RN and Chiro

[MissRobin]

Hi all - This may sound silly but I need advice. I am a registered nurse as well as a chiropractor. I would really like to combine the two and I am considering getting my FNP. I think they would blend quite well together and the growing intersted with Integrative Med and Complementary Alternative Med has sparked a new interest with me.

Both fields have so much to offer and I would like to somehow bring them together. Does this make sense? I guess the advice I am looking for is, should I go for it? I have looked at a couple online FNP programs but have not made the final decision as to which one.

Thanks to anyone for advice. I appreciate it.

[Josh L.Ac.]

You might run into some roadblocks with insurance reimbursement. For example, in the state of Kansas, blood draws and labs are only reimbursed if ordered by a physician, not a chiropractor. My wife [acupuncturist] worked at a different practice when we first moved here and despite the fact that the owner knew about this, she still pushed all of her employees to recommend labs because that was more money coming into her.

Sigh.

But as a FNP, the rules do change...although how much depends on where you live. I would look at the practice acts of both professions in your state and also contact some FNP's to see what they get reimbursed for. Your prescription privileges in your home state will also largely dictate what your practice would be like.

Now here is a possible complication. When I was in Seattle, some of the naturopaths I knew were quite tenative about their increased scope of practice, especially in prescribing antibiotics, because they were afraid that their scope of practice could be used as a standard of practice in the court of law. This means that even if they were morally against prescribing antibiotics they could be held liable if they did not prescribe them and the pt suffered a negative outcome.

As far as I know, this hasn't happened yet. But it is food for thought.