Skip to main content

2011 Reflections

I'm aware that many people roll their eyes at another "year in review" blog post but it's been some time since my last post here and I think it is a good way to end the year.

2011 was an important year for me professionally as I completed my DNP back in May. It was a grueling 3 years (that I mostly chronicled here on this blog) and in my mind was the right choice for me at this point in my life. I approach clinical problems and scenarios through an alternative perspective and I have really embraced this philosophy. I hope to apply some of this new wisdom to the health care system and patients alike.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, following the completion of the DNP, in the Fall, I enrolled full-time in one of the University Based Training programs that was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's HITECH Act. Technology has always been my passion and I am so interested in the integration of information technology and health - it is really the future of health care. Thus far, I have completed 1 semester and have 1 more semester to go which is slated to start in January. This has been an enormous amount of work on top of a full-time job and family stuff but I am certain that this post-grad certificate along with the DNP is where I want to be professionally.

In August, I also starting blogging over at Online Nurse Practitioner Programs. I've been posting about 2 entries a week about all things NP-related. It has been a fun experience to blog professionally and I look forward to continuing to expand my professional social media activities (i.e. Linked In & Twitter - feel free to connect with me there too.)

In November, I ran for and won the Chair-elect position for the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York. This is a 3 year term that starts in January 2012 as Chair-elect, 2013 as Chair, and 2014 as Past-Chair. I am looking forward to serving the organization and hope to further strengthen membership and and reduce the practice barriers in NY so that NPs can care for patients consistent with our training and education.

I was recently notified that I won the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners 2012 State Award for Excellence in New York State. I am so surprised and honored to receive this distinction!

Whew! And that is on top of balancing a family including three children (7, 5 and 2 years old) and the full-time job in occupational health. I lost a very close aunt to lung cancer earlier this month and there is no other way to put it that cancer just sucks. All of this has been challenging and has caught up to me to make it overwhelming at times. I am actively trying to find balance in both my personal and professional lives. It will be something I work on in 2012!

So thats a look back at 2011 and I am looking forward to 2012. I wish all my readers a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

Comments

Candi said…
Wow, I don't care what anyone else says, I love your year end review. Your blogs are always informative, entertaining & well written. I look forward to many more & keep up the good work, you will continue to inspire people all over!
Thanks so much Candi! Happy New Year!
It sounds like an incredible year, I can only hope that 2012 brings more exciting things to your life. I hope you are blessed, fulfilled and able to enrich the lives of others.

Cheers,
Rob RN
Yusharnw said…
I enjoy reading you blog posts. Inspires me to stay a FNP. I think most of the business will be in primary care?
Wow! You have a very fruitful year last 2011, eh. Hoping for more fruitful and prosperous years to come especially this 2012.

Cheers,
Peny@white nursing shoes

Popular posts from this blog

Private Practice

There is an interesting trend that I'm observing and don't necessarily see how this is going to turn out. I'm seeing more and more nurse practitioner's opening their own autonomous practices. Many of these offices set out to offer care that is personalized, covered under insurance, and of course high-quality. I'm also seeing more NP specialty/sub-specialty practices such as house calls, incontinence, and women's health. This is in a time when more physician practices are joining together in these conglomerations that aren't necessarily tied to hospitals. You'd be hard pressed to find a solo primary care physician these days yet nurse practitioner solo practices are popping up. The talk about the formation of accountable care organizations can be attributed to health care reform and the spurring of large multi-physician practices. What to make of this? I honestly don't know. Many people and patients have said to me "you should start your own prac

NP Residency

The healthcare system of today is so complex yet so dysfunctional that I believe the time has come to educate and train the NP providers of tomorrow in a way that is reflective of that complexity. We have done a good job up to this point but need to bring that to the next level. Residency. I'm not necessarily referring to the typical residency training of physicians which takes place in hospitals but a residency-type of program in an out-patient setting (ironic that we use the term residency). We realize that healthcare is not exclusively delivered in hospitals. It takes place in independent providers offices, in community health centers, in mobile health vans, and in retail settings. It takes place in people's homes and places of employment. It takes place in many of the health decisions that we make on a daily basis. I found this NP residency program in Connecticut that claims to be the first NP residency in the US. The programs admits 4 NPs each year and trains them to ha

Repost: Let Us Be Heard

I started this blog, A Nurse Practitioner’s View, 3 years ago because there were very few health stories that even mentioned nurse practitioners as part of the health care landscape. Right before I started the blog, I would respond to other health policy articles published on the Web by writing comments to the websites – only to be subjected to baseless and factually incorrect statements. It was soon thereafter that I decided I would write my own perspective on health policy, trends, and news. I also felt it important from a credibility aspect to not blog anonymously but to put my name on it. I recall those few early blog posts that I proudly wrote and would feverishly check my blog visitor stats to see if people were reading. Well, it was a bit slow going in the beginning with about 10 – 15 readers but as they say, “if you build it, they will come.” Today, the blog enjoys hundreds of visits a day, has a Facebook following, has enabled me to be “discovered” to blog at  Online Nurse