Discussion Week 1 – Alyssa Daquisto
I have been working in dermatology for the last few years, which has opened my eyes to many conditions, but it has also kept me sheltered from the rest of medicine. This semester I will be taking both the clinical portion and the didactic class. I expect to broaden my horizons about family medicine while learning different treatment options for conditions commonly seen in practice. Outside of nursing school, I have only been exposed to dermatology, plastic surgery, and pediatric home care. My biggest challenge will be pulling information learned in the last few courses regarding medical conditions and treatments during clinical practice. I hope my preceptor will help bridge the gap and offer tools to help me build my knowledge bank. I’m also hoping we can work as a team to create care plans so I can get used to working with other providers because, as a new graduate, it will be imperative for me to have these communication and critical thinking skills (Poghosyan et al., 2017).
One strength I have is that I have been working in an office setting for years, so I’m used to the routine of bringing patients into the room and collecting their health information and chief complaint. I feel confident with my interview skills and have a good sense of emotional intelligence to read patients when needed. I also educate patients daily on treatments and medications prescribed, which will be helpful when reviewing their treatment plans.
With this course, I hope to see a side of medicine that I have yet to be exposed to. I initially went back to FNP school so I could stay within the cosmetic dermatology world and go back to being a nurse injector. Over the past year, I have enjoyed everything we have been learning and might be considering family practice as where I want to end up. I’m hoping throughout each clinical, I will have a better idea of where I would like to land after graduation.
As I don’t have a clear direction, it is vital to make connections and form a network of colleagues or mentors to help with placement and career growth (Torrens et al., 2020). This will allow me to ask questions and have people to rely on that have already gone down this path. If I were to end up in family medicine, I would hope for a clinic that incorporates nurse practitioners and doctors co-managing patients, as this will decrease stress when first practicing, allow patients more options to access care, and improve patient care (Norful et al., 2018).
References
Norful, A. A., De Jacq, K., Carlino, R., & Poghosyan, L. (2018). Nurse Practitioner–Physician Comanagement: A Theoretical Model to Alleviate Primary Care Strain. The Annals of Family Medicine, 16(3), 250–256. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2230
Poghosyan, L., Norful, A. A., & Martsolf, G. R. (2017). Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Practice Characteristics. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 40(1), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1097/jac.0000000000000156
Torrens, C., Campbell, P., Hoskins, G., Strachan, H., Wells, M., Cunningham, M., Bottone, H., Polson, R., & Maxwell, M. (2020). Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the advanced nurse practitioner role in primary care settings: A scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 104, 103443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103443
Alyssa,
I enjoyed reading your post. Isn’t it crazy how your plans can change from one minute to the next when you are in school!? I have went back and forth several times between FNP, MHNP, and MSN in Nurse executive. I am still not sure what I want to do when I am done with this program. I do also think sometimes you can really limit your exposure to medicine and experiences if you stay in a certain field such as dermatology. I worked for a while in an allergy clinic, and as interesting as it could be, I didn’t get to see anything outside of allergy and asthma. I wasn’t ever learning anything new. The last 12 years working at a rehabilitation hospital I have seen wounds, spinal cords, TBIs, cancer, strokes, and countless other diagnoses. I have learned more working there than I ever did in school.
I don’t really have clear direction either. I am just excited to expand my degree and open a new door to my career. I want to be able to give my patient’s even better care and be able to have more involvement in their care and treatment plans. Advanced Nurse Practitioners working in primary care have been found to deliver care that is safe, effective and enhances patient experience, (Torrens et al., 2020). NPs scope of practice is expanding as well in many locations giving them much more freedom, such as diagnosing patients, ordering medications and tests to list a few things, (Schlunegger et al., 2022). This is exciting to me to be so involved in patient care.
Schlunegger, M. C., Aeschlimann, S., Palm, R., & Zumstein, S. M. (2022). Competencies of nurse practitioners in family practices: A scoping review. Journal of Clinical Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16382
Torrens, C., Campbell, P., Hoskins, G., Strachan, H., Wells, M., Cunningham, M., Bottone, H., Polson, R., & Maxwell, M. (2020). Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the advanced nurse practitioner role in primary care settings: A scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 104, 103443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103443