NP & PA Student Blog : Nurse Practitioner

The Real Price of Medical Education

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:19:00 GMT

The real tragedy of getting a medical education is not the understanding of your own mortality or quantification of personal risk factors. It's not even the fact that friends and colleagues want you to look at something awful that is growing out of their...(read more)

My First Job as an Accelerated NP Student

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:26:00 GMT

It is tough for new nurses in accelerated nurse practitioner courses to find a first job. A lot of the places willing to hire new grads want them full time, which is impossible with the work load our training requires. There are some employers that require...(read more)

Becoming an NP Online

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:21:00 GMT

Last month during the lull of winter break, I had a sudden fear that I would not be able to find a job after graduation. I guess it was because of the lull, no case studies to do, clinical hours completed for the semester, and final grade deemed passing,...(read more)

A Grim Outlook on Nursing

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:18:00 GMT

I am currently in a class called "Societal Forces" as a precursor to my first semester of advanced assessment in the Adult/Gero Primary Care Nurse Practitioner track. The teachers are passionate and well informed. The speakers are excellent, but the subject...(read more)

My Fears as an NP Student

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:48:00 GMT

I have developed a few fears recently, regarding my hopeful future career as an NP. A few weeks ago, while at clinicals, I saw a patient with vague non-specific complaints that did not relate to any one ailment. I found the situation frustrating and asked...(read more)

Painting a Clinical Picture

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:09:00 GMT

There have been times in my nursing career when I have put the pieces of a clinical picture together only to see something entirely different than the treating physician. The picture I would see was not based only on the lab work, or clinical manifestations...(read more)

Students vs. The Nurse Veteran

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:53:00 GMT

In an accelerated NP program, newly-minted nurses often find themselves in graduate-level classes with people who have been in the profession for most of their lives. I just passed the NCLEX two weeks ago -- hang on -- I can't hold it in. Hire me! I'm...(read more)

Renewing Your Routine

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:02:00 GMT

Fall has officially begun. Usually I am excited because I love fall, but this year, as I enter into my fifth week of class, I wonder where summer went. These first few weeks are usually clumsy as I learn my way around the course and assignments. I know...(read more)

Mistaken Identity

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:58:00 GMT

As I entered the patient's room, I introduced myself and asked if her name was "Sarah." She said "yes," nodding in my direction with a welcoming smile. Prior to entering the patient's room, I had diligently reviewed the chart. She was 93 and had been...(read more)

Don't Overlook Social Drinking

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:42:00 GMT

It was a sunny, warm afternoon. A great day to spend outdoors with the family. But Dad had not come home ... again . Then, the phone rang. Maybe it was him? But the voice was not his. "I'm afraid that he has died," the voice whispered across the phone....(read more)

Onward and Upward

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:18:00 GMT

Terry Clarke, student nurse here. I am in an accelerated nurse practitioner program at UMASS Worcester. We just finished our year-long RN BSN equivalency. I've been feeling like a hand-stamped 18-year-old at a bar, able to join the conversations but not...(read more)

What's In a Name

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:24:00 GMT

It still amazes me how much of the public doesn't know what a NP is, does, or what it takes to become one. And what I find even more amazing is the difficulty I have at times trying to describe what it is I am in school to become. Not too long ago, as...(read more)

Confronting Death in Advance

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:23:00 GMT

The other day, I came across an article about Val Patterson, a man who was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. What made his story memorable was that before passing away on July 10, 2012, he wrote his own obituary. It was printed in his local newspaper...(read more)

To Be Human Is Enough

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:45:00 GMT

After Mother Teresa's death, it was revealed that in private correspondence she wrote of not feeling the presence of God - of lack of faith and spiritual anguish. Helen Keller, who spent her life fighting for suffrage and the rights of the disabled, was...(read more)

An NP Student Reflects on Healthcare Reform

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:06:00 GMT

I know, I know. You're all probably thinking that if you see another blog about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, you are going to need an emesis basin. Since the healthcare reform package was upheld by the Supreme Court, healthcare is back...(read more)