My first week as an NP

I FINALLY started my first job after eleven months of applying and interviewing with many different companies. This is my first dayshift job in over seven years. I was lucky to have a couple of weeks off in between jobs to help me adjust back to a normal schedule and let me tell you, I NEEDED it! During my first few days off, I was so tired and took a nap every day. Now, I feel fantastic and really like working during the day, sleeping and night, and being home every evening with my husband.

Overall, the first week was pretty uneventful. I was able to follow the other nurse practitioners that work at my facility and see the different aspects of each position and how their workflow is. I will be seeing mostly outpatient individuals once I am on my own but I am starting by learning the inpatient side, which is vastly different from the nursing perspective. I am now the responsible provider and the one placing orders for the nurses instead of carrying the orders out as an RN. I also saw some of the administrative responsibilities that I will soon have, but I actually think I will enjoy it.

I didn’t take on any patients myself the first week but rather shadowed the NPs and took in as much information as I possibly could. The NPs had their own pearls of wisdom that I happily took note of and added to my notebook that will be my lifeline during my first few years as an NP. The doctors are also really great. Their relationships with the NPs are something that I did not see at my previous facility. They truly respect their peers and trust them to make the best decisions for the patients.

I have met some really great people already and am looking forward to working with them. Everyone I meet who has come from a different facility has been so impressed with this organization and really enjoys their job. Some people even left and came back because they realized how great it is to be part of this organization. I am really impressed with everything and hope to be a part of this organization for many years to come.