Happy Nurse Practitioner Week!
Thank you to all the NPs for your constant, selfless care, and compassion for patients! I may be a little biased, but I think nurse practitioners are the best ❤️. In honor of NP week, I thought I would share a few qualities I feel nurse practitioners excel at. Comment below anything else you would add!
- Empathetic– Nurse practitioners are known for their ability to understand others’ feelings and what they are going through. This can be difficult for some people to do, but nurse practitioners are used to seeing patients’ pain and suffering first hand. We’ve been there when a patient experiences excruciating pain getting out of bed post-op TKA. Home health NPs are in a patient’s environment and see first hand the struggles a patient goes through. In the clinic, we hear the challenges our patient’s face with finances, family, and the debilitations of chronic disease. We understand what patients are going through.
- Communicator: We talk and collaborate with all healthcare members as well as patients. Pharmacy is on line 1 with a question? No problem. A patient’s family is concerned about the treatment plan? Let’s educate. Physical therapy has a concern about a patient’s progress? Let’s discuss. Billing and coding department is questioning a chart? We will take a look. Nurse practitioners have strong communication skills with anyone involved in the patient’s care.
- Attentive– Nurse practitioners assessment skills are top notch. As RNs, we were the ones responsible for assessing patients and calling the provider because something was wrong. Not only are we attentive to a patient’s physical exam, but also their emotional status. We see the whole picture, the whole patient. Nurse practitioners are known for their thorough, complete care.
- Creativity: Have you ever slipped an Alzheimer’s patient’s pills into a bite of pudding? I digress. Have you ever used a whole roll of tape to secure that chest tube? Yep, no chance of disconnection. Have you found a way to drop a patient’s A1C 1% even when insurance wouldn’t pay for the medication? Hell yeah. Nurses and nurse practitioners are very creative at helping our patients with what they need.
- Leadership: Nurse practitioners are changing healthcare. Look at how many states now have full practice authority! APRNs have been a part of legislature change for regulations big and small. We understand the current struggles and know how to advocate for our field and our patients. Not bad for a profession only 56 years old!
I am proud to be a nurse practitioner and you should be too!
For time management and charting tips, check out The Nurse Practitioner Charting School– The one stop for all documentation resources created specifically for nurse practitioners. Learn more at www.npchartingschool.com
**Full disclosure, this blog post may include affiliate links. I do receive a commission if any of the affiliate programs/services/supplies are purchased. This is at no extra cost to you but does allow me to continue to provide content as The Burned-out Nurse Practitioner! Thank you!
**Full disclosure, this blog post may include affiliate links. I do receive a commission if any of the affiliate programs/services/supplies are purchased. This is at no extra cost to you but does allow me to continue to provide content as The Burned-out Nurse Practitioner! Thank you!
