“Well if you’re gonna do it, do it right!"

Several years ago an attorney friend called and asked me if I would do him a “favor” and look at some medical records. When I asked him “why”, he informed me that he needed someone to explain items in the records in “layman’s terms”. Ralph said,” hey what are friends for?” So, being the good friend, I went to his office and broke down all the “official medical terminology” into common terms for him. Now this wasn’t too hard, it involved things like telling him that the “femur” was “da big bone it the top of the leg”. Really it wasn’t quite that simple, but you get the idea. A few days later, I received a check from him in the mail. Interestingly enough, on the memo line it said “nurse consultant”.  

Ever since then I have had attorneys contact me, not for “favors”, but to inquire if I would be available to review medical records and what my “rates” were. Now being a fairly prudent business person, I did some checking and spoke with my attorney friend who helped me figure out what the going rates were in this field and came up with a “rate sheet”. Interestingly enough not one of the attorneys early on ever asked me if I had a clue about what I was doing. They contacted me because my attorney friend told them what I had done for him and he, evidently, was happy.

So why are Ralph and I bringing this up now? We all know how Ralph gets when he gets something on his mind. Ralph kept saying; “if you are going to do this, you need to really know what you are doing. You know they teach this stuff and have certifications and everything….” So about six months ago I began to seriously start researching Legal Nurse Consultant training and certifications. I found everything from Community College classes to private firms that, for a large fortune and your first born child, will train you to perform Legal Nurse Consulting. I researched all the opportunities I found, weighed the cost, student satisfaction feedback, locations of the courses, and several other things while I was trying to decide which offering was the best fit for me.

I finally decided on the program offered by Elizabeth Rudolph, JD MSN RN (and Ralph thinks I have a lot of letters after my name) for several reasons. The first was her reputation and credentials, everything I heard about her and her program was positive. Secondly, she is a “Memphis Girl”, so if it wasn’t what I thought it would be it wasn’t long distance to make those annoying “unhappy customer” phone calls. And lastly, I could afford it both in time and dollars. It is a two day program with a certification exam at the end of the final day.

So today was day one and even Ralph liked it. The class represents a variety of clinical experience and it seems everyone is there to learn and absorb knowledge. Questions are welcome and all the legal mumbo jumbo and terminology is explained in terms that even Ralph can understand. Topics other than the finite legal items include helpful tips on everything from advertising and marketing to billing. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s class and I might even become a Certified PLNC tomorrow on my birthday!

I will definitely post a blog tomorrow with a subjective review of the second day of class. Ralph and I are sure we won’t be disappointed.

I'm BAAACCCKKK!!!

Well it has been almost a whole year since Ralph and I have blogged. It seems like “life” got in the way and I just have not taken the time to post my ramblings, rants, and educational items on here.

My lovely wife had a bout with chest pain that resulted in a complete GI work up, cardiac work up ( including a nuclear stress test, a treadmill stress test, and a trip to the cath lab with the cardiologist stating frankly: “well it ain’t your heart!”.  After that scare, her knee pain has gotten so bad that she cannot run or bike (yes she is the tri athlete that did the HIM stuff. The orthopod told her that she was “too young for a knee replacement”. We are continuing to deal with this one on a daily basis.

The next event involved my son, affectionately referred to as BG. Now depending on the day, “BG” can be interpreted as either: Boy Genius, Baby Goliath, or Big Goober (but we love him all the time). He has had about 8 weeks of Post-Concussion Syndrome that has taken a large chunk of our time. To quote my wife, “he staggers like a drunk, can’t count without using his toes and fingers, and doesn’t sleep”. Happily we are finally seeing some slight improvements in him and are going for a cognitive testing battery next week to see if we can get him started back in school.

As far as I know, I am in reasonably good health for an “old man”. Besides, I don’t have time to be sick, ill, or hurt!

I do have several “half finished” blogs that I will finish up and post in the next few weeks. I promise I will do better and I will make Ralph do better.

Calling all NP Preceptors

I have been asked to help moderate a FB page: "Nurse Practitioners Offering to be Preceptors". As we all know, finding a preceptor for ourselves is a daunting task in itself. The majority of the NP programs are now requiring the students to "find their own preceptors".
I am working on a data base of preceptors (NPs and physicians) from across the country that will be pinned to the top of the page. If you are a preceptor, or know of someone willing to precept, please send me a  private message with your name, specialty, setting,, and city/state for the data base. As an example, mine is:
Dr Thomas Cooper DNP, ACNP-BC, FNP-C Emergency Room Memphis, TN
I will alphabetize the listings by state.
Contrary to popular belief, we don't have to "eat our young".
Thanks for everyone's help!

Sad day for Hospital Wing and Lebonheur Children's Hospital

 

 

Flight Team Update: With the families' permission, we can now announce that the Le Bonheur family members lost today are Pedi-Flite Nurse Carrie Barlow and Pedi-Flite Respiratory Therapist Denise Adams.  Pilot Charles Smith also died in the crash. Their legacy will live on through the care that they provided for so many children during their careers. Our thoughts and prayers are with these employees, their families and the Pedi-Flite and Hospital Wing crews.

 

I knew both of these Pedi-flight crew members. They loved what they did and their care has improved the lives on many Mid-south children and positively affected many families.

While I am sure heaven has gained three new angels, my prayers are for their families and co-workers.

When the light bulb turns on!

When the light bulb turns on!

 

While I was “running” today, Ralph and I had a very in depth discussion about life. Now understand, my version of running is more like an unstimulated zombie shuffle.
I do realize that I am aging (NOT getting old), overweight, stubborn, sometimes obnoxious, uber competitive, and very opinionated. Whenever I forget any of these things, Ralph sees fit to prod me back to reality.
Prior to my last 6 ...month assignment in Alaska, I worked out with a personal trainer two days a week and had “adjusted” my dietary habits some. This resulted significant improvement in my overall health as well as a 44 pound weight loss. While in Alaska I walked a couple of miles 2-3 times a week and erratically used resistance bands for upper body workouts. While I did not gain back any weight, my overall conditioning suffered fairly significantly.
A few weeks ago I went with my wife, Kat, to Augusta, GA for her to compete in her first IM 70.3 (half Ironman). I had the privilege of meeting many of her Tri friends there who were also competing. One of them slipped me some of their “koolaide” and I am now starting to train for a Sprint distance Triathlon at Memphis in May 2014, thus the reason I was out running.
I now am working with Leslie Brainard (triathlon coach extraordinaire – www.trinitytricoach.com) who has given me a personalized training schedule to prepare for the Memphis in May event. The workouts rotate between swimming, biking, and running. Now my version of running is more like an unstimulated zombie shuffle.
I live with a wife that started training and getting fit two years ago and has completed events from 5K, half marathons, and a Half Ironman 70.3. My competitive side thinks that I should be able to consistently run sub 15 minute miles, ride my bike forever, and swim like Flipper. My body tells me: WTH are you doing to me. And good old Ralph tells me that I am a fat failure, that I am too old to start this crap now, and many other “non-encouraging” remarks.
I consider myself a spiritual person. I have a God that I talk to on a very regular basis .When I run, I listen to a very eclectic array of music. Today, while Ralph was attempting to fill my head with self-doubt and excuses, “Through the Fire” by The Crabb Family began to play and light bulbs began to flash! The words say: “He never promised that the cross would not be heavy”.
That is when it hit me and Ralph was speechless. This isn’t supposed to be easy! It is work! I have watched Kat sweat and work very hard to be where she is. I have observed the price that these Triathletes pay to accomplish their goals. I needed to suck it up and get moving!
I deal with life and death situations on a regular basis and have been told I do it well. Well I have thoroughly explained to Ralph the following: 1) Water is just “wet”, I will swim better 2) The bike saddle hurts my ass, callouses are earned, I will earn some and 3) running is just putting one foot in front of the other and NO ONE cares how fast I get there as long as I don’t give up!
It is ok if Kat is faster, she will be there cheering me on when I get there. If Ralph or I need an “attitude adjustment” Kat or one of our Triathlete friends will have no problem giving us one while being there to encourage and cheer for my accomplishments, no matter how insignificant I think they might be.

Have a GREAT week!

Nursing: A Rewarding Career Choice for Both Genders

The following is provided by Sandra Mills and is definitely food for thought.

 

Nursing: A Rewarding Career Choice for Both Genders

 

Thanks to a steady pay check, an abundance of employment opportunities, and stable job growth, nursing has become one of the highest "in demand" professions in the country. One of the reasons for this field's growth in popularity, is due to a variety of opportunities within the nursing profession. From working in a traditional hospital setting, to providing in home nursing assistance or hospice care, there is no shortage of unique and exciting career opportunities for nurses.

Traditionally, there has been several degree tracks which lead towards obtaining nursing certification. However, over the course of ten years, many hospitals have eliminated positions for licensed practical nurses, instead opting to hire registered nurses who have obtained a bachelor’s of science in nursing.

While nursing has remained a popular degree choice for women in college, men are starting to excel in this historically female dominated field. One of the biggest hurdles that male nurses face, is a negative stereotype. Many people assume that male nurses are simply medical students who were unable to become physicians for various reasons. Most male nurses cite their reasoning for entering the nursing field, as being due to a desire to provide empathetic, personalized care to their patients. While the average salary of a male nurse remains slightly higher than females, there is more gender equality within the field of nursing than among most other lines of work. Read actual facts on males in the nursing field, as well as general nursing career statistics, in this male vs. female nurse infographic created by Carrington.edu.  

Will the sky really fall if someone calls me "Doctor"?

First I want everyone to know that I work with a great bunch of providers here in Alaska. There are no “egos”, it is truly collaboration among providers, and a provider is a provider regardless of the letters after their name (NP, PA, MD, DO, PT, etc). The physicians here call me Doctor Cooper, and several have expressed their opinion that I should be called “Doctor” because I earned it.

Now with that out of the way, I know many of you are fighting the battle in you home state about the use of the term “Doctor”. There is a movement among the boards of medicine that think only a “physician” should be able to use the term “Doctor. Interestingly enough, many physicians are married to “doctoral prepared spouses”, although their “Doctorate” is not in medicine. If we are to validate their request to only allow “physicians” to use the term Doctor, think of all the professionals that would have to change their business cards.  Dentists, educators, college professors, veterinarians, and a multitude of other occupations would be required to change not only their business cards, but the signs on their businesses, their stationary, their checks, and who knows what else.  So I have to wonder if this is not a ploy by the “physician community” to “stimulate the economy”.

What if there was no “battle of the title Doctor”?  Well, let me tell you what would happen in that fairy tale land:

The Board of Medicine would hold their quarterly meeting in a rural hospital in their state. The Board would meet and conduct their business during the day, then have a get together in the evening at one of the local physician’s homes. The entire medical staff from the hospital would be invited (that means MDs, DOs, NPs, Pas, and PTs).

Now of the non physician medical staff present, there would be a NP or two that had their DNP and a physical therapist that had his DPT. Throughout the evening, the physicians and the non physicians enjoyed great food, great atmosphere, and discussed medicine and healthcare amongst themselves on a “peer to peer” level.

Well that is exactly what happened in Dillingham Alaska this week. And believe it or not, the sun came up this morning, the sky did not fall, last I checked the earth was still rotating, and I have not grown a third eye. It is really amazing what can happen when egos are checked at the door.

Have a great day!