Here’s to New Beginnings

With all the uncertainty of everything going on right now, I have one little thing to celebrate…today is my very last day sitting in this office where I have enjoyed beautiful sunrises and the soothing sounds of the expressway for the past 2 years!!

Our clinic is moving this weekend!!!!

While this may not seem like the optimal time to move into a new location, this plan was in place way before COVID-19 hit and many states were placed on shelter in place and well, there’s no turning back!!

For those of you who don’t know, let me tell you a little about what I do and how I ended up here. I am an FNP working in a privately owned occupational health/urgent care in suburban Chicago. I have been with this company in total for 4 years. About 3 years ago I was offered the opportunity to work as a pediatric hospitalist APN for a local hospital. I thought this would be my dream job as I had spent my entire nursing career in pediatrics. Unfortunately, that opportunity was not the best fit for me and somehow the stars aligned and the owner of my current clinic, where I was still PRN, contacted me about a new opportunity. He was opening a brand new occupational health clinic to service several large companies in the area and he needed a provider for the clinic. While I was hesitant at first to open a new clinic, I decided to take the chance and we opened 2 years ago this month.

Our clinic has been relatively successful in the current location however in order to expand our business and provide the best care to our patients, we are moving to an area where there is more industry and we will be able to provide access to medical services for more companies and still provide urgent care needs to patients in the community. Anyways, long story short, this is a little piece of excitement for me in an otherwise uncertain world. Hopefully, we continue our success and only go up from here!

xoxo, Tara

Thoughts on COVID-19

As a Nurse Practitioner and a mom, so many different thought processes have gone on in my brain in regards to the current COVID-19 pandemic and I am sure I am not alone. If you had asked me 2 weeks ago what I thought about COVID-19, I would have told you that it doesn’t appear to be a big deal, if you are healthy and haven’t traveled to an affected area, you don’t have to worry. As a matter of fact, 2 weeks ago I booked a flight for me and my son to visit my mom in Florida over Spring Break. At that time, my biggest worry was telling my 5 and a half year old that he would be missing his 100th day in school celebration and his pre-K field trip to the police department all so we could visit grandma in Florida. At that time, I wasn’t concerned about the spread of COVID-19. Our plan was just to go to my mom’s, hang out, and go to the beach and nothing was going to stop us from that trip.

At the same time, about 2 weeks ago, I was having dinner with my girlfriends, both of whom work in education and had Spring Break coming up. My one girlfriend was all set to go on a cruise and at that time there were reports of 2 cruise ships quarantined due to COVID-19. The three of us spent an extensive time talking it over and really our biggest concern was the cruise ship being quarantined and her not being able to come home for 2 weeks. She was planning on taking it day by day as she had until 3 days before the cruise to cancel. Last week, she officially canceled.

Last week, I was still in optimism mode. I was still planning on going on my trip despite the beginning discussions of social distancing. I work in a privately owned occupational health/urgent care clinic and some of my patients would ask if we were concerned, what should they do, etc and I was still in the mindset of recommending they practice good hand hygiene, cover their coughs, stay home if they’re sick, but again, not to worry. We implemented screening techniques in our clinic. We upped our cleaning techniques in the clinic. We kept close watch on watch CDC and IDPH recommendations were for which patients should be tested. We attempted to order additional supplies to the best of our abilities, though a large amount, including masks, cleaning supplies, hand soap, and hand sanitizer were all on back order.

Then last Friday rolled around and some of our local suburban Chicago schools were beginning to close early, extending Spring Breaks. Later that afternoon, our governor spoke and announced all state schools would be closed for 2 weeks and we should all start practicing social distancing. The following days it really became apparent that there was no turning back as the governor began closing bars and restaurants to dine in patrons, public buildings began closing their doors, state parks and trails have closed, and the cases of COVID-19 in our area have begun to rise day by day.

Now is the point where I am going to be brutally honest. I am beginning to become concerned. Almost a little more than concerned, afraid. I’m afraid for myself and my fellow healthcare workers that there are not enough PPE supplies available to protect us from contracting the virus. I’m afraid for those who work in the hospitality industry who are not currently working as they have been shut down and now they may not be able to pay their bills. I’m afraid for the elderly including my mom, my in-laws, and my patients as they are all at higher risk. I’m afraid for my 5 and a half year old who just doesn’t quite understand what’s going on and may feel punished when I tell him that at this time it is not reasonable to play with his friends. I’m afraid how long this is going to last and where we go from here.

So many thoughts and fears yet as a mom and a nurse practitioner, I have to put on my brave face and my big girl pants and push through. If I can do it, so can you!

xoxo, Tara

Wellness Wednesday: Elderberry

As I’m trying to get more frequent in posting to my blog, I thought it would be nice to add some wellness tidbits that are helpful for medical professionals and parents alike. The thing I am going to focus on today is elderberry and its use in preventing and even helping treat respiratory illnesses, namely influenza.

I don’t know about you, but I live in a state where influenza activity is currently high. According to the CDC, 44 of 50 states are currently ranked high for the week ending February 8, 2020 (Centers for Disease Control, 2020). As a nurse practitioner in urgent care, I can safely say that at least half of my patients who have come in for upper respiratory symptoms since about Christmas have tested positive for either influenza A or B. Working in this environment, it is not only important for me to protect myself from influenza, but also to help my patients deal with their symptoms.

While there are antiviral medications available to lessen influenza symptoms, specifically Tamiflu, there are side effects and a time frame the medication must be given in order to be effective. Many parents, myself included, like to have other options when it comes to relieving influenza symptoms. One thing I often recommend to parents and use for myself and my family is elderberry. There have been several research studies over the recent years comparing the effectiveness of elderberry extract to Tamiflu and elderberry has been shown to be just as, if not more effective than Tamiflu in reducing symptoms from influenza. One study in particular found that elderberry extract lessened influenza 3-4 days sooner than placebo vs Tamiflu which lessened symptoms by only about a day and a half vs placebo (Zakay-Rones, Thom, Wollan, & Wadstein, 2004)

Speaking for myself, I have been taking elderberry gummies on a daily basis as an immune booster during cold and flu season and my 5 year old has as well. I started researching elderberry’s antiviral properties about 2 years ago when I was working as an APN hospitalist in pediatrics at a hospital local to me. That year I had come down with what I am to assume was influenza (based on the time of year and how quickly the symptoms hit). At that time, I started taking elderberry lozenges and I will attest to the fact that the worst part of my symptoms resolved in about 2 days. Not bad at all. Now I will add that I also get my influenza vaccine early on every fall because every little bit of protection is helpful, especially in healthcare.

To this day, I continue elderberry throughout flu season and recommend it to my patients and their families as well for that added protection. The great thing about elderberry is there are little side effects and it can be given to pretty much anyone. We personally do the gummies in our house because they are quick, easy, and taste great. I tend to buy them on Amazon and have them on subscribe and save because that is how busy moms get things done! These are my current favorite (https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Elderberry-Supplements-Vegetarian/dp/B07C9K1DJ6/ref=pd_ys_c_rfy_rp_m_120_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07C9K1DJ6&pd_rd_r=QFW7Q41JP38VE7FH3V8K&pd_rd_w=lRL2n&pd_rd_wg=jXV6q&pf_rd_p=f362ffbd-ead2-40e1-90ca-7d0821be93c2&pf_rd_r=QFW7Q41JP38VE7FH3V8K&psc=1&refRID=E1CMT254SMEKQEXWT8NR).

I hope this little wellness post helped and I aim to have more in the near future. Have a great week and stay healthy!!

xo, Tara

Works Cited

  • Centers for Disease Control. (2020, February 14). CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ILIActivityMap
  • Zakay-Rones, Z., Thom, E., Wollan, T., & Wadstein, J. (2004). Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections. Journal of International Medical Research, 132-140. doi:10.1177/147323000403200205

If I Were to Do it All Again…

An interesting question has been posed to me a few times in the past few weeks and I have been giving a lot of thought about it so I figured what better place to discuss my thoughts than here on the blog. The question that was presented, and I think many Nurse Practitioners have been asked the same question, is “if you had to do it all over again, would you still do the NP route or would you go PA or MD/DO?”. To answer that question honestly, I never really thought about it. When I say I never really thought about it, I really mean it. When I graduated from nursing school many moons ago, there weren’t many nurses going into nurse practitioner programs (at least as far as I know). Then I went and worked at a moderate-sized community hospital where again, not many nurses were going on to become nurse practitioners and we did not have a huge nurse practitioner presence in the hospital I worked in at the time. It wasn’t until, nearly 10 years into my nursing career, I decided to move on from my comfortable community hospital to a major children’s hospital. There is where I started to see more and more young nurses going on for advanced degrees and a few years in I decided to join the crowd.


Now obviously none of that answers the question of whether or not I would do it the same way if I had it to do all over again. I guess the easy answer to that question is, yes I would. Why you ask? Well because I’m a nurse first and foremost. I appreciate the nursing model of care. Not to say that there is anything wrong with the medical model because there isn’t, but I am very much in the mindset of once a nurse, always a nurse. I think my nursing background greatly helps my bedside manner with patients. I am not afraid to get on the floor and play with a small child while I am examining them. I have sat with young adult patients, singing along with them to calm their nerves as I suture. I enjoy taking the time to sit with my patients and just chat about life and whatever. Of course, that isn’t always possible depending on how busy the day is, but I think my many years as a bedside nurse taught me how to have those moments with patients and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.


There is so much more to bedside nursing and advanced practice nursing, but if that is the route you are considering for your future, I think it is important to look at what nursing is and do you have the passion for it. Nursing, especially hospital nursing, is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You work nights, holidays, weekends. Your coworkers become your family because they are in the same boat as you. You will laugh with them, stress with them, and cry with them. You will have days where you hate it, yet you will still love it. Patient care is important because as the nurse, you are the one who is there for a full 12-hour shift with your patient when the providers are in and out. You are the one watching for those major changes and contacting the patient’s provider when those changes happen.
I may have moved on from bedside nursing as it can burn you out after an extended period of time, but the nurse is still in me. I wouldn’t change my path for anything. So to answer the question I originally posed, no, I wouldn’t do it any other way. Sure nurse practitioners still have a ton of convincing to do to the general public and medical groups to show that we are great providers for our patients and that we are an integral part of the healthcare team. It will take time, but we are getting there.

Now I pose the question to everyone else, if you could do it all over again, would you? It doesn’t matter what your career is now, but take the time to think about it. Is there anything you would do differently in your career? Sometimes I think it is just nice to take a moment for a little reflection to see if where you are now is where you want to be.

Have a great week everyone! I hope to stop back soon!

xo, Tara

What’s with all that coughing and sneezing? It’s RSV season!

RSV season, it is probably one of the most dreaded times of year in pediatrics and many reports are showing that this season is one of the worst in years. As a former pediatric nurse, I can attest the dread of RSV season, all of the suctioning, transferring in and out of ICU for more or less respiratory support, keeping those sweet babes in isolation to prevent the spread of RSV to other patients, and all of the masks, gowns, and gloves you can imagine. It was exhausting! As a provider and mom, I have to say, it is not much better.

Let’s start on what to expect out of RSV as a parent. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is an extremely common and contagious respiratory virus that occurs during the fall, winter and spring months, with typical peak timing between January and February. The most common symptoms of RSV are runny nose, sneezing, cough, fever, and decreased appetite. Practically every child, by the age of 2, has been infected by RSV. However, symptoms can vary in severity from child to child and just because they have been infected once, that does not mean they will never be infected again. Those infected with RSV are typically contagious from 3-8 days and often times days 3-5 are when the worst of the symptoms present themselves.

RSV is passed through droplets and contact, hence why in the hospital, these kiddos are put in isolation and anyone coming in and out of the child’s room must wear a gown, gloves, and mask. Passing through droplets means that it is passed by coughing and sneezing, so covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze is not only polite, it helps prevent the spread of illness. The fact that is spread by contact means that it lives on surfaces, so just because you covered your mouth, does not mean that you are totally in the clear from spreading illness, it means you need to wash your hands (again this is also a polite thing to do). Adults can also catch and spread RSV, so it is especially important to avoid kissing on those sweet newborns and if you are touching someone’s baby, please wash your hands beforehand (oh and ask the mom or dad first, because otherwise that’s just plain rude)!!!

RSV can range from mild to severe, those with highest risk are premature infants, those with congenital heart or lung disease, infants under 6 months who were born in the start of RSV season, and anyone with a compromised immune system. These are the kids we become especially concerned about developing into bronchiolitis, pneumonia, severe respiratory distress, or even respiratory failure. Things parents should look for in their infant with RSV is fast breathing, using accessory muscles to breathe (pulling in at the ribs, belly breathing, nostrils flaring), not tolerating feeds, inability to clear nasal secretions, and not having wet diapers. These are things that require medical attention and potentially hospitalization.

So, what can parents do at home to keep their little ones with RSV comfortable? As I stated previously, RSV is is a virus, which means it is not cured by an antibiotic. Supportive care is really the main treatment for RSV. One of the main issues with RSV and small babies is that they cannot clear their nasal secretions, which causes difficulty breathing. I recommend either a bulb syringe, or even better, a nose frida (https://fridababy.com/products/nosefrida). While the nose frida may seem gross, it is amazing in clearing secretions and no secretions are passed from the infant to parent. Clearing the secretions not only help babies breathe better, but it makes it easier for them to feed as well, which helps prevent dehydration.

I hope this is helpful, not only for all of the moms out there who don’t really know what RSV is, but also for those nurse practitioners who may not be used to seeing patients with RSV. Any additional information can be found on the CDC website by clicking this link https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/index.html.

Just remember, if you or you’re kids are sick, try and stay home. Obviously, I know that is easier said than done, but at the very least, avoid spreading illness with good handwashing and cover your mouth when you cough/sneeze.

Stay healthy everyone!!

XOXO, Tara

This is 41

Two years ago, a few days before I turned 39, I began stressing about turning 40. Crazy, seeing as I still had another whole year before that would happen, but I think at that moment in time the reality of such a major life moment was really beginning to hit me and I began thinking of all the things I needed to accomplish before I turned 40. I began journaling and made myself a checklist of things I wanted to accomplish prior to turning 40 and to be honest, I did a pretty decent job if I do say so myself. In 2018, my 39th year, I started a new job, we built our dream house, I started a weight loss journey, and I spent quality time with my family. I’m sure there were other goals I had that year and they may or may not have been met, but the idea of just having goals and working on them is something of importance to me.

This past year, my 40th year of life, I didn’t not make a list of goals to accomplish through the year. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have goals, but I didn’t write them down. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but for me, having a list of things I want to accomplish keeps me accountable.

This year is going to be different…I have a lot of thoughts in my mind about what I would like to accomplish this year and I think the only way to do it is to put it out in the universe to hold me accountable. And here I am, in the blogosphere, sharing all my life goals with you, or at least all of the life goals I have for my 41st year and the start of a new decade.

Goal #1: Dedicate myself to this blog: I started the blog a few months ago and it has been slow going. Basically I have yet to figure out exactly where I want to go with the blog and honestly it takes me a while for my brain to gather all my thoughts together to make for good posts. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Goal #2: Continue my fitness and weight loss journey: The past 3 months I have stuck to a regular workout routine, missing very few days. I know that for me to actually lose weight, I need to improve my eating habits as well. I have been successful with Weight Watchers (now WW) in the past and I am planning on starting back up once the holidays are over.

Goal #3: Make time for myself: If you don’t know this already, I’m a Nurse Practitioner who works full time in Occupational Health and PRN in a pediatric urgent care. This is on top of being a mom to a 5 year old. I have many things I like to do to get my mind off of work and the craziness of life and I need to make time for myself to do those things. I really enjoy crafting and I would like to take more time to do that. Even if it’s for a few hours on the weekend, having that little bit of me time goes along with self care.

Goal #4: Finish decorating our house: We have been in our house for about 15 months now and while it is furnished and everything, I need window treatments!!! We still have those cheap, Walmart, paper stick up blinds and they need to go.

I’m sure I have more goals I would like to work on in 2020, but these are a start! What are your goals? How do you plan on implementing them? Any advice for me?

Have a safe and happy new year everyone!!

XOXO, Tara

It’s a Virus

Ahhh…cold and flu season is officially upon us and I can attest that I think it is going to be a particularly rough season this year. Personally, I am now just getting back to my normal after my viral respiratory infection spiraled into a full on sinus infection after about 3 weeks of illness. The key here is I waited 3 weeks before finally admitting that I needed an antibiotic. As a provider, I am often faced with those patients who have a day or 2 of cough and sniffles and they think they automatically need an antibiotic, specifically the almighty Zpack. This has to be one of the hardest things new providers face is telling patients, “No, you do not need an antibiotic for your viral infection,” because many times patients have been led to believe that the antibiotic is the cureall. As providers, we need to work on educating the public as to what requires an antibiotic and what does not. Ironically, when I initially started this post late last week, I did not realize this week was National Antibiotic Stewardship Week.  What better time to discuss the difference between viral and bacterial infections and when antibiotics are needed than the week dedicated to properly utilizing antibiotics?

Viral respiratory infections are so tricky because there are so many viruses out there that can cause infections and very limited treatments other than supportive care. This causes frustration for patients as everyone wants an immediate fix and no one wants to hear that they may be sick for 10-14 days because honestly, we all live terribly busy lives. Symptoms of a viral upper respiratory tract infection are rather nonspecific and often do feel like symptoms that may be seen in other infections. These symptoms can include sore throat, headache, cough, congestion, low grade fever, and general malaise. Some of these symptoms persist, but they gradually improve. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen are helpful in managing the headaches, low grade fevers, and body aches associated with the illness and antihistamines and decongestants are good for relieving nasal congestion and sneezing. Most adults will have between 2-4 colds every year and very few turn bacterial. 

Things to look for with persistent respiratory infections are new and worsening symptoms. Patients who present with a few weeks of cold symptoms with new onset high fever and persistent facial pain may be presenting with bacterial sinusitis. This only affects about 2% of all incidents of rhinosinusitis, however if watchful waiting with supportive care has not caused symptoms to improve or if new symptoms develop, treating with an antibiotic is the likely next step. Other symptoms such as difficulty breathing and wheezing may point towards lower respiratory infections, bronchitis vs pneumonia. The key to remember is that bronchitis is not routinely treated with an antibiotic whereas pneumonia is. This can cause frustration for patients because many providers still treat bronchitis with antibiotics despite the fact that the majority of bronchitis is viral, so this is where we are finding those patients who insist that every little cough and chest congestion needs a Zpack. I experienced one such frustrated patient last week who was a middle aged man with 2 days of congestion and cough. The patient had no fever, sore throat, or other symptoms. On interviewing him, he told me “I get this once a year and I get a Zpack and then I am fine.” Upon exam, his lungs were clear, he had mild nasal congestion and post nasal drip and I explained to him that his symptoms were viral and that a Zpack would not help his symptoms. He was unhappy, and likely didn’t believe me seeing as he’s “always been treated with a Zpack”, however I explained to him supportive care and why we don’t utilize antibiotics for colds and I’d like to believe he understood my rationale. That, or he went to another provider who would give him what he wanted. I really hope that is not the case, but unfortunately it wouldn’t surprise me.

As providers, we really do need to be good antibiotic stewards so that antibiotics can work to fight the bacteria they need to fight and not just throw antibiotics at every little sniffle or sore throat. The more providers who practice this way, the less patients we have coming in for unnecessary antibiotics in the future.

xoxo, Tara

Fun Facts Friday

Good morning friends, I have been a little MIA in blogging over the past few weeks due to my entire family being struck down with what is probably the worst viral upper respiratory infection ever. During this time I have been thinking about things I would like to post to my blog that you guys would enjoy reading and that I would enjoy writing about. With that said, I thought it would be fun to post some interesting facts about me that you may or may not know. Things related to nursing, things related to motherhood, general life things, etc.

Fact #1: I only went to nursing school originally because I had no idea what I wanted to do in college. I started off in a junior college and had thoughts of going into psych or education. My intro to psych professor basically told me not to go into psych (great teaching, huh?!?) and my biology professor talked about his daughter, who was a new nurse, working 3 12s a week. When I heard you could work full time as a nurse 3 days a week, I was sold!!! This was back in the late 90s, early 2000s, when the nursing shortage was at a peak and I was able to get my pick of job right out of school. I do not regret this decision one bit and I can definitely say I found my passion in nursing.

Fact #2: I love to craft. I have a little side business making jewelery and while it has been very slow growing, I do love it. Crafting is something I can do for myself to somewhat destress and do for others who are looking for unique items. Check out my instagram page @tarastrinketsnthings or my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/TarasTrinketsNThings. With the holidays coming up, I will be adding to my shop in the upcoming weeks, so feel free to look around or ask questions if there is anything that may interest you!

Fact #3: This fact is my husband than me, but a fun fact nonetheless. My husband, mother in law, and my son are all only children. It’s kind of an interesting thing to raise an only child, but I do think coming from the perspective of an only child, we are doing pretty well. Do I plan to have more children in the future? Doubtful, but never say never.

Fact #4: I am ambidextrous. Well, I am primarily left handed, but ambidextrous at many things. It is kind of funny because my son is totally a leftie and some things I have a hard time showing him, such as cutting with scissors because I only learned the right handed way (I blame that on school always only having 1-2 pairs of left handed scissors back in the 80s and not the fancy dual scissors they have now).

Fact #5: I’m a total introvert. I hate big social situations where I don’t know anybody and if I only know one person, I am clinging on to that person for conversation. It is helpful if the other person is more extroverted because then I feel more comfortable conversing with others, but if not, I am sticking with that one person the whole time. That or I’m going home!!! This is what makes the idea of me blogging kind of interesting, especially in this grand world of including social media in everything. So, if you do notice me talking on social media and I seem super awkward, that is why.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed a few facts about me on fun fact Friday. What are some fun facts about you?

xoxo, Tara

Growing Pains…it’s Not Just a TV Show

Happy Saturday everyone! I have been thinking about the direction I want this blog to go and how it would be most helpful to nurse practitioners and moms alike. One thing I really would like to focus on is common health and wellness problems that come up in our kiddos and last night, my son gave me the perfect research topic, growing pains. No, not the great TV show of the 80s, but the actual phenomenon some kids experience early evening or in the middle of the night. Our own experience had my 5-year-old not sleeping soundly from 1 am-2 am last night because his feet hurt and little that I could do in the fog of sleep was helping.

Growing pains, also known as benign nocturnal limb pain of childhood or recurrent limb pain of childhood, was originally described in 1823 as recurrent bilateral leg pains (Lehman & Carl, 2017). There have been many theories over the years of what causes growing pains, but many are unsubstantiated. Times of increased growth velocity, children with increased body mass, decreased bone strength, flat feet, increased activity, and joint hypermobility have all been researched as causes with little evidence to support these theories (Evans, 2008).

Growing pains can be found in children from ages ranging from 4-12, with the typical age of onset between ages 3-6 (Lehman & Carl, 2017). Typical findings include bilateral lower extremity pain, typically in calves, thighs, shins, and knees, less common findings occur in upper extremities (Lehman & Carl, 2017). Pain is typically episodic, occurs at night, is resolved by morning, and does not affect regular activities (Lehman & Carl, 2017).

Growing pains are typically self-limiting, meaning they do not require much in the way of treatment, however, studies have shown that massaging the affected area, applying heat, and treating with acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be helpful in symptom relief (Lehman & Carl, 2017).

From my personal experience, my five year old fits the mold for growing pains fairly well. He will wake in the middle of the night sporadically complaining of bilateral foot pain. In the beginning, I would full-on assess him to look for swelling, bruising, etc and think about possible trauma and all of that has lead to nothing. He pretty much just likes me to lay in bed with him and “squeeze” his feet until he falls asleep. I do occasionally give him ibuprofen when it is bothersome, but of course, last night could find none!!

Growing pains are common in childhood, with approximately 15% of children experiencing them at some point (Ringold, 2019). Now, the question to ask is, “Is every childhood musculoskeletal pain growing pains?” My answer to that is no. The information provided here is not meant to diagnose or treat, so if you do have concerns about your child’s pain, I recommend following up with your primary care provider.

xoxo, Tara

Works Cited

Evans, A. M. (2008). Growing pains: contemporary knowledge and recommended practice. Journal of foot and ankle research, 1(1), 4. doi:doi:10.1186/1757-1146-1-4

Lehman, P. J., & Carl, R. L. (2017). Growing Pains. Sports health, 9(2), 132-138. doi:10.1177/1941738117692533

Ringold, S. (2019, April). Growing pains. Retrieved from Up to Date: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/growing-pains?search=growing%20pains%20children&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~25&usage_type=default&display_rank=1

Choosing Your NP Path

Choosing your NP path is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to starting NP school. There are so many decisions and based on your nursing experience, you will hear a variety of recommendations on what path to choose and unfortunately, you may often hear criticisms based on your choice. Really that choice is all yours and you need to ignore the comments from the peanut gallery.

As a former pediatric nurse, one may think that the decision for me to pursue pediatric NP (PNP) would be an easy decision. Of course, I don’t make any easy decisions and went the family NP (FNP) route instead. Granted, my decision was solely based on the fact that the graduate school I was attending only offered FNP, but as I thought more and more about it, I liked that FNP would allow me a wide variety of opportunities.

Another thing you will hear discussed frequently in the NP community is the “oversaturation” of the NP market. While I don’t doubt that this is true in some areas, I feel that if you look hard enough the opportunities are out there. The key is to network and to not be afraid to try something completely out of your comfort zone in order to get experience.

From my own experience, the first NP job I took was a men’s health clinic. What business does a former pediatric nurse have working in a men’s health clinic? None really, but I knocked that interview out of the park and was rewarded with my first NP job within 3 months of graduating! Was it necessarily my ultimate goal to work in men’s health? Not at all, but it was the stepping stone I needed to get started in my NP career. I have made a few career moves in the 4 years I have been an NP, urgent care, occupational health, pediatric hospitalist, but I never regret where I started and the path I have chosen.

From my perspective, the key to a successful NP career is to focus on your goal and run with it. Don’t be afraid to try something completely out of your comfort zone or something you think you would never do because you may either love it or hey, if nothing else, you are getting experience so you can make your next move.

Next up in the blog…my experience in occupational health/urgent care.

xoxo, Tara