jrprthd96

I use an HTC touch. This is also my phone. You can add up to 4gig mem so I also use it for mp3s... The only issue is when texting it is difficult to get used to. I have free apps from Merck Medicus which can be activated using your license number for RN at http://www.merckmedicus.com. I also have the free version of the med app from epocrates. These combine for more info than you could ever hope to apply. Hope this helps.

I did this in Mississippi. The BSN program at South Alabama is a good program and is online. I was able to do this working full time and it takes 2 semesters with 1 summer. For Mississippi, the out of state tuition was waived (you'll need to check for Georgia) and they were understanding and helpful (during hurricane Katrina). I then went to a program in state that met every Monday, and clinical arranged by me to fit my schedule. This took 2 semesters and a summer. Total time, I went from a banker to a FNP in 4 years. Grants help, tuition is worth it, and the online was not bad at all. I worked full time except my last semester in NP school.

I think its worth saying that nurse practitioners generally care about their patients and take their patients health care personally. This is easily seen as you consider the motivation for us to return to school and go after this degree and work. Many positions that do what be do will go for financial reasons when a little care and concern for others would be beneficial. As a nurse, I became frustrated that there were obvious things not done for patients and many times I was looked down upon for suggesting changes in the POC for my patients. I have been yelled at for questioning an order, written up for not carrying out a dangerous order, and unable to effect the care plan for a patients who were under-served for various reasons. One thing I have not been is arrogant enough to assume I know everything. What should scare you is the number of times an arrogant MD has made a statement full of absolutes and been so wrong, and then, when the truth was clear, all they could say was how it was not their fault. I take comfort in knowing that we will be smart enough to know our limits (experience, knowledge, or scope of practice) and that we would be humble enough to ask advice. Anyone not governed by those principles, NP or otherwise, scares me.... But I may be strange.

In my state, (MS) after you are registered to test, the state issues a temporary license without DEA rights that is good for either 3 or 6 months.

Thanks David. This has been very helpful for me to see how you guys look at this. I think I will just go and better define my line of authority and communication chain. Then after I pass boards I will set some goals and submit them for approval that will allow for planned growth and have a back up plan for those surprise busy days. Meanwhile, when business is slow, I will do all that I can and treat it like marketing and try to impress my patients in order to gain repeat and referral business.

Thanks for the reply...I do have a contract but the only thing in this area that applies is that I will perform the customary duties and responsibilities of a nurse practitioner. Also I work for all three MDs and not the office manager.

I am pretty bold but more importantly I want to make a good professional impression individually and for my profession. I don't want to "take it" if it makes NPs look like "less than" but I don't want to "Make a big deal" if it makes NPs look petty.

This may take a while and this is my 1st post so please forgive my rambling. I completed NP school in August and started a new job on Sept 1st. My "big test" is on the 22nd. My job is at a clinic with 3 MDs who have never had an NP there and if I were not a male I am not sure I would be there. These guys are 65, 52, and 40 and are old school in many ways. The pay is a salary of $78k plus 15% of each dollar collected including lab and x-ray. This seems like a great deal to me. The benefits package is not great other than the retirement which is a profit sharing of around 15% per year plus a 100% match on a 401k up to 5%. Now to the point. I realize the beginning of any new job with a new position is not seamless. I got to work and didn't have an office, I was given a patients room that "we just won't use" but this would only be temporary. The three MDs each have an RN and there is an LPN that floats on the others weekly days off. I have been getting paid to see the overflow and call-ins as well as study for my test. This past week I saw 3-6 patients a day. At times I would bring them back and do the VS and current complaint as well as the appointment all at one time. No big deal right, I'm slow now anyway. If more than one was there at a time, a nurse would bring them back for me, or if I was treating with an injection the nurse would handle it. Friday the office manager calls me in and says that I needed to get my own patients and deliver my own meds and leave the nurses alone because they work for the doctors. So I'm slow, "What's the big deal?" I am unsure if I should approach this like the temporary office thing and say "well, its only temporary and we will eventually get a nurse when I am busier" or is this a professional identification thing and I need to assert myself as a primary care provider and health care professional and say "I was hired to perform the task and duties of an NP not a clinic nurse. There may not be a problem since I am not that busy, but it isn't a big deal for them either." I need some professional advice please. You guys got me into school, and through the process and I have been able to just read thus far, but I haven't found another post like this anywhere. I also think it is worth saying, I don't know if the MDs are aware of this and I imagine their response would be that we need a group effort to take care of the patient but I don't want to make waves on something that will pass with time. HELP!!