ADVANCE Voice: NP

Facebook Campaign for an NP

2010-08-13T15:48:00Z

If you think Facebook has no real power, think again. How about the Facebook campaign that succeeded in landing actress Betty White as a host for the comedy TV show Saturday Night Live, with neither White nor show producers having sparked the idea? In January, David Matthews, of San Antonio, launched a Facebook page petition after White appeared in a popular commercial for Snickers candy. The page went viral, and several hundred thousand Facebook users signed on by mid-March. SNL producers listened,...(read more)

NP Entrepreneur Contest Deadline Is Tomorrow!

2010-07-29T15:26:00Z

This post serves as a friendly reminder that the deadline to enter ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners' NP Entrepreneur of the Year Award contest is tomorrow, Friday July 30, 2010. Enter here . See profiles of our past winners: 2009 NP Entrepreneur of the Year : Teri Bunker, NP, Bridge City Family Medical Clinic, Portland, Ore. 2009 One to Watch : Tanya Sorrell, NP, Mental Health and Wellness Center, Yuma, Ariz. 2009 Outside the Box : Renee Mercer, NP, Enuresis Associates/The Bedwetting Store 2008 NP...(read more)

The Nurse Practitioner "Sacred Cow"

2010-06-25T19:07:00Z

AANP director of health policy Jan Towers, NP, addressed acrowd of several thousand yesterday at the 25th anniversary conference of AANP, with much to report on legislation that affectsNPs. After the session I caught up with Mona Counts, NP, who has served inalmost every leadership role for AANP. She agreed with Towers’ message thatalthough nurse practitioners are becoming a more familiar face, NPs mustcontinue educating the public and policymakers about their impact onhealthcare. “The sacred cow...(read more)

Live From AANP 2010

2010-06-24T16:36:00Z

Greetings from Phoenix, Ariz., and the 25th anniversary conference of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners! The conference has outgrown the Gaylord Resorts and this year there are some impressive crowds. At the opening session on Wednesday, the energy of the attendees was palpable as Mary Wakefield, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a nurse herself, took the podium. She assured the crowd that money has been...(read more)

NPs, You Can Help Prevent ER Overcrowding

2010-05-24T17:15:00Z

A recent op-ed in The Washington Post calls for prevention of an unmanageable influx of newly insured patients to emergency departments. In Keeping Routine Medical Care Out of Hospital Emergency Rooms , Jennifer Brokaw, an emergency department physician, makes several very sensible suggestions for solutions, two of which point directly toward nurse practitioners: One, increase numbers of convenient care and urgent care clinics. This of course means NPs, when we think about who staffs the 1,200 convenient...(read more)

Speak Up! Enter the Shout Out Contest

2010-05-04T16:41:00Z

Wow! Nurse practitioners are getting a lot more attention now that healthcare reform will be bringing millions more patients into the taxed primary care market. But just because the media is paying more attention to NPs does not mean NPs have sat quietly by until this point. You've been out there telling patients who you are, telling your local papers about nurse practitioners, talking with legislators about the care you provide, and lobbying the state and federal government for increased authority....(read more)

What Do Primary Care Providers Do All Day?

2010-04-29T14:53:00Z

A primary care practice of five physicians in Philadelphia set out to count all that "invisible" work that doesn't get reimbursed. With the help of their electronic health record, they counted phone calls, prescription refills, e-mail messages, and lab, imaging and consultation reports. One interesting upshot of the study is that the practice redefined the job description of "full-time physician" to be a provider who offers 24 scheduled visit hours per week. The practice's internal compensation system...(read more)

'Painful Prescribing' - Still Hurts

2010-04-23T15:27:00Z

We heard from Maine nurse practitioner Virginia LaNoce, who surrendered her NP license to the Board of Nursing after several complaints about her prescribing practices. Read our first story here . We also reported that she was heading back to practice . But that doesn't seem to be in the cards just yet. LaNoce's license was reinstated early this year, but she says that she's still unable to find a physician to work with her on site, a requirement by the Board of Nursing for her to continue to practice....(read more)

Head of the Home

2010-04-22T15:05:00Z

The common and rousing thread in many sessions at last week's NAPNAP conference (National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners) was the call to action on healthcare reform, specifically the provisions for healthcare medical homes. The legislation contains language authorizing the creation of demonstration projects for this model, which aims to create a seamless healthcare continuum - with the primary care provider at the helm - for each patient. As several presenters explained, the model...(read more)

Pediatric NPs Set Record at NAPNAP Conference

2010-04-16T13:31:00Z

I'm here at the annual conference of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP), where pediatric NPs have set a new record for conference attendance. About 1,500 pediatric NPs are here in Chicago to network, earn CE credits and discuss current issues. The conference officially kicked off yesterday with a moving opening ceremony featuring the Children's Choir of Chicago, a teen advocate for minority health issues (and apparently a future nurse!), and a trailblazer for children...(read more)

Some Informal Stats on New Grads and NP Students

2010-04-13T13:23:00Z

Two weeks ago I wrote about some preliminary results of our ongoing survey of new grads and NP students . Specifically, 58% of those respondents said they do not plan to earn a DNP degree in the future. Now, with 76 responses, 51% say they will not pursue a DNP degree, even though that degree will be required for all new NPs very soon (starting in 2015). Some other interesting findings from the survey so far are below: 70% say they belong to a national, state or local NP professional organization....(read more)

Urban Settings Don’t Always Pay More

2010-04-01T19:20:00Z

Lately some NPs have let me know that potential employers in rural areas might be discounting pay rates based on the assumptions that published NP wage rates are for urban areas and that urban sites pay more. The NPs have asked whether I know the rate for rural practices in their state. Based on data from the 2009 National Salary and Workplace Survey of Nurse Practitioners, we found that nationally NPs in rural areas made about 7% less per hour than their urban counterparts (median $43/hour urban...(read more)

Video: Florida NP Rally

2010-03-29T20:05:00Z

Local news media covered the Rally in Tally Wednesday, and the following video is an excellent view of how the rally's efforts tie in to the recent passage of the healthcare reform law. Senator Mike Bennett is quoted as saying that enacting a law to allow NPs to prescribe controlled substances in Florida could save the state at least hundreds of millions of dollars. Does that sound like a no-brainer? Click the link below to watch the video from Tampa Bay Online. Nurses could save millions...(read more)

300 Strong at Florida Rally

2010-03-26T14:19:00Z

Just two days after the Rally at Tally, Jean Aertker, NP, of the Florida Nurse Practitioner Network, reported back to ADVANCE with some details from the "front lines." "It was very successful, and I hope you can send out a cheer to the 300 NPs who gathered in Tally March 24 - The signs and white coats were able to sell our message to all but the House chairman Nick Thompson!" She explained that Thompson refused to hear their case because he had not heard from his own constituents that NP prescribing...(read more)

Now What?

2010-03-24T16:07:00Z

No matter what you think about the new healthcare reform package as a voter and taxpayer, one thing appears certain: It will be good for your profession. You might not see it tomorrow, or even at that 6-month benchmark when the first key elements of the law take effect. But over the next few years, a tight NP job market should open up considerably as more people access healthcare services. More NPs will be at the helm of nurse-managed health centers, which will grow in number under the legislation....(read more)