Whenever I meet other nurse practitioners or physicians on assignment, they’ll talk about their prior experience working in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)/community health centers.
They will tell stories about seeing over 30 patients a day, being mistreated and unappreciated, and places that are really disorganized. As a traveling nurse practitioner, I have already worked at 5 different FQHCs. And guess what, they aren’t all bad!
When I tell the other providers that there are actually some really great FQHCs out there, they look at me in shock. I do agree that most of them are pretty awful because “it’s all about the numbers”. However, I have come across 2 so far that are incredible!
For those of you that have been following me since the beginning, you may recall my first assignment out of Florida. This was a FQHC in Washington State that was extremely organized and well-run. Patient per day ratios were fair, about 14-18 patients per day. They allotted 30 minutes for new patient appointments. There were standard protocols in place that allowed medical assistants to help PCPs with immunizations, acute rapid testing, and even health screenings. PCPs were given admin time, 1 day a week where they could catch up on medication refills and paperwork.
After my awful experience working in Tampa, Florida, I ended up taking a brief assignment in a FQHC in south Florida. I felt spoiled having 2 medical assistants just for me, and seeing a fair 14-16 patients per day. The EHR was straightforward and there was an IT person on-site daily to help if needed. If there was an issue, such as having too many physicals scheduled in one day, the staff quickly corrected this without push-back. Leadership was amazing too. The center manager and medical director made themselves available and constantly offered positive feedback.
It’s such a wonderful feeling to look forward to going to work and being enabled to provide the appropriate care you strive for. So don’t be afraid of traveling as a nurse practitioner. Sure you may stumble upon some awful assignments, but most of them you can handle for the brief 3 months. If there is one you do not feel comfortable staying at any longer, you can just leave. Although there are some bad assignments, there are definitely plenty of great places too.
