Expert Interviews, Guides & Advocacy Issues in Nursing

Nurse practitioner (NP) fellowships are postgraduate programs that help NPs gain proficiency in a particular specialty. There’s a gap between the electives taken in one’s MSN or DNP program and the skills needed to work in a subspecialty area; fellowships fill it.

For many NPs, advocacy concerns a particular issue close to their heart, one connected to underserved patients who deserve additional support. For Dr. Jessica Peck, the issue is the fight against human trafficking.

While three out of every four RNs are burdened with educational debt, the good news is there are loan forgiveness and repayment programs to help RNs and APRNs get out of debt and into financial freedom. Read on for a guide to student loan repayment and forgiveness options for RNs and APRNs.

The healthcare industry increasingly recognizes the need for diversity, inclusion, and health equity. Physicians face a unique challenge when addressing health disparities among diverse patient populations. To better understand how to create an inclusive environment in healthcare settings, examining the current state of diversity, inclusion, and health disparities is necessary.

There are over 19 million veterans in the United States. Their health needs are largely met by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which houses the largest integrated healthcare system in the country. Today’s nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs) are important in caring for our nation’s veterans. But more can be done to serve those who have served.

More than 30 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use alternative or complementary treatments. Such treatments generally fall into three categories: nutritional, psychological, or physical interventions.

The maturation of telehealth services has opened up an entirely new sector of remote nurse practitioner jobs. Today, NPs can perform basic patient assessments, devise treatment strategies, and order diagnostics for patients via remote video conferencing software. But telehealth positions aren’t the only nurse practitioner jobs that offer a remote work setup.

Nurse practitioners still participate in traditional recruitment and hiring processes despite the high demand for their services. Job interviews remain the de facto standard for health systems, hospitals, private practices, and clinics seeking to retain the services of an NP.

A medication shortage is when the projected demand for a certain drug exceeds its supply. Local shortages are common, taking place at a single pharmacy or hospital, and can be resolved relatively easily. National shortages are comparatively rarer, but they do exist, and they can take much longer to resolve.

Non-clinical NP jobs are non-patient facing and can be performed on either a part-time or full-time basis. Sometimes they still occur in medical settings, but without the patient-facing aspect; other times, they resemble a tech job more closely.