Reflecting on 10 years of Being a Nurse Practitioner

This month marks me being a Nurse Practitioner for 10 years. When they said time happens quickly as an adult, they were right! I remember graduating Florida State University with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing, and taking my RN license exam one month later. The following day, I went to Haiti volunteer at a clinic there.

I got to see first-hand what nurse practitioners do. How they diagnosed and treated patients. But most importantly how they showed compassion for their patients, and how empowering it felt. I knew in that moment, that I wanted to become a nurse practitioner. 

After I became a family nurse practitioner from the University of Miami (UM), I settled down in Miami and practiced there for 3 years. I self-taught medical Spanish to keep up with my patients there. The first year was a big learning curve – transitioning from a nurse to the one calling the shots. 

Meanwhile, I gave back to my profession. I taught at the RN level in the evenings for a few years. Eventually, I became a preceptor for NP students at UM, and later a clinical professor for NP students as well. 

I had always wanted to do travel nursing, and when I realized I was “bored” in Miami with the same mundane life, I finally decided to pursue locum tenens. At the time, there wasn’t much information about traveling as a nurse practitioner – which is why I created this blog. Over the last 7 years of me traveling as a nurse practitioner, I have grown so much. My skills and medical knowledge has certainly become strong considering my variety of experience. 

I have worked in 9 different states and over 20 different healthcare practices. I have had several mentors of physicians and other nurse practitioners that I’ve followed. I have treated patients of all ages, various cultures and diseases. I have been able to meet up with countless friends and relatives during these adventures. 

I realized that giving up being a locum tenens provider would be hard because wherever you go, everyone is so happy to have you as if you are their “savior”. The staff is happy to have you as they are short-staffed. And the patients are happy to have you as they may have waited even months to get into the clinic to be seen. 

In conclusion, I have had such an amazing experience being a nurse practitioner for the last 10 years. It has truly become part of my identity. I am glad the profession found me and I am looking forward to continue being a part of it for another 10+ years.