The time has come! I've passed boards, obtained my state license and I am scheduled to have ''temporary privileges'' at my facility next week! This is such an exciting time for my family and me! We've worked so hard for so many years and this is it. The really amusing thing? I opened the mail a couple of weeks ago when my license came through ...

I feel obligated to warn you. I normally don't use this blog for public service announcements but I learned of a disorder that all of you will suffer from, if you haven't already. The good news: it doesn't last forever and there is a treatment. I am talking about New Graduate Syndrome (NGS). It affects men and women of all ages after ...

Every day was Groundhog Day. Well, to be fair it was early January but, like the 1993 Bill Murray comedy, I felt like I was stuck in a time loop. The high of my graduation ceremony had worn off weeks ago, so I made like a retired snowbird and headed south to Florida for the winter. I camped at my mother's house while I waited for the next ...

Happy NP Week 2012! This year, we are recognizing nurse practitioners across the country with the AANP theme, ''Your Partner in Health.'' We'd love to know what your facility is doing to celebrate. Send your photos and stories of your festivities to kwolfgang@advanceweb.com to be featured in our Comments & Feedback column online and in print. ...

With the election just one day away, political reporting is at a fever pitch. At ADVANCE, we have compiled extensive coverage of healthcare's role in the election. If you haven't done so yet, browse our articles for some last-minute information on the candidates and more. We will also be compiling your reactions to the election results. If you'd ...

Our ADVANCE for NPs & PAs community is always growing and providing better feedback every week. Our social media goal this week is to hit 2,000 fans on Facebook. We're only 28 ''likes'' away! If you're not already following us, make sure to check out our page and let us know what you think. If you are, share our page with your colleagues and ...

Last week, readers commented on two of our recent orthopedic articles. In response to ''After Your Patient's Knee Replacement,'' reader Thomas said, ''Nice article Jennifer - I had my TKR in 2010 and you described my overall experience quite well. Patients do really tend to forget that they lost their joint mobility slowly over a sustained time ...

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 order a beer. As my NCLEX draws nigh, I finally feel competent to write about this experience. ...

On Facebook this week, we shared some photos from the AAPA IMPACT 2012 conference in Toronto. Our fans loved to ''meet'' NP &PA Student Blog blogger Caroline Pilgrim, a first-time AAPA conference attendee. Caroline wrote about her experience at the conference and shared some of her own great photos in her blog post this week. Did you ...

The first full week of June has been an exciting one for NPs and PAs! Across our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, readers weighed in on the top issues. On Facebook this week, we discussed the recent DNP Answers blog post ''Time Management for a DNP Degree.'' Blogger Lisa Chism, NP, explained the difficulties of balancing DNP ...