I feel like I have been focusing on the challenges of being an NP, which much of the time entails a bit of complaining. Not that there is anything wrong with venting and sharing our trials and tribulations. I'd be insane right now if I kept it all in. But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to share what I am grateful for in my first job ...

In keeping with the spirit of the recent vampire hype sweeping the nation, we thought we'd write about what doctors of nursing practice and vampires have in common. What on earth, you ask, might they have in common? Well, read on: 1. They've both been around for a long time. Both vampires and DNPs have gotten a lot of attention recently, but ...

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 are calling ...

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 ...

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 Walgreens press ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...