I started a new NP job back in December working for a pediatric practice. There are 7 physicians who all seem like very nice, dedicated people. I took the job knowing my expected days of work would be Fri 9-7, Sat 9-5, Sun 12-5 and Mondays 9-7. Believe it or not, it seemed like the perfect schedule for me. Primarily I see acutes or walk ins. I deal with everything from newborn wt checks to 22 yr olds needing GYN exams.
I am an FNP who graduated last June. My previous jobs in nursing and before becoming a nurse really gave me some great experience with peds population.
However I have some concerns about the way the doctors treat me. In short - I feel like I'm being treated like a student again! They review ALL my charts and each day I work I am "assigned" to one of the physicians. I have a weekly mtg with one of the docs where I am "drilled" basically on different patients and why I treated them the way I did. I have to justify everything. They also bring me tons of journals and reading material that I am expected to study on my days off! At first it made me feel secure knowing there was someone I could go to with questions, but I'm wondering how long this "hovering" over me is going to last. I don't pretend to know everything or be an expert and I am good about asking for help when I have questions or concerns. I am seeing about 20 patients per day. I see them on my own, write my scripts etc. If I have questions I do go to one of the doctors and ask for help.
I am not used to being treated like this. It's starting to get annoying. They use to have a PA work their weekend clinic and he worked alone. They will have me working weekends with a doctor, and starting next week they may be coming into the room while I see patients. This just feels odd to me. Do any of you practice this way? I am used to practicing independently (I am in Oregon where we are not required to have MD supervision). Also, I have no point person to go to with issues or concerns. Whenever I ask about my contract (which i still don't have) they say "we will discuss this at our doctors mtg next week." EVERY issue has to be discussed as a team at the mtg and I never get any answers. (I am not included in the mtgs.) Do any of you work like this? It just seems very odd and strange to me.
I started a new NP job back in December working for a pediatric practice. There are 7 physicians who all seem like very nice, dedicated people. I took the job knowing my expected days of work would be Fri 9-7, Sat 9-5, Sun 12-5 and Mondays 9-7. Believe it or not, it seemed like the perfect schedule for me. Primarily I see acutes or walk ins. I deal with everything from newborn wt checks to 22 yr olds needing GYN exams.
I am an FNP who graduated last June. My previous jobs in nursing and before becoming a nurse really gave me some great experience with peds population.
However I have some concerns about the way the doctors treat me. In short - I feel like I'm being treated like a student again! They review ALL my charts and each day I work I am "assigned" to one of the physicians. I have a weekly mtg with one of the docs where I am "drilled" basically on different patients and why I treated them the way I did. I have to justify everything. They also bring me tons of journals and reading material that I am expected to study on my days off! At first it made me feel secure knowing there was someone I could go to with questions, but I'm wondering how long this "hovering" over me is going to last. I don't pretend to know everything or be an expert and I am good about asking for help when I have questions or concerns. I am seeing about 20 patients per day. I see them on my own, write my scripts etc. If I have questions I do go to one of the doctors and ask for help.
I am not used to being treated like this. It's starting to get annoying. They use to have a PA work their weekend clinic and he worked alone. They will have me working weekends with a doctor, and starting next week they may be coming into the room while I see patients. This just feels odd to me. Do any of you practice this way? I am used to practicing independently (I am in Oregon where we are not required to have MD supervision). Also, I have no point person to go to with issues or concerns. Whenever I ask about my contract (which i still don't have) they say "we will discuss this at our doctors mtg next week." EVERY issue has to be discussed as a team at the mtg and I never get any answers. (I am not included in the mtgs.) Do any of you work like this? It just seems very odd and strange to me.
You said that you started the job less than 2 months ago. Are you a brand new NP? If not, then it doesn't make sense that they're treating you this way, especially since they had a PA working on their own.
When they "drill" you about patients you saw, do they disagree with your diagnosis or treatment? If not, then maybe they are expecting you to go through an orientation of sorts...did they mention this when you applied for the job?
If I were a brand new NP, I would expect this and welcome it. However, after 3 months, I would hope they would be more confident in my abilities. I was basically "thrown to the wolves" when I first started practicing and I would have KILLED to have had a physician around to answer questions.
Thank you. You are so right that I need to clarify my role and scope of practice with them. I'm just not sure where and who to start with. The practice seems to decide everything "as a team" and there is no "top dog" to go to. I had to have 7 separate interviews (1 with each doctor) before getting this job. They wanted everyones opinion on me. Guess that should have been a clue about how things worked around here, huh?
SEVEN separate interviews?? That is insane.
Something else, I suspect these docs are trying to keep you "under their thumb," because they aren't happy with NP's having full independence in your state. They're probably over-scrutinizing you, because they want to prove something. I say this because I live in Texas and a bill was just introduced into the legislature giving us full independent practice. There has been a HUGE outcry amongst the doctors here. I've noticed that some of the docs I work with have sort of changed their attitude towards NP's. I overheard 3 of them hovering together and talking about going to a big protest in Austin. I'm pretty sick of MD's at this point. I'm sick of doing all their work while they sit on their lazy a-- in their office on the phone or surfing the internet - I'm certainly not being supervised. I've had them sign my charts before I've even seen the patient...just so they can bill at 100%. I've started noticing that when I DO ask them a question, they usually don't know the answer either...so why do I need them around?
ANPFNPGNP
685 Posts
You said that you started the job less than 2 months ago. Are you a brand new NP? If not, then it doesn't make sense that they're treating you this way, especially since they had a PA working on their own.
When they "drill" you about patients you saw, do they disagree with your diagnosis or treatment? If not, then maybe they are expecting you to go through an orientation of sorts...did they mention this when you applied for the job?
If I were a brand new NP, I would expect this and welcome it. However, after 3 months, I would hope they would be more confident in my abilities. I was basically "thrown to the wolves" when I first started practicing and I would have KILLED to have had a physician around to answer questions.