The Rise of Nurse Practitioners

Not bad. I disagree with some of the language used in the article- "very difficult job with very long hours"- hopefully that is not the case for most of us.

And if it is, we are being appropriately compensated.

I also disagree with a dichotomy of "checklist' vs "a call to help people".

As a Psych NP, I help people primarily by doing my own mental "checklist."

Here it goes: Are there acute mental health or behavioral symptoms? Are they dangerous? Is an ER evaluation warranted? What is the correct diagnosis? Can family members provide collateral information? Can the patient participate in his own care? What drugs have already been tried? Have dosages been maximized if needed? Is there poor quality polypharmacy? Have there been side effects? What is the risk/benefit ratio of the drug regimen? Is there a medical component to the presentation? Are any labs due?

Thanks for listening folks.