I finished my first week as a fresh out of the box FNP and am loving it! I was given 15 or so patients a day for the first few days but saw 22 Friday. I'm feeling pretty good but hate the feeling of being a novice again. Throw me on a hospital floor and I'll shine but this is a totally different arena. I was driving the MAs in the office crazy with my pacing between patients. I'm not used to waiting for my turn to see the patient. I explained that floor nurses literally run all day and the waiting was killing me! One told me that since I was new I was referring out too much. HUH? People need colonoscopies and stress testing and such. If a patient asks for a referral to see a specialist, who am I to deny them?
So far it's been pretty routine stuff. Lots of routine lab follow ups. I like those appointments because they are easy to do. It's the sick patients that take more time. I have to build a "formulary" of basic antibiotics for each condition. This should be easy but I'm having to backtrack down to the non-acute levels of care. I've had several sinusitis/pharyngitis patients, couple of lower back pains, etc.
The ones that kind of blew mind mind were the few that were just falling apart in tears due to emotional distress. I'm okay when women cry ( I know it's sexist, sorry!) but when a man just sits there balling his eyes out.. Man! There are only a few things that will make a man cry like that and it was a sad thing to see. I will see him after a few weeks of taking some time off from work and spending time with his family. I hope he rebounds well.
I'm looking forward to next week to see how things go!
You should start to see me on your blogs playing catch up on some reading. See you there!
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