Every spring the University of Minnesota holds a conference for nurse practitioner students who are about to graduate. The topics addressed are various issues that students face as they are transitioning from student into practice. Our company, Advanced Practice Solutions, always has a presence at this conference. We enjoy meeting and welcoming ...

Yesterday was my birthday.  I spent most of it deciding whether or not to continue in my NP program. With the economy in its current condition, I have to question the continuing expense of school, especially after finding out that my spouse may be laid off or furloughed from a state nursing job. My own employer has a current hiring freeze; ...

Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune features a guest editorial with an intriguing but radical proposal for stimulating economic recovery: Pay off all federally backed student loans. Wy Spano, director of the Masters of Advocacy and Political Leadership Program at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, argues in this editorial that college graduates ...

After being off over the holidays, it was difficult to get back into the swing of things for a new semester, both at work and in my own studies. Fortunately, however, I'm one of the lucky number who has a job to go back to! Watching the news every evening, I'm reminded of just how many people have NO job and are turning to new careers and going ...

Last month, I blogged about prostate cancer and the Provenge saga. Since that blog, there have been some new developments. Therefore, I wanted to provide a quick update and my take regarding the new developments. On October 6, 2008, Dendreon, the manufacture of Provenge sent out a press release detailing results at the interim peak of the ...

When I was a little girl in the early 1960s, my mother worked at a psychiatric hospital as a nurse's aid. Times were different then, and she wore a starched white dress, white hose and white clinic oxfords. I thought she was so beautiful and wanted to be just like her. I even set up a doll hospital in my room, taking care of each ''patient'' ...