Wow - I randomly checked my blog and see that it's been THREE months since I last blogged! It's not from a lack of activity going on in the nurse practitioner world but more from having far too commitments than I have time for and unfortunately, my blogging has lagged behind a bit -- ok, a lot. While clinically, I am seeing tons of patients with nasty upper respiratory infections and good ole influenza (and the New York State mandatory mask requirement for health care workers if not vaccinated) is rearing it's ugly head.
Practically every day, we see more and more coverage of nurse practitioners in the mainstream media. These NPs are responding to health questions, giving advice on things from influenza vaccines to cervical cancer screening and opening up their own practices. That's not to say that the toxic and predictable vitriol against nurse practitioners has ceased though. If anything, it has been turned up even more. Yet, it's obvious that it is having less of an effect as stakeholders far and wide recognize the contributions of NPs and seek ways to reduce the arbitrary and outdated barriers facing nurse practitioners.
I believe (hope) we will see the discussions about nurse practitioners and other professions focus on patient outcomes rather than how many million hours of training one profession has over the other. Undoubtedly, 2014 will be filled with uncertainty and change with regard to health care. There is the obvious Affordable Care Act (ACA) that we all know about, there will also be the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 on October 1, 2014, and the meaningful use objectives of health information technology are still going strong. I also hope to have some regular blogging frequency with topics that are of interest. In the past, I've kept my topics focused on health policy, trends and, clinical content. I'm not sure what future direction I will take -- most likely it will be those topics and maybe some new. I am open to suggestions and would love to hear from you!
I've tried to update my blog roll with some newer NP blogs that I've come across. If you know of one that I don't have listed, let me know.
With that, I wish you a very Happy & Healthy 2014!
Practically every day, we see more and more coverage of nurse practitioners in the mainstream media. These NPs are responding to health questions, giving advice on things from influenza vaccines to cervical cancer screening and opening up their own practices. That's not to say that the toxic and predictable vitriol against nurse practitioners has ceased though. If anything, it has been turned up even more. Yet, it's obvious that it is having less of an effect as stakeholders far and wide recognize the contributions of NPs and seek ways to reduce the arbitrary and outdated barriers facing nurse practitioners.
I believe (hope) we will see the discussions about nurse practitioners and other professions focus on patient outcomes rather than how many million hours of training one profession has over the other. Undoubtedly, 2014 will be filled with uncertainty and change with regard to health care. There is the obvious Affordable Care Act (ACA) that we all know about, there will also be the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 on October 1, 2014, and the meaningful use objectives of health information technology are still going strong. I also hope to have some regular blogging frequency with topics that are of interest. In the past, I've kept my topics focused on health policy, trends and, clinical content. I'm not sure what future direction I will take -- most likely it will be those topics and maybe some new. I am open to suggestions and would love to hear from you!
I've tried to update my blog roll with some newer NP blogs that I've come across. If you know of one that I don't have listed, let me know.
With that, I wish you a very Happy & Healthy 2014!
Comments
Thank you for continuing to promote NP's by the excellence of your work.
Lynn ARNP
Good luck,
Stephen