In Practice: Reflections from NPs and PAs

August 18th, 2016

The Caregiver Conundrum

Charity Maniates, MSPA, MPH, PA-C

My patient’s daughter, Jane, sits tensely on the edge of the wingback chair. Leaning forward slightly, her body, like a jack-in-the-box, stays seated, and she fires the question, “Do you really think my mother is ready to come home? Is this safe?” Rippling beneath her intense body language and direct questioning is a pervasive fear that […]

---

June 3rd, 2016

The Sound of Silence

Charity Maniates, MSPA, MPH, PA-C

Skilled rehabilitation facilities are faced with a troubling trend. Rather than the majority of patients recovering with straightforward joint replacement surgeries, these facilities have become a crossroad for patients to transition to long-term, palliative, or hospice care. Patients discharging from the hospital assume that during a period of one to two weeks, they will transform […]

---

February 18th, 2016

The Human-Centered Alternative

Charity Maniates, MSPA, MPH, PA-C

My 19-month-old son wrapped his legs around my waist and pointed to the fluorescent ceiling light centered over the small hospital bed. I noticed the tiny hospital gown and socks in plastic packaging waiting to be opened. A brightly colored stacking toy sat on the window sill next to the computer and piped-in gas lines. […]

---