We made it through one quarter of my first year as a physician assistant. Let's take this opportunity to reflect on some of the lessons learned during my first three months. It's sort of like your boss' 90-day evaluation, but without the sense of impending doom. Transition is Tough - Whether you are moving into a new career or a new city ...

As I approached high school graduation years ago, my Health Careers teacher shared the popular modern parable, Who Moved My Cheese? It is a story about mice and miniature people who look for cheese (a metaphor for happiness and success) in a maze. Silly, for sure, but I found that the story's lesson sticks its nose into my life on occasion. ...

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 hospitalized after slipping and falling in her home, where she lived alone. Her husband had ...

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. ...

Last week, New Grad NP blogger Samantha Damren posted the struggle she encounters working with multiple physicians: memorizing the preferences and practices of each. On Facebook, reader Amber said, ''20 in my emergency physician group ... can get frustrating!'' On our blog, more readers weighed in. Here are some of their ...

So now that the basic tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are moving forward, who is going to provide all that primary care? A lot of people are counting on you to do it. But recent studies and surveys show that NPs and PAs are shifting to specialties and subspecialties at a fast clip. In response, thought leaders and family ...

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 ...

Finding a preceptor was one of the most difficult things I have had to do thus far on my journey to becoming a family nurse practitioner. I believe what made this so difficult is dealing with the rejection - and sometimes rudeness - that I encountered. I also felt helpless, since this is the only part of my education that is out of my control. I ...

Every student nurse knows that clinical rotations are a hit or miss experience. There are so many factors that cannot be controlled on a hospital floor - the patient assignment, the nurse you are shadowing. You can go a whole day with nothing much happening. Yet, there are still a smug few who always have some riveting story to tell at post ...

If you're not chatting with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, ''like'', ''follow'' and ''connect'' with us and start sharing in the conversations! If you are, keep following and spread the word! This week, our social media sites exploded with great comments from our readers. Here are some of the highlights, copied verbatim and without ...