NutmegNP

Thanks for the support everyone! I just attended an interview for my replacement, and the hot topic was the need to "pitch in" anywhere and everywhere all the time. So I get that they while they NEED someone who can cover the front desk, do all the MA tasks, be the office nurse, and when it's convenient for them be the provider too and as a result they are really pushing this team player thing being that kind of team player takes me away from the things I NEED TO DO and does very little to further the NP profession. In retrospect, for the future I need to be aware of this particular spin on the team player thing before accepting a job in that organization. You all have been my lifeline in a very trying time. Thankis

I recently had a phone interview with them and was offered the job. The process was fine, the people I spoke to seemed sincere and nice to talk to. The job itself seemed decent, however the pay was a little bit lower than what I would have expected for all the travel required - covering a 5 state area, being on the road most of time with the need to pick up and take it to a totally different state on a moment's notice if called to do so. I think the company's financials were in order, so no worries there. I think the organizational structure supported NPs fairly well too. In the end, I was a bit hesitant to take a job after only phone interviews, I hadn't even given any references yet or anything. I ended up taking a job with a group that has a pretty solid reputation, and there were 4 live interviews.

So right you are. The only other provider there is a per diem physician who has staunchly said all along that he will not draw blood, administer vaccines, room his own patients, check vitals etc. My mistake, right from the beginning, trying to have a post attitude and help out when needed. Lesson learned!

It can vary from company to company. For one company in occ med I did primarily injury management. For another, which was a large fortune 100 company, I did travel medicine, wellness, and some primary care believe it or not. For my current company, I am more of a technician, actually collecting the drug screen, spirometry testing, audiometry testing, drawing blood etc. The technician role is not really my cup of tea so I'm going to be moving on however I agree there are a lot of different avenues occ med can take you. However, although there are no press ganey's remember, you can be in the middle of angry employees that want you to deem chronic conditions like DDD / DJD work related and angry adjusters denying claims so it's not exactly an escape from conflict.

I faced similar circumstances a few years ago when I moved from my home state of CT where NPs are autonomous to NC where there is restricted practice. I knew we were moving for my husband's job, so I had been applying for licensure well in advance of that. I was able to obtain my RN license prior to arrival in NC but they would not activate my NC NP license until I provided them with a North Carolina street address and the name of a supervising physician. When I left NC, and no longer had a NC street address they immediately inactivated my license. I thought of doing some per diem work, but they would not issue again without the NC address and supervising physician name. As far as practice goes, in real life, the actual work I did was much the same between CT and NC. The big difference was pretty much everything had to be signed off at the end of the day by the supervising physician. And there needed to be regular documentation of physician oversight in case of audits from the BON.

Ok. I've been an NP for 12 years, specialty and primary care under my belt. It's a moot point now because I'm a shorttimer, 2 months of my 3 month notice period done. But anyway, check this out. I am basically an MA in my current job, reading and "planting" PPDs, putting away stock, rooming patients for the MD, drawing blood, hearing and vision tests, covering the front desk (!!). Needless to say 1/4 of this small company has quit in the past couple of months. When I object and say this is really not what I went to school to do, I get the "you need to be a team player response"... While I get what they are saying on the one hand, lots of quitting without hiring and they need help. On the other hand, I'm being a lousy steward of my profession by working as an MA. How should I be responding? Thanks in advance!