I had a patient last week who came in with facial swelling. It’s not a super common chief complaint in primary care, honestly, and neither were her exact symptoms or presentation. 

The...

When you’re working as a primary care nurse practitioner, you are going to see —i.e. diagnosing and managing — a lot of shoulder pain. 

Like, a lot of it. Musculoskeletal...

I recently got the question from a new nurse practitioner, “what do you do when you want to give up as a nurse practitioner?”

I’ve definitely been there before myself, and with...

One of the struggles for new nurse practitioners in primary care is managing women’s health topics, and knowing if and when to refer to an OBGYN specialist. We want to do things the right way...

When we’re nurse practitioner students, we’re so focused on the clinical aspects of our jobs that most of the time when we graduate, we’ve caught by surprise.

There’s an...

When I became a new nurse practitioner, I was so focused on learning the clinical pieces that it never occurred to me to learn more about the business of primary care.

Once I was on the job, I...

As nurse practitioners, we primarily learn the clinical aspects of practice. For good reason-- we’re taking care of real patients’ lives. But there’s a whole lot more to learn on...

Abnormal uterine bleeding can be a stressful chief complaint to encounter as a new nurse practitioner.

And for good reason-- many patients worry that it’s a severe problem that will affect...

Prescribing weight loss medications in primary care is SUCH a common challenge for new nurse practitioners. It feels like there are so many options and things to keep track of.

This week’s...

Weight management counseling in primary care is such an important skill, and it’s truly the foundation that patients need before we can start addressing weight loss medications.

In this...