Real World NP

If you’re a new NP grad making your way into practice, I think you’ll find today’s video super helpful. (And even if you’re not a new grad, it’s still worth the watch — both to understand what we’ve been through and to help us mentor students and new grads ourselves.) In this episode, I talk about the challenges new grads face — from sneaky imposter syndrome to the overwhelming clinical knowledge...

Welcome to our brand new podcast season! We're absolutely pumped to bring you a fresh wave of episodes that will be a game-changer for Nurse Practitioners (NPs) on their journey. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, we've got you covered. In this season, we're introducing some exciting changes behind the scenes to make your listening experience even more rewarding. Expect enhanced c...

Hello there, we are actually going to be taking a season break on the Real World NP Podcast. But don’t worry, we’re coming back! We’re taking some time to do some regrouping, work on some things behind the scenes, and get ready for a whole new season of episodes for you. If you want to be involved with us, in the meantime, myself and the Real World NP team, I definitely recommend that you head ove...

It’s hard not to worry about malpractice when you’re taking on new levels of responsibility as a new nurse practitioner. Irnise Williams is not only a health law lawyer, she now focuses on the education and legal work to help prevent malpractice cases in the first place. AAAAAND she’s a nurse herself! Still taking care of patients as a covid float nurse while also running her legal practice, she’s...

One of the biggest fears I hear from new nurse practitioners and students is not knowing the answers when you're in the room with a patient. In this video, I'll tell you the many reasons why this is actually okay (and why we should probably even celebrate it), and the simple strategies I use to handle it. Leave me a comment below, what is a strategy that you use to handle these situations? Or, wha...

If you're feeling like you don't know enough, and still have to see patients with ortho complaints (especially in telemedicine) -- here are the "hacks" of primary care ortho management. You'll learn: The main 4 steps to managing almost all ortho complaints in primary care The top red flags overarching most ortho complaints How to triage ortho complaints When to send to ortho (and what to do first)...

As a new nurse practitioner, I used to find shoulder pain pretty overwhelming. While you can *see* all the musculoskeletal structures and how they work together, there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface and dealing with orthopedics can require a real depth of knowledge.  But I’m going to help give you a jump start on that! In this week’s video, I’m taking a high-level view of diagnosin...

Atopic dermatitis may not be the most glamorous topic in medicine, but you've got an enormous opportunity to change lives for the better in primary care. It can feel frustrating for both the patients and providers when they keep coming back without getting any better. I got to chat with a pediatric dermatologist and added a TON of clinical pearls to my arsenal of "real world" NP knowledge-- which...

Walking into an examination room and seeing a patient hunched over with labored breathing, audible wheezing, and an oxygen tank can be intimidating for any nurse practitioner. And if you’re a nurse practitioner in primary care, it is essential to understand the management of COPD exacerbations to provide the best care you can to patients. COPD exacerbation can look scary, but the management is fai...

Some people feel really uncomfortable talking about anything that has to do with reproductive health. Some of these people are patients, and some of them are healthcare professionals. Are you one of them? If you thought that you might be off the hook because you work in primary care - you’re not. It’s a part of taking care of the entire patient. When you know and understand your patients’ goals fo...

It’s easy to think the worst when your patient mentions abnormal bleeding. It can mean so many things! Context is everything for the patient with abnormal uterine bleeding. Their age, their history, when it started, how long it lasted, their other diagnoses, even their other medications. These are all factors to consider in the patient with abnormal uterine bleeding, and will point you in a starti...

Burnout is a hot topic in all aspects of healthcare. You might be thinking that it’s something that affects other people. You might think it’s something that impacts Nurse Practitioners who are more established in their careers. You might think it’s one of the last things that you need to think about as a new grad Nurse Practitioner. Until you start to experience symptoms of burnout.  This we...

Have you ever wondered how best to manage your patients with pulmonary diagnoses? How much steroid use is too much for these patients? What happens after you refer your patients to pulmonology? How do we bridge the gap between primary care and pulmonology?   You gave us all the questions that you have for pulmonology – and we have answers. In this high yield interview, we will go over the ans...

Have you had to give a patient bad news? Did you feel prepared or scared? It is a necessary part of being a Nurse Practitioner, and it’s always going to be challenging, but it is better if you are prepared.   Not all bad news is created the same. In some cases, bad news is life changing information, but in other cases, it might be life limiting information. What we might consider serious news...

Diabetes might be one of the most challenging chronic conditions to manage. It definitely requires a lot of partnership between provider and patient; you may find yourself spending more time with your diabetic patient than any other group of patients in your practice. We talked with Nurse Practitioner and Registered Dietitian, Meghan Kavanaugh, about her work with diabetic patients. The interview...

As a nurse practitioner in primary care, there are SO many things I’ve wanted to ask a cardiology nurse practitioner. This week, I had the lovely pleasure of interviewing Scott Pasquale, FNP and cardiology nurse practitioner, with questions from the RWNP community.  In this episode, we covered: What cardiologists wish primary care providers knew A breakdown of common cardiovascular tests, how...

Feeling comfortable with treating type 2 diabetes can be overwhelming as a new grad Nurse Practitioner – and even as a seasoned Nurse Practitioner, especially if you don’t have a lot of diabetic patients in your practice. Some patients will be able to improve their diabetes and get their A1C down with lifestyle changes alone; others will need to add oral medication; others will need to add insulin...

What does it mean to “clear” a patient for surgery? Every patient needs to have a visit with a healthcare provider before their surgery in order to assess their health and verify that it is relatively safe to proceed with surgery. When they end up on your schedule, it’s up to you whether or not they will get the go ahead (no pressure). If you are wondering how, as someone who has not been trained...

The thought of your Nurse Practitioner job not being the right fit can be scary. You’ve invested a lot of time, money, and energy – not to mention all the things that you have sacrificed – to get to this point, and now?   You may have spent a lot of time imagining what it would look like to be working as an NP, and this isn’t it. Whether you are working with a collaborator or on your own, whe...

Wrist pain is a SUPER common chief complaint in primary care. Most of the time, luckily, it’s chronic wrist pain that’s from overuse (versus the more acute, dangerous differential diagnoses with injuries), but it’s still a lot to work through as a new nurse practitioner. In this week’s episode, I’m covering the overview approach to diagnosing wrist pain in primary care for new nurse practitioners:...

When you're a new nurse practitioner, you need to make thousands of decisions a day. (Which usually translates to thousands of questions). I made mistakes as a new grad, and luckily for me, I had a very patient colleague who was there to help guide me. In this video, I'll share: Some of my mistakes (I'm a little embarrassed) Three easy steps to make sure you ask questions the right way (so you get...

Syphilis lab interpretation can be confusing, and it’s a BIG topic, but in this episode, I review the most common scenario that I see in primary care. I cover treponemal and non-treponemal tests, how to interpret them most specifically in the context of slightly abnormal, asymptomatic patients (the most common scenario in primary care), as well as the treatment and follow up, and when to refer to...

When it comes to choosing which oral contraceptive pill to prescribe, there are SO many options. How do you know which one is the right one? As a new nurse practitioner, you’ll usually get different recommendations from different providers. In this video I’ll be covering: The first step to prescribing that’s easy to forget What criteria to consider when choosing The two main routes to follow (and...

It's 2 p.m., the medical assistant comes to your office and lets you know your next patient is ready, and they're here because they "need antibiotics"... ... But do they? Or don't they? They've "had a cold" or "a nasty cough" for over three weeks now. ... they've "tried everything," and "got an antibiotic last time." Are you seeing this every day now, too? 'Tis the season.  This week's case s...

So many things in primary care are deceptively complex. There may be a few genuinely simple things that we treat, but so many things that come into our exam rooms are complex and sometimes downright confusing.   Anticoagulated patients are one of those situations. While the concept itself is pretty simple – medication that thins the blood so that they don’t get clots, got it – the reality of...