Upcoming Clinicals @ Family Practice/Medicine

DogWmn · Nov 25, 2009

Wellll, my experience is a bit dated, I'm also a re-entry LPN but I haven't re-entered yet:sniff: (no job)

However, I worked in a teaching hospital family practice clinic with the residents (one of which was my other half at the time:rolleyes: ) and of course worked in his private practice clinic.

You'll get an appointment list for the day and of course there will be multi "squeeze in's", you'll need to review all the charts to make sure any labs or procedure results are there. Time management is a big must, you need to keep a head of your Doc's. You'll try to follow the schedule as much as possible pushing the little buggers along and I don't mean the patients, if your doc has poor time management skills you'll really be in the tank.

Your patients will be really varied especially if they do OB & Peds.

Sooo let the fun begin, be prepaired for a really fast pace environment.

You'll bring the patient(s) into the room and get their "why are you here today" history and symptoms, review their meds, take vitals, get them prepaired to see the doc (if you think they might need a urine sample get it before they undress) Then do what ever the clinic does to alert the doc the patient is ready (chart in door). If it's a female exam and male doc you'll need to be in the room. If they do kids you might have multiple kids in the room so you might have to tape up drawers etc. most of the nurses there will know these people and will give you a heads up. Prepair for any possible procedures.

After the doc is done you might be required to draw blood, give shots, make appointments with other doc's or procedures, arrange an admit, do patient education about new meds or diagnosis, clean the room after each patient. And in between, you'll be handling "nurse calls" - patients calling in with questions about all sorts of stuff.

Most docs run 3-4 rooms at a time, keep a head of the game, figure out how your going to work in those "squeeze ins"- breath...LOL. Oh and most times you'll be assigned more than one doc!!!

A busy rural Family Practice clinic that does it all can be one of the most fun and rewarding experiences. You get to know your patients and their families really well (that can be a bit of problem sometimes since you'll see them on the street), you see something different every day, at our clinic we did, OB & Peds, minor surgeries including vasectomies.

It's a different type of nursing than bedside, but Family Practice clinic is fast paced and varied enough that you are always learning something new, and I hope to do it again some day.

Good luck and enjoy - just a little envy here wishing it was me:D

Ayvah, RN · Nov 25, 2009

I'm not an LPN but I can help with some answers. Some of the things that LPNs do in a family med clinic include

-preparing patients to see the doctor, by ensuring the clinic's list of current medications is correct, checking allergies, updating basic history such as if the patient is smoking, and what surgeries they have had in the past, vitals, etc

-phone triage

-patient education

-working with insurance companies to advocate that they approve coverage for medications or diagnostic testing

-ekg, pregnancy tests, urine dip sticks, blood glucose, drawing labs,

-administering shots, immunizations, breathing treatments, etc.

-potentially assisting doctor with minor in-office procedures.

nurse-in-limbo · Dec 3, 2009

Thank you very much Ayvah and DogWmn for sharing your knowledge and experiences @ fam. med. They would really be of great help during my clinicals. I am excited yet a little bit nervous...Again, I really appreciate your input. Have a wonderful day!

DogWmn · Dec 3, 2009

Please let us know how it goes, I'd love to hear your feedback on what you think of it all?