midwestFNP

I'll also add that not all foster parents go into it for the right reasons, hence my concern.

Really? Thank you for the quick recap of my first assessment class ever. My question was ethical in nature and pertained to what to do if faced with a patient who you felt was not giving the full story in regards to their health history. Not only that, but then being asked to sign a form verifying the patient is mentally and physically fit to serve as a foster parent. We do a lot of this type of work in our clinic and I wanted to see how other providers handled the situation if they were concerned about a new patient. I see you work in hospice-last time I checked hospice NPs don't perform foster or DOT physicals. Keep the condescension to yourself.

Thanks to you both for the replies. This is definitely a grey area for me as I know it's imperative these children are placed in homes promptly, at times on an urgent basis. Moving forward I am going to have to trust my gut, and if I feel someone is not giving me the full story or a more thorough clinical workup is warranted, then I will not be signing any forms. Thanks again!

If I were you I would look at going into a research position-perhaps working in clinical trials?

How do you handle new patients that are coming to see you strictly for a foster care physical? I feel like I am asked to sign off that they are physically and mentally fit to care for a foster child without really knowing them at all. This happens frequently at our clinic due to the high number of patients on state assistance in our area of town. I of course do a complete H&P but there are no labs drawn at the visit or prior health records to look over. Some of the patients that come in for foster care physicals are clearly in poor health but deny any health problems-mental or physical. Obviously they can lie and tell me whatever they want. There is that line on the foster care form that asks how long you have known the patient...5 minutes??! It just doesn't seem right. They may or may not have a PCP elsewhere but come to us because we are pretty good about working new patients in for things like this. The same goes for DOT physicals when you don't know the patient. How do you handle things like this where you are asked to certify the health of a patient that you barely know?

What's your long-term goal? Either can transition into a career in nursing but CNA will better prepare you if that is the path you choose. I would probably go with CNA because of the aforementioned reason, more hands on patient care, and a better introduction into what nursing is all about. I am one of "those nurses" who thinks being a CNA is an important step in the career ladder. :)

Aside from a couple of posts, this thread paints a negative picture of daycare and might make some parents feel guilty for working and missing time away from their kids. I had my first baby in August of last year and returned to work full time 9 weeks later. It has not been easy but I was lucky in that my older sister has a daycare and preschool so at least she is with family and/or the teachers that work for her. I still cried the first day I dropped her off but honestly being a working mom makes me a better mom. I appreciate the time I have with her even more, am able to provide my child with whatever she needs, and I help support my family. I worked very hard for my MSN-FNP and chose this career path so I could have evenings, weekends and holidays with my family all while making a good living. I worked as a floor nurse for years and hated missing that quality time. I'm also under contract for 2 years to get my student loans paid off so this is a sacrifice that will be very much worth it to my family in the long run. I hope someday to maybe work part time or per diem but that's not an option right now. My baby absolutely loves daycare and we use the teachers for babysitting, etc because they are all wonderful and love our daughter. She has not been sick once and our bond has not suffered in the least. I'm rambling but bottom line is you do what you have to for your family. I am the product of two parents who worked full time my entire life-I hope as my child grows older she appreciates the sacrifices her parents made as I do now in regards to my own parents.

I'm in the midwest and our small hospital is going through the same thing. It hasn't hit NPs yet but the doctors all had to take a 10% pay cut and there have been massive layoffs of hospital staff. I'm out on maternity leave and I've barely been able to enjoy it as I'm always worried about work!

I work in a primary care setting dealing mostly with underserved/vulnerable/impoverished patients. The majority are on state assistance but I have a fair amount of commercially insured also. I see everything from coughs and colds to patients with multiple chronic health issues. I work M-Th and I set the amount and type of patients I see. I usually end up seeing somewhere in the range of 18-20 per day. We are given an hour for lunch but I usually end up taking that time in my office to review charts, labs, do refills etc because I like to leave at 5:00 on the dot or earlier. I work with 2 other NPs so time off is never an issue. I will make close to 100k this year with bonus. I don't work holidays or weekends and I'm getting all my loans paid off through the NHSC. There are lots of good jobs out there for primary care NPs!

There are two programs for the NHSC. Loan repayment after you graduate and a students-to-service program. I'm not that familiar with the student-to-service program but I believe you commit while still in school and they send you to an NHSC site after you graduate. There is also the Nurse corps and state loan repayment program.

I believe they issue the funds in a lump sum at the beginning of the contract period. My contract officially started 7/24 so I'm thinking a deposit for $50k should be made soon.

I'm at an NHSC site and my base is $87k which is significantly higher than the other hospitals and clinics in our area. With bonus I should make about $110-115k this year. I am in my second year of practice. My site didn't advertise the fact the position was eligible for NHSC loan repayment-I figured it out after I took the job. :)

Yes I heard back 7/24 from NHSC with an official contract. Hopefully you will hear back soon!

Yep loan repayment, I didn't apply for the scholarship program and just re-read your post. It sounds like they are now sending out approval notices for all of their programs so hopefully applicants will hear something soon.

Excited for you that you finally heard back from them! Congrats!