In Practice: Reflections from NPs and PAs

October 14th, 2016

From the Locker Room to the Exam Room

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

On Sunday morning I went to an early and excruciatingly difficult barre class with a friend, after which we promptly rewarded ourselves with a decadent brunch. While walking home alone in the rain, hood drawn and head tucked down against the wind, I was taken aback when a man reached out and pushed me aside […]

---

September 8th, 2016

Seasons of Healthcare

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

Here in New England, the temperatures have started to dip in the evenings and the sun is setting earlier by the day. These changes are noted and commented upon during exchanges in coffee shops, the local market, and literally over the water cooler in my office. And this past weekend, my family, friends, and I […]

---

August 3rd, 2016

It Takes a Village

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

The Democratic National Convention is taking place at the time I’m writing this blog post. During an opening speech last night, the current First Lady referenced this phrase made popular by a former First Lady: “it takes a village.” I’ll pause here to say that I’m not going to get political in this blog — […]

---

June 22nd, 2016

Gun Violence — A Public Health Crisis

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

Often, in a primary care office, it can feel as though we are providing care within a “bubble” of sorts. Appointments are made within the hours of operation of the office, scripts are followed by all levels of staff in obtaining information, and often chief complaints are worked up using the same pattern: obtaining a […]

---

May 18th, 2016

The Nurse In Me

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

Just last week, healthcare organizations around the country celebrated National Nurses Week. This tradition has been in place in various forms in the U.S. since the 1970s. It is capped off on the 12th of May each year because that is the birth date of Florence Nightingale, the British nurse whose observations and interventions while […]

---

April 13th, 2016

How Do You Treat an Epidemic?

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

I have been in my current clinical role — an NP primary care provider carrying my own panel — for almost a year now. Opening a new practice and introducing such a role has many challenges; one of these is the influx of new patients — specifically, obtaining histories and making treatment decisions for patients […]

---

March 10th, 2016

State Limits — Care Without Boundaries

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

Earlier this week, at a social gathering of several nurse colleagues, I found myself in a corner of the kitchen, conveniently located closest to the homemade mango cupcakes, where I began a conversation about a possible career move with a friend who has been a hospitalist and geriatric NP for the last 5 years. Ellen is […]

---

February 3rd, 2016

Back to Basics – What the Patient Can Tell Us

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

I returned from Haiti 2 weeks ago, and per my usual pattern this time of year, I find myself caught between two different healthcare realities, struggling to reconcile what I have just experienced abroad with my day-to-day reality at home. This was my sixth trip to Haiti, spending a little over a week in the city […]

---

December 22nd, 2015

One Strike … And You’re Out???

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

I consider myself a fan of sports in general, but of baseball in particular.  I grew up in a small town near Cape Cod, and I had no chance of escaping a fervent love for America’s pastime.  My sister was the only girl on her T-ball team, my dad played church softball, and being born […]

---

November 18th, 2015

The Name Game

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C, practices adult primary care medicine in Boston, MA. Nice to meet you, my name is Elizabeth… I think. My mother, a woman who was referred to by her middle name for her entire life because her own grandmother had such a distaste for her actual name, insisted that her daughters […]

---