In Practice: Reflections from NPs and PAs

July 27th, 2016

School Schedules Make for Sleepy Teens

Scott Cuyjet, RN, MSN, FNP-C

As high school students wind down their summers, I am reminded of a study I read last year from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which concluded that most students at middle and high schools start their school day too early. Their early start times were disrupting their natural sleep pattern and subsequently leading to […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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May 12th, 2016

Birth Control Without Rx: Will Women Get the Care They Need?

Scott Cuyjet, RN, MSN, FNP-C

A new law went into effect in California on April 1 that enables women to receive a birth control prescription from a pharmacist. A similar law has been in effect in Oregon since the beginning of the year, but there is a significant difference between the two states’ laws. According to an article by The […]

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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 […]

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