So How Has Your Day Been Going At Work?

I was thinking of something to blog about and the following question popped into my head!
How has your day been going at work? Are you satisfied with the time you get to spend with your patients? Do you have enough time to chart properly? Do you often take work home to complete? Do you feel that your staff helps you get through your day and that the front desk staff respects you as a provider? Does your employer treat you as a valued provider and include you in decision making?

I think that many NPs are struggling with the above issues. I see many NPs complaining on the boards about all of these issues. How are you dealing with these issues? Give us some suggestions and we'll try to help any new NPs through the stressors of a new role.

Chime in everyone!

Johnson and Johnson Must Be Really Anti-NP

Well, I got to work today and received a notice from our Patient Assistance Program rep who informed me that effective immediately today that only a MD may sign the scripts and paperwork for their program.

Wow... So all of the independent Nurse Practitioners who don't require any collaborative agreement with any physician can no longer get their patients meds through the program. Talk about being anti-NP! Such a delay in care for our patients. This will even possibly make patients have to schedule an additional visit with a doctor in order for them to complete this requirement.

When are the big pharma companies going to realize that we are here to stay? This is such a step backwards. I also get steamed when I see all  the medication commercials who say "Ask your doctor!" instead of ask your health care provider. Some are getting the hints and changing their wording ever so slowly.

What say you?

How Do You Feel About Being Called A "Mid-level"?

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted. First off, an update on my sister Denise who is doing well and made it back home due to a few donations on Go Fund Me. I really appreciated the donations. Keep them coming if you have an inkling.

Back to the subject at hand.. How many of you NPs are bothered by the term "mid-level". It personally drives me bananas! I think we need to come up with an alternate term. My collaborating MD asks why I'm bothered by it since that's what I am...
I just wonder if I am "mid-level, who's the "low level provider"? I don't feel that I give "mid care" to my patients.

Some NPs don't mind the label but some of us hate it! What say you?

Help My Sister Get Home To Florida

Hello to all of my readers. My sister Denise is currently stuck in Seattle, Washington in a hospital post quadruple bypass surgery. She's hanging in there but needs a plane ticket home and money during her recovery period. I appreciate any help you may be able to provide. Please share this link!

Dimes For DeeDee http://t.co/IyQqKtfghP via @gofundme This is my younger sister who is 42. Please help me get her home to Florida.

This is one reason why it's so important to understand your genetic potentials for bad health issues.
My mother also has had a quad bypass and my sister's father died of a myocardial infarction. I speak to many patients who don't know a thing about their family's medical history and it's a sad situation.

My goal for you is to do your homework. Be a super sleuth and ask those important questions!

Have a great day!

Ramblings of A Nurse Practitioner

Often people ask me what I missed the most while I was in NP school. I would have to say my family time and my hobbies. I used to read voraciously,  but now find myself playing on Facebook and reading other people's comments on posts there rather than picking up a book and plucking myself in a cozy chair next to my husband while he watched TV.

I also didn't realize that it would continue into my career. It is what we do as providers. We sacrifice so that others can be healthier people and hopefully they listen to our advice. Unfortunately, some won't and we lose them along the way. Hard to watch at times and so hard not to just lay it all on the line and tell them what we really feel when they say that they cannot afford their meds while having a pack of cigarettes in their pockets or their nails done at the local nail salon.

My problem is that I often say what is on my mind and what I'm really thinking. I have been lucky in my career to have some pretty great patients who appreciate my candor. I've probably made a few cringe along the way but so far so good. I also stopped blogging once I got out of NP school and I realized that there aren't many of us doing it anymore due to HIPPA worries so I have to remember my Ps and Qs.

It's a sad situation in life that we can't practice medicine the way the old country docs did in the day. They were truly their towns providers and attended the same functions, went to people's home for dinner and socialized with their patients. I've had patients invite me to their functions and I've declined at times so that I don't get caught into the trap of having to attend everyone's activities.
I don't go to funerals of my patients either unless they are tied to our company as an employee. I don't do funerals well because I tend to cry and look like an idiot blubbering on the widow's shoulder when it's really her turn to grieve. I plan to have a living funeral so I can party before I go and really see who gave a crap for real. I actually thought of attending my own funeral like the great Oz behind a curtain but I probably couldn't keep my mouth shut if I heard someone say something I didn't like.

I definitely will not be stared at as I will be cremated. I am a organ and tissue donor so there won't be much left over. I hope to help as many people as possible when I go.

Strange ramblings today but I haven't written in a long while.... See ya around!