Nurse Practitioner

Editorial Team / Admin · Jun 10, 2015

Hello,

We moved your thread to the Student NP forum for the best response.

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Jun 11, 2015

I am a family NP in a primary care clinic. I actually find my job very rewarding. As in any job you have the annoyances (what insurance covers what, patients who "can't" afford their meds but can afford their smart phones/cigarettes/etc.) but overall I love making the call that get people better, put their minds at ease, and/or get them the help they need. Had a pt's wife who gave me a 'thanks' from her husband because he got a lot of relief from a Neti Pot which I suggested. Got MULTIPLE thanks from a pt/daughter duo for listening to them and realizing the pt was significantly anemic and got him hospitalized that evening. Thanks for doing lab work that discovers a potential cause for a pt's symptoms.

It's all a mystery. Nothing I do is guaranteed to work but all we can do is try to fit the pieces together and find the best plan.

Where bedside nursing you are being pulled 27 different directions at a time in primary care as a FNP you may be pulled 4. The rest of it you delegate (though I don't delegate all some providers do because, well, I can easily do it myself and not make the nurse take time out of her/his day). It is still a fairly stressful job but I am able to come home and feel more at ease. I make better money, I learn something new about every day, and I am loving when patients ask if they can come back to see me.

Not to mention I LOVE the little things like seeing my name on a script pad and business card and getting an office

TYPICAL DAY (in one of my clinics...I work in 2):

Get there about 8. Catch up and sign off on what charts are on my desk. See maybe 10-ish patients before lunch at 12. Lunch 12-1 where I also finish up on charting, signing off, calling about labs, etc. Then I see patients 1-5. In this clinic we have to send off lab and have to send them for x-rays/imaging at the local hospital so there isn't much to review at the visit itself. A lot of it is 'listen to the patient's story, order what I need, call with results/plan later in the day or next day.' I typically see sinus/respiratory infections, UTI's, fatigue, skin stuff. I do get some chronic issues such as lab review with med adjustments for cholesterol, HTN, DM. Since I am the only female provider in the clinic I often get the PAPs as well. I also see quite a few children each day. Do school/sports physicals. I will say I am still pretty new (5 months) but I am really starting to get my groove and better understands the pharm, patho, patient education, differentials behind each patient.

Do I sometimes miss bedside nursing? Occasionally when I come up on a tough case that I really am unsure where to go (and I don't want to be the one in charge). Do I regret becoming a NP? Not at all.