoy them them same when a loved one is diagnosed or dies during the Christmas season. Right now, I have approximately 5-6 people who are either recently diagnosed with cancer or I suspect will be soon. Most of them are lung cancer from past smokers.


PLEASE encourage your patients to stop smoking or dipping tobacco. I hate telling people that they don't have long to live because of something preventable. For the next few weeks, I will be ordering more chest xrays for some of my past and current smokers. I hope I don't find any more problems for a long while.