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ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners is thrilled to welcome you to NP Voices: Blogs, part of the Healthcare POV: Blog and Forum Community from ADVANCE. Our new blogs offer posts covering timely questions, advice and opinions about the NP field and connecting professionals nationwide. We have provided tags to assist in locating topics of interest, a profile page to make uniquely your own and a list of our most active posts to keep you abreast of the latest discussions. We look forward to hearing your voice.
LATEST POSTS FROM EACH BLOG
November 20, 2009 1:59 PM by Jennifer Ford of ADVANCE Voice: NP

Florida's NPs have been fighting a long fight to win controlled substance prescriptive authority in the state. One roadblock is the proliferation of "pill mills" in Florida - clinics of ill repute where seemingly anyone can purchase prescription medications. Read some recent news about pill mills in Broward County, Fla., which some ...


 
November 18, 2009 2:08 PM by Renee Dahring of NP Career Coach

Is retirement on your radar? Last week I wrote about the "disappearing" jobs phenomenon, and this week I promised a few words about returning to work after a period of retirement.

The recession has brought about the interesting, but not surprising, trend of retired NPs wishing to re-enter the workforce. Not a bad idea in theory, if your retirement savings are down and you have loads of experience to offer, one would ...


 
November 10, 2009 11:46 AM by Jennifer Ford of Real Life in Retail Health

It's National NP Week and you NPs working in convenient care are especially appreciated, because without you the clinics you work in couldn't exist. Convenient care clinic operators value what you do, and not just from a business perspective. Take a look at what Take Care Health Systems has to say about you (from a


 
November 9, 2009 4:36 PM by Tina Goodpasture of New NP

I have been working as an NP for a year now, and it is time for my annual performance appraisal and reviewing my employment contract. I am oddly nervous about the performance appraisal, much like I felt when at my first performance review as a Registered Nurse.

I am also really uncomfortable about renegotiating the employment contract - I think it is because I am 1) from the South, 2) female and 3) vintage (that's ...


2 comments  
November 9, 2009 10:36 AM by Jennifer Ford of ADVANCE Voice: NP

Have you been wondering what use Facebook and Twitter can have for you? Well, here's one: Use it to make your voice heard about healthcare reform. Now that the reform bill has passed in the House, your Senators want to hear from you. And you can communicate with colleagues using social networking. I did a search on Twitter for NPs and healthcare, and got a few interesting results:


 
November 5, 2009 3:48 PM by Jennifer Ford of Real Life in Retail Health

An interesting way to look at convenient care is that it's a new brand of healthcare. The blog brandSTOKE posted about this concept recently in "Retail clinics vs. your doctor: it may come down to branding." The post very concisely explains the reasons for the fall of traditional ...


 
November 4, 2009 11:41 AM by Renee Dahring of NP Career Coach

The good news is that there are still jobs out there, the bad news is that the overall number of job openings has decreased. Those of us in healthcare have always had certain smugness about our profession, after all, "There will always be sick people," we like to say.

So how it is that employment can decrease? It seems counterintuitive since the number of patients certainly has not seemed to decrease. I mean, someone ...


 
November 2, 2009 7:51 AM by Beverly Clayton of New NP

When someone tells you, "no news is good news" has not been waiting for a call, or should I say "the call," from one of many interviews over the last two months.

At last report I was believing that I would be making a decision between the MICU position over the nephrology position. Well, that has not come to fruition. I did, however, make a follow-up call to all whom I have interviewed, only to be told that "we ...


 
October 29, 2009 2:49 PM by Jennifer Ford of Real Life in Retail Health

This week I attended a forum in Philadelphia held by the Convenient Care Association (CCA). It was designed to address where convenient care is positioned now and where it's headed. In terms of presenters and panel participants, the cast was star-studded: Sandy Ryan, chief nurse practitioner officer for Take Care Health Systems, Web Golinkin, CEO of RediClinic, Tine Hansen-Turton, executive director of the CCA and ...


 
October 28, 2009 8:32 AM by Jill Rollet of ADVANCE Voice: NP

After banning the traditional free marketing lunches for healthcare providers offered by pharmaceutical reps, the state of Vermont is considering requiring pharma companies to report or even eliminate free drug samples. At a hearing held by the state's attorney general's office yesterday, stakeholders were given a chance to state their opinions about the merits of sampling.

One of those stakeholders was nurse ...


 
October 27, 2009 9:29 AM by Renee Dahring of NP Career Coach

I just can't say enough about the importance of a good resume. It's critical to landing the interview. And since you only get one shot at it, the resume you submit better be good.


Unfortunately, no one really teaches NPs how to write a good resume. Occasionally as a student we will get some advice, usually from well meaning "career placement" folks who are really not familiar with the style and content that ...


 
October 22, 2009 12:59 PM by Michelle Pronsati of ADVANCE Voice: NP

I attended the second annual Aesthetic Extender Symposium last weekend, and days later I am left with some distinct and positive impressions about much more than the aesthetics industry.

First, some background. The symposium was cofounded by Krystie P. Lennox, a physician assistant, and David J. Goldberg, a dermatologist who is also a healthcare attorney. These two professionals recognized a need to provide ...


 
October 21, 2009 12:47 PM by Jennifer Ford of ADVANCE Voice: NP

Have you noticed nonchalance about seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines in young adults? The way that H1N1 is affecting those under 25, and the way that patients in that age group seem to treat their own health, could pose a big challenge to NPs trying to keep them healthy. Some young patients may be shocked to find that they aren't invincible when they get the flu.

The ABC News Web site reported today that ...


1 comments  
October 21, 2009 8:40 AM by Bridget Steiner of New NP

So, I have been officially been practicing as an NP for 4 months. I guess all of the sudden it dawned on me that I am one-third of the way through my first year. It seems pretty paltry in the grand scheme of things, but I do feel like I have collected some valuable experience already. Here are some reflections.

1) Ask, ask, ask. When job hunting, ask as many questions as possible about a potential offer. ...


1 comments  
October 19, 2009 10:24 AM by Tina Goodpasture of New NP

When I made the decision to go back to graduate school, it was not without reservation. I had graduated from an ADN program in 1978 and then worked nights while going through the BSN program. By the time I graduated in 1983, I was ready to just work and see what all life had to offer for a few years. I thought that I would wait about 2 years, then go back to graduate school.

I was a nurse that really enjoyed working, ...


1 comments  
October 15, 2009 11:50 AM by Jennifer Ford of Real Life in Retail Health

Hey, convenient care NPs! Are you close to the Philadelphia area? Are you interested in getting engaged in the conversation about where retail healthcare is going? Is it expanding? Is it a dying fad? There's a free way to learn more: On October 26th, the Convenient Care Association is cohosting a forum to discuss issues and trends in the industry.

The "Convenient Care Clinics and Retail Healthcare: A Critical Innovation ...


 
October 13, 2009 10:45 AM by Sharon Ledbetter of Real Life in Retail Health

During this last month we have been overrun with patients seeking flu shots and seeing patients with colds, strep throat and flu. I have seen some folks who are very ill and without doubt have influenza. But mainly I have seen the worried sick. People who have upper respiratory symptoms and know they are victims of "swine flu." One little boy who indeed did have influenza thought he was going to die because ...


 
October 9, 2009 2:29 PM by Jill Rollet of ADVANCE Voice: NP

In 2005, the nurse practitioner liability insurance provider CNA/NSO released the first and only study of claims made against NPs. This morning at the ACNP conference, the company offered updated statistics from a quantitative analysis of claims received by NSO and the results of a separate, qualitative survey of NPs insured by NSO, both those who have had claims filed against them and those with no claims.

Below ...

 
October 8, 2009 3:09 PM by Jill Rollet of ADVANCE Voice: NP

Responding to a question from the floor at this morning's opening session, current ACNP president Thad Wilson and immediate past president Julie Stanik-Hutt offered their personal opinions about the need for NPs to earn a DNP degree by 2015.

Wilson sees the DNP as good for the nurse practitioner profession, if not necessarily for each individual NP. NPs, he said, are already more educated than their master's ...

 
October 8, 2009 9:23 AM by Gretchen Moen of NP Practice Owners

It has been a very busy fall for ECFC. In addition to general patient care and all the day-to-day administrative issues, we are faced with another task. The state of MN has mandated that all recipients of state-sponsored health insurance have access to and are members of a state-certified Health Care Home.

Eagan Child and Family Care is one of 15 recipients of a grant to attend the Institute or Family Centered ...


 
October 8, 2009 9:16 AM by Renee Dahring of NP Career Coach

Over the last few months I have watched the job market for NPs shrink steadily, each week I see fewer and fewer ads. The Sunday "healthcare" job section has gone from several pages in length to just a few columns, and typically only 1-2 of all the ads are looking for advanced practice nurses. Wages appear to be flat lining as well, it's been a long time since I have seen employers touting big sign on bonuses or relocation ...


1 comments  
October 7, 2009 4:14 PM by Jennifer Ford of ADVANCE Voice: NP

 

Friday's New York Times article about retail clinics titled "A Quick Trip to the Store for Milk and a Throat Swab" asked readers to comment on their Well Blog about retail healthcare and nurse practitioners. And they sure did. It's ...


 
October 6, 2009 10:55 AM by Beverly Clayton of New NP

By last report I was celebrating my new found certification and awaiting my COA. I was hoping to be able to report and share my new career and challenges, but sadly I have not found my career nor have I had any job offers over the past month.

I can remember a year ago while still in school all the job opportunities my professor would share with us for illustration, and I can remember thinking how needed and sought ...


2 comments  
October 5, 2009 10:23 AM by Jodi Delagrave of Real Life in Retail Health

Wow, what a rush!  We started administering flu shots in our retail clinics Septemter 1st, and have been extremely busy this season thus far, and it is not even really prime flu shot season yet.

I believe there are two reasons to explain the large numbers of patients looking for an early flu shot. The first is everyone has flu and influenza on their mind as H1N1 has started ...


 
October 3, 2009 8:41 AM by Michelle Pronsati of ADVANCE Voice: NP

The care of older adults is the overriding issue at this year's GAPNA conference of course, but members are also turning their attention to national practice issues that affect all NP specialties. Yesterday, Evelyn Duffy, NP, director of the adult and gerontologic NP program at Case Western Reserve University, presented an informational session about the consensus model for APRN regulation, which is proposed for phase-in ...

 

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The ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners editorial staff discusses NP professional issues, current health care events and personal perspectives for your enjoyment.

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