EP 1: Why Did I Become an NP? — Meet Your Crew

In the inaugural episode of NP Launchpad, hosts Jason Gleason, Christopher Gleason, and Vanessa Pomarico get new nurse practitioners fired up and ready to enter the clinic with confidence. Learn how to develop your personal mission statement, stay motivated in tough times, and reflect on the profound impact NPs make on patient well-being. Finally, we go myth-buster mode and debunk common misconceptions related to licensure, candidacy, and HIPAA best practices. 

Be sure to like, subscribe and share this episode, and leave us a review on your preferred streaming platform! 

Have questions, an inspiring story, or clinical pearls that you’d like to be heard on air? Email nplaunchpad@fhea.com. 

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YouTube: https://youtu.be/Zwta1aOtufA?si=kd4rToFNGAyGs39F

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Transcript

Voiceover 0:01

Welcome to NP Launchpad, presented by Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, the podcast created for newly graduated nurse practitioners navigating the transition from school to clinical practice. Hosts Jason Gleason, Christopher Gleason, and Vanessa Pomarico-Denino deliver real talk, real experiences, and practical guidance to help you succeed from day one. So if you're ready, let's jump right in.

Jason Gleason 0:29

Welcome everyone for joining us for our very first podcast for NP Launchpad. I'm Dr. J, Dr. Jason Gleason from Big Sky Country Montana, and I'm so delighted to be with you today. I'm joined by my special friends and colleagues, Dr. Vanessa and Christopher. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Christopher Gleason 0:46

My name is Christopher Gleason. I am a DNP candidate currently with a graduation date in May, hopefully. I'm all I work as a nurse practitioner at the VA, actually. I've been a nurse practitioner now for about 10 years. My practice is pretty diverse. I started out in family care, um, did a little bit in substance abuse treatment. I've also worked in um correctional medicine and uh pain management now at the VA, of course. Um currently a uh captain in the United States Army Reserve. I have been doing that for about five years now. The I am also um an author. And I think that's about it for me. Vanessa.

Jason Gleason 1:25

That's a lot, Chris.

Vanessa Pomarico 1:27

It is a lot. Hi, everyone. My name is Dr. Vanessa Pomarico, and I am a family nurse practitioner in the uh East Coast area of Connecticut. I have going on 28 years of primary care, which is hard to believe. Um, I am the lead clinician for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for over 140 offices over three states of Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. I'm an expert in LGBTQA plus care. I'm an author, I'm an educator, and I'm a national speaker. And I'm so delighted to be working with the two of you, uh, working on this podcast because I know that it's something that the three of us are very passionate about.

Jason Gleason 2:07

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm just so honored to be with the two of you. And I'll tell you what, there's so much good energy among us. We have great chemistry because we're good friends and colleagues. And we're in it with you. We're in this struggle with you. We're in the profession to celebrate with you all. And I'll tell you what, you know, when we were thinking about putting this podcast together, we wanted to put a podcast together where we could connect not with an audience, not with customers of our organization or business, but but with friends and colleagues across the country and perhaps even around the world. So that's really our mission is to connect with all of you. And hopefully we'll learn as much from you as you learn from us. And we make this podcast engaging and interactive every week because we respect your time and we want to make the most use of that. Again, all three of us, I think uh Vanessa and Christopher would agree, all three of us are so honored that you're tuning in and watching or listening to us right now. And we're gonna have a great time over this first season of the NP Launchpad. We have 28 episodes coming your way, one every single week for you. And we're just so delighted to be with you. So, who should be listening to this podcast? Who should you out there across the country or the world share this podcast with? It's ideal, especially for NP students in their final six to 12 months of school, getting ready to graduate and take their boards, knock out their boards, and launch into a successful practice. It's terrific for that new grad NP that is so nervous about day one starting in their clinical practice for real life. Uh, as my father would tell me often, welcome to the real world. Welcome to the real world, new grad NPs. And this podcast is for you, for you to walk you through that journey on that very first day and through that very first year of your practice and beyond. It's for seasoned NPs that maybe you're changing a practice settings or specialties. You know, you're starting from day one again. If you're changing into a new specialty or setting, and we're here for you to support you through that journey, it's for RNs. Considering NP school, that you're looking at becoming an NP, check out our podcast and share it with all your friends, have them tune in. And then what we really want to strive for is you will not only listen to our podcast and listen to our interactions and how we interact with you and bring your comments and questions forward through our interactive uh uh modalities and the different ways we're going to connect with you as an audience, but we want you to share that information with your friends and get people excited because I'll tell you what, being an NP is being part of the best profession on the entire planet Earth. And we are so excited to share our knowledge with you and also learn from you. It's also a podcast for NP preceptors. You know, sometimes, I'll tell you what, I've been an NP for decades, Vanessa and Christopher as well. And sometimes we lose sight of how it how it is to be a student, right? And so when we're preceptoring students, it's it's good to gear our brains towards what are they experiencing, what are they going through, what challenges will they have in that first year of practice? Because sometimes we forget that after we're seasoned for a while. So NP preceptors out there, faculty, NP mentors, this podcast is for you as well. And then our friends that are not NPs, but they might be practice managers, recruiters, credentialing friends of all sorts. We're so glad that so many of you are tuning in. So, as I mentioned, you're not just an audience to us, but you're friends and colleagues in the best profession on the planet. And that's that's our heart in this for you. It's genuine, it's real. We want to connect with you as an audience and as friends across the country. You know, you're garnering and harnessing decades of experience, challenges, and successes between Christopher, Vanessa, and I. We're here to share those all with you. We're gonna be open, honest, raw, gritty at times, and just share how it is in real life as an NP with you. We we don't uh sugarcoat anything here. You might hear an occasional swear word, hopefully not. Hopefully they'll bleep those out. But you know, it's part of our profession and being human beings. But we're gonna be real with you as friends and colleagues, just like we would be talking to you if we went for a walk with you on a lunch break at our clinic. So we want to interact with you in real ways that'll be helpful to you. And we're hoping to hear back from you, and the interaction and engagement will be amazing for all of us because we always learn uh from those that we interact with.

Jason Gleason 6:08

So, moving from fear of am I ready, to the confidence of I got this. What the heck does that mean? That means that one of our biggest goals with this podcast for that new NP out there that is so nervous about their first day of practice, and you're you're so nervous to the point where you're asking yourself, am I really ready for this? Am I really ready to write that first prescription or get that first treatment going? You know, am I ready for this? Well, we want you to move from I am ready, which is kind of timid, to I've got this. I'm gonna nail my very first day of practice and I'm gonna be a rock star NP. You won't know it all. You won't know it all. And we're gonna give you some great tips on how to work through that and get some good mentorship in your first year and beyond. But we want you to move from that timid, am I really ready for this, right? I shouldn't be doing this at all, to I've got this, and you do got this because every single one of you out there listening or watching us is already brilliant. You would have never passed your boards or getting ready for your boards, you would have never gotten through your academic journey if you were not brilliant. And our job here is to build up your confidence as a good friend would to support you along the way and always be there for you.

Jason Gleason 7:14

You know, before we kick into our content, I want to share with you that some of you out there are discouraged. Some of you are deflated, some of you are frankly burned out from all your education, your academic journey, and you're excited to start practice, but it's like, ugh, again, am I really meant for this? Is this my moment to shine? Absolutely it is. And I love the quote: see it and be it. And we want each of you out there to see it, to truly see yourselves launching into a successful NP practice, or if you're a seasoned NP going into a different uh setting or specialty, to launch into that with confidence and see that you can be an absolutely amazing NP because you are. So see it and be it. Write that one down, keep that nugget in the back of your head. And Vanessa and Christopher are going to have so many great nuggets for you as well.

Jason Gleason 8:00

So this season, we're taking you all in our country and hopefully around the world, taking you all on a journey through 28 episodes. That's incredible, isn't it? This very first season of NP Launchpad will bring you 28 episodes, one every single week. We're connecting and empowering and inspiring you to launch into a successful career in practice. That's our number one mission. But we're also gonna have some fun along the way. We want to make this interactive and enjoyable for you, and we respect your time. We want this again to be as interactive and engaging as possible. So we ask you as an audience to connect with us and we're gonna share our email address with you here coming up, where you can connect with us. Send us your comments, your clinical pearls, tips you may have, and of course your questions. And we're gonna bring those all to our show to share with everyone. And again, it's all about respecting your time, which we definitely do. We're so honored that you're joining us. Most episodes will last 30 minutes, and sometimes we'll go over. And I'll tell you what, we're pretty chatty, as you can already probably tell, especially me. There, Vanessa and Christopher will be like, Gleason, come on, get on with it, right? Yeah, but uh, most episodes will last about 30 minutes. Some will be over, some will be shorter than that, but it'll be convenient for you to listen to and watch. And each episode, each episode will feature the following format. We're gonna kick things off with a lively discussion about engaging hot topics for NP practice, things that matter to you. We're also gonna have a fact or fiction game where we cut through the fiction to give you factual, practical information. And then our favorite part of our time together is our launch pad mailbox where we truly get to connect with you, our friends and colleagues out there across the country and around the world. We get to connect with you through this launchpad mailbox. We'll share the email address with you coming up where you can send in your comments, your clinical tips, your pearls, things you hate about our podcast, things you love about our podcast, and of course your questions that we will answer on the podcast itself because we all learn from each other. And there's no question that is stupid or dumb out there, right? So again, you can send all of that to our email, and it's nplaunchpad @fhea.com. That's gonna be shown in the show notes so you don't have to write that down. It's also on the screen here, nplaunchpad @fhea.com. That is your vital lifeline, your connection to reach us. So please do and use that all the time. We want to hear from you every single week and share it with your friends and everybody you know. And then we're gonna wrap up each podcast with your launchpad checklist. There's nothing worse than listening to a great podcast, and then at the very end, it's like, oh, what do I do with all this information, right? So at the very end of every podcast, we're gonna give you your checklist, the key summary of the topics that we talked about, the tips that we've given you, the questions that you you had that we answered all during our podcast. We'll summarize in that checklist. And then we're gonna see you every single week, hopefully.

Jason Gleason 10:51

So here's a quick disclaimer, though, from our legal folks at FHEA by Colibri. They insist that we share this with you. This podcast is for education only. We're coming to you as your friends and colleagues with some tips that have worked for us, our challenges, our success stories over the years. And that that's that's our heart in this, right? It's for education only. If you're looking for legal or clinic, clinical or professional advice, we encourage you to seek those professionals out in your local areas because we're not, we're not that for you. We're not legal or clinic, we're not giving you legal or clinical advice or professional advice. We're just sharing some tips along our journey over decades of practice, and and hopefully we'll learn from you as well as you interact with us. So please note that.

Jason Gleason 11:31

So, who are we and why are we so excited to share with you our friends and colleagues? Vanessa and Christopher introduced themselves a little bit about me. Uh, I practice as an NP now since 2001, over decades of service. I'm shocked at how fast time goes by. But again, I'm delighted to bring and again harness all that experience, lessons learned, challenges, success stories, bring it to you, as well as Christopher and Vanessa are as well. Um, but I also served our fantastic and wonderful country for 20 years in the United States Air Force and Air National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2015. But beyond that, now I even have a greater honor, and that is serving our veterans in primary care at the VA where I work full-time. And then I also have been employed with Fitzgerald Health Education Associates by Colibri since 2017. I've been doing this for a while, going around the country, uh, national speaking events, and also one of my favorite events is teaching board review for NP students. I love the content. I love teaching, but what I most love is the connection with NP students because they are our future of our profession and really of the health and wellness of our entire country because of the excellent care that they provide. I also serve on the ANP Board of Directors as Region 8 director. So if you're out west in Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, or Utah, reach out to me. I am your representative for the AANP. So it's such an honor to serve in that role as well. We are all thrilled to be with you. Vanessa and Christopher, do you have anything to add?

Christopher Gleason 13:01

Not really.

Jason Gleason 13:02

Not really.

Christopher Gleason 13:03

I think you covered everything.

Jason Gleason 13:05

Christopher and Vanessa are very chatty. Vanessa, how about you?

Vanessa Pomarico 13:08

So I just wanted to add that um I also am a um uh board review uh faculty for FHEA. As a matter of fact, Jason and I met because we went through our boot camp together and learning how to become faculty. So we've been friends for a very long time. Um I too serve on AANP. I am the current chair of our mentorship uh committee, and we'll talk a little bit about that in another episode when we get to mentoring. Um, but I also serve as the co-chair of the DEIB special interest group for AANP. So outside of our clinical practices, you know, we all have a lot of other things that we're doing in addition to, you know, writing chapters and articles and that kind of thing. So we, the three of us, are bringing a wealth of information. And like Jason said, we're sharing a lot of clinical pearls with you uh over the next 28 episodes.

Jason Gleason 14:02

Absolutely. And it gets such a treat to spend this time with all of you and Vanessa, Christopher, and of course our friends and colleagues out there. You know, Vanessa mentioned that both of us came on board with Fitzgerald in about 2017 at the same time, and we're such good friends because of that journey. And I'll tell you what, I have to acknowledge our founder of our organization, Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald. She is a dynamo to this day. She is a dynamo, always working, working, working to provide education and empowerment and confident confidence building to all of our NPs out there, not just students, but practicing NPs that have been seasoned NPs for decades. I still stand in awe of her. I know Vanessa and Christopher do as well. So she is a total rock star. But I'll tell you what, when we came on to Fitzgerald years ago, a funny story. Uh Vanessa, you remember this, that we were invited to her home and we had to audition in her living room. We had to give a presentation in her living room with Dr. Fitzgerald and a speech speech coach right there with us. And talk about intimidation, right? But she is so humble and kind, and she's an absolute rock star. If you go to conferences out there, you'll see people lined up, getting their selfies and asking for autographs. She absolutely loves to hear from all of you out there. So please reach out to her and acknowledge the amazing work that she's doing. Vanessa, would you agree? Any any words about Dr. Fitzgerald?

Vanessa Pomarico 15:18

I completely agree. And I am indebted to her for taking things that I was passionate about and giving me the ability to put it on a national platform. So I owe much of my professional success to Dr. Fitzgerald.

Jason Gleason 15:33

Absolutely. And many of you out there can relate to it as well. I remember in 2001, uh, so nervous and anxious for my boards. And I went to Gonzegue University in Spokane, a great NP school, but even that education, you know, I felt lost in some ways. And I'll tell you what, attending her review course, taught by her herself, was so amazing and life-changing for me. And to this day, I now it's an honor to teach that curriculum that she's created and put so much work and effort into. So such an amazing journey. And we are here. I think Christopher and Vanessa would agree, we are here in large part because of Dr. Fitzgerald. So thank you, Dr. Fitzgerald, if you're out there listening to us. Well, let's kick into our hot topic discussion. As I mentioned, every single week, every episode, we're going to have a hot topic discussion, things that matter to you. Let's kick things off, though, as we introduce ourselves and this program to you. Let's kick things off by asking the question why did I become an NP? But beyond listening to us and why we became NPs and what that drive came from and that desire and inspiration, we really want to hear from you. So throughout this journey, please take some notes if you can. And then that email address, nplaunchpad at fhea.com. It's on the screen again and it's in our show notes, so you don't have to write it down. But please reach out to us. We want to hear from you, your why stories. Why did you become an NP? And we'd love to read some of that during our podcast. So please, please send that in uh through our email. So to kick things off, you know, your origin story, what pulled you into the NP life? Christopher, could you tell us a little bit about your background?

Christopher Gleason 17:04

So I actually started off in um in medicine in the early 2000s. So it was probably about 2001. I became a certified nurse's assistant. I was living in New York at the time. Um I worked as a CNA for a few years, and then decided I wanted to go on and get my RM. So I graduated my associate's degree in 2006. Um when I graduated, I was told myself I'd never go back to school again. I didn't want the responsibility. Um fast forward about four years, and I went back to get my bachelor's degree. Um and after that I uh went to pursue my master's degree in 2016. The the journey that really brought me to become an NP, though, was the journey of me being a nurse. The uh the amount of love and respect I ended up developing for my patients and wanting to actually, you know, care for them and do more for them and do what I could could to, you know, kind of help them along their journey. That's really kind of what inspired me to become a nurse practitioner. And then now I currently serve as a nurse practitioner in the in the army as well. And I've always had that love and that devotion for my country and to be able to serve as a nurse practitioner, you know, not only in the um in the army, but also in the VA as well, it's just is it's truly been a great honor of mine. Vanessa, what do you think?

Vanessa Pomarico 18:14

I just have to say thank you both for your service to our country. I'm in awe every day of what the two of you have do and continue to do for our nation's uh veterans. Uh so I took a very long route to nursing. I actually started out as a medical assistant. Nursing at the time was very competitive to get into school. And I realized after just a few short years of being a medical assistant was not what I wanted to do. I often said I was a frustrated nurse. So I went into an associate degree program and I graduated in 1990, which seems so long ago. And um, I immediately I uh went into a bachelor's program the following fall because I knew that I was going to get that bachelor's degree. And like Christopher kept thinking, I'm not gonna go for another degree, but I realized that I really wanted to do more for my patients. I wanted to help them avoid landing in the unit. So I was working as a GYN surgical nurse, and then our unit merged with our oncology unit, and I thought, I'm never gonna stay in oncology. And I ended up staying for eight years, and it was probably one of the most gratifying aspects of my career. But again, I wanted to do more for my patients. I wanted to help them optimize their health. So being in GYN oncology, I saw a lot of women who were coming in with avoidable diseases. And so I wanted to be part of that healthcare journey that would help them really take better care of themselves, but also to partner with them in their healthcare journey. And I just didn't want to be that person that had to take orders from somebody for the rest of my career just because they had more education than I had. So I enrolled in a nurse practitioner program and thought, that's it, I'm not going for any other degrees. And of course, never say never, as I started to get further on in my career, I knew that working with the LGBTQA plus population, there wasn't a lot of research out there. And I knew that the only way that I would be able to make an impact was to go on. And that's when I went to get my doctoral degree in nursing education. So I and I promised my husband when I was done with that degree, there would be no more school. So um it's something that I I've I've I'm so happy that I did it. It was not easy going through it. Jason was right by my side as I was going through that degree program. Um, but you know, I got through it and I'm happy that I did it because I am able to do things like this and bring all of that experience with me. How about you, Jason?

Jason Gleason 20:44

Excellent. You know, before I kick into myself, I I have a question. Christopher, where have you deployed to in the Army?

Christopher Gleason 20:51

Um I've I've only been mobilized once since I've joined the Army. I went to uh Fort Bliss, Texas, actually, and I served there for about six months. I was um mobilized there from August of 2024 through February of 2025. Um basically what I was doing down there is um I was working doing what we call PD PHAs or PDHAs. So they're they're um physical health assessments or post-deployment health assessments, pre-preployment health assessments, things of that nature. Um while I was down there, I was actually um honored to be the OIC or officer in charge for both the laboratory and immunization departments down there and served there for, like I said, about six months.

Jason Gleason 21:26

Excellent, excellent. And Vanessa, you know, out of all your practice experience, because you have tons of experience, I stand in awe of you, honestly. Um what is your favorite part about practicing as an NP now?

Vanessa Pomarico 21:39

On those days when I'm feeling really good, because we're gonna talk a little about good days and bad days, but honestly, uh what I love is being able to empower my patients. Um I love being part of families, being able to take care of significant others, their children, now their grandchildren or their parents or their grandpa. Parents. You get to know families and families embrace you as one of them. And I love when I hear from them and they say, you know, thank you for taking such good care of all of us. And I actually, I have to say, one of the one of the nicest things that one of my patients recently told me was that when they gave thanks at Thanksgiving, they actually mentioned my name. Oh wow. And they said how fortunate they were to have me as their provider. And that just took away all of those hard days. When I just keep that in the back of my head to say there are there are those days when I feel like I've made an impact.

Jason Gleason 22:37

Wow. That's incredible. You you feel like you're part of their family, you know? I do. Yeah, that's really cool. You know, when when I um it reminds me when I when I see patients, I usually, you know, as they leave the exam room, because we have two doors in our exam rooms and they'll go out one door and I go out the other and and I'll say, see you later, friend. And yeah, I started saying that by habit, but it it really means something to them because I I don't see my patients as patients, right? But I want to treat them as a friend. And so I got I got used to that and it's genuine, it's real. I really consider them a friend. And I think because they so often consider us their friends, like they can trust us and connect with us. And that's where the magic is in our profession as nurse practitioners and nurses, and all of you out there can relate to that, I'm sure. But yeah, those little subtle connections mean so much and it runs so deep with our patients and and is so meaningful to us as well. You know, um, for myself, you know, my journey started in high school. I had this great uh biology teacher, and I was interested in health studies and biology and science. And I went to her and I said, gosh, um, could you tell me what to do? I don't know what to do. I'm thinking about college now, but I just don't know which way to go. And she said, you know what? Start by volunteering. Volunteer at your local hospital, become a candy striper, quote unquote. Back in the day, that's what we were called. Um, I did not have to wear a uniform, by the way. No uniform, no candy stripes uh on me, no uniform there. But um, but I remember volunteering at my local hospital and I went all out. I loved it so much. I actually volunteered on weekends, I actually held the record for the greatest hour, number of hours that a volunteer gave because I loved it so much and I had such good mentors and such a good experience. Some of the nurses actually kind of taught me to do things like vital signs, and I remember it's kind of disgusting when you think about it, but I remember how excited I was when they taught me how to empty a foley catheter bag. So excited. It's like, wow, this is so cool. I'm emptying a foley catheter bag. How disgusting is that? But at the time, a high school student's like, wow, this is so cool. I can get so engaged. And so I was doing vital signs, you know, going beyond passing waters and blankets and stuff that volunteers do. Some of the nurses allowed me to do vital signs and then emptying foley bags until the nun came up the hallway. It was a Catholic hospital, and the sister came up to me one day and said, You are not allowed to be doing that. You need to stick to juices and visiting with patients, but you are not allowed to do vital signs. So I basically got my hand slapped by a nun in a Catholic hospital. If any of you can relate to that out there, you know what I'm talking about, right? If you've gone to a Catholic uh school or education, we love, love our Catholic education in schools and facilities out there and hospitals. But boy, those nuns, look out for them, especially when you're not doing what you shouldn't be doing. So I enjoyed uh being a volunteer in the hospital, and that that just took off. Like Vanessa, uh Christopher, I got my associate's degree in nursing and then my bachelor's, master's, and I kept going. And within that, I think there's a lesson in that that I learned is to keep going, to stay in the game, to stay on the field. And if you're out there and if you're an associate's nurse right now or bachelor's prepared, keep going. If that's your drive and that's your effort and that's your dream, do it. Absolutely do it. Don't hold back. See it and be it and keep going because that's the only way that the three of us got to where we're at now, you know, decades later. So, so that that's my journey. Uh, I became a nurse practitioner, worked in primary care, emergency medicine. I absolutely have the best job on the planet right now, and I don't see it as a job I love, I don't have to go to work every day. I get to go to work every day and treat our national heroes in primary care at the VA. And there's no deeper connection that's meaningful more meaningful to me than that. So, such a true honor to work for the VA and help our heroes, those that have served our country. So that's a little bit about myself, and you'll learn more about us in the future, you know, coming up, our challenges, successes, the days where we wanted to give it all up, and what kept us in the game and on the field, right? So, what should you do? Why do we tell you all this information? Number one, so you can get to know us. If you're gonna listen to us every week, right, and share this information with your friends, you should know who we are. But really, we want to learn about you. So, here's some tips for you that we would share. I want you each out there, each of you, to consider this right now or sometime this week. Write down your personal mission statement and why it matters to you. Why did your mission statement, why are you a nurse practitioner, why do you want to become a nurse practitioner? Write down your personal mission statement because that will get you through those hard days. It'll give you a vision that you can set course on and stay on course and not get distracted or off course at all. And there's a simple formula to write up your personal mission statement. Here's a few elements of that. Who you serve, what you what you uh do, what you how you help people. So who you serve, how you're going to help them, and then how you want them to feel about that. So again, who you serve, patience, but beyond just patients, though, what kind of patients are you passionate about serving? And then how do you help them? How are you going to specifically help them? And then how you want them to feel about that, about you helping them. So that's some good tips on writing your personal mission statement. I'd also like you to consider writing a one-sentence version and a three-sentence version of your of your mission statement. That's a tough one. And if any of you out there, you've experienced this where your professor says, I want you to write something, but there's a word limit of 100 words or 150 words. That would drive me bananas. Vanessa and Christopher, would that drive you nuts when they put a word limit on stuff? You can relate.

Christopher Gleason 27:59

Actually, for me, no, not so much. I don't really enjoy writing all that much.

Jason Gleason 28:03

So you didn't mind, right? A sentence and you're good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it it's a challenge out there, but you have to have that on board because you know the opportunity is going to come up, or you're sitting on an airplane waiting to taxi, or you're in an elevator with somebody and they say, hey, what do you do? Or what are you passionate about? You don't have 15 minutes to tell them about the NP profession and why you want to become an NP or why you are an NP serving patients. So come up with that elevator speech or that airline speech where you're sitting in a seat and somebody asks you, you know, what you do and why you're so passionate about being an NP. So write a one-sentence version of your mission statement and a three-sentence version or a little bit longer paragraph of why you want why you're an NP or why you want to be an NP. And then stress test it. Ask yourself, does this still feel true on a bad day in a busy clinic and when you are tired? Because that mission statement is going to get you through those tough days. It's going to keep you on track. Because I don't know, Vanessa, for example, have you had days out there where you feel like, I'm giving this crap up? I mean, and you you refer to being an NP as crap on those days because it's so crappy. Have you ever had those days?

Vanessa Pomarico 29:09

Funny you should ask. Uh, just earlier this week, I looked at my schedule, and all of you will have those days. And I looked at my schedule and I thought, could this day get any worse? And the answer is yes, and it will. Um, but then the next day, and I remember coming home and saying to my husband, I don't know how many days to retirement, but I don't know if I can do this anymore. And the next morning I need a little bit of rest, a little bit of sleep, a little bit of coddling by my husband. Um, the next day I woke up, I walked in, my very first patient of the day gave me the biggest hug and it set the tone for the whole day. So yeah, when we do have those days, and that's when you say when you stress test it, that's when I go back and say to myself, I became an NP because, and it's like my mantra. And I just start my day off by saying it's a privilege and an honor to care for people. So you'll have those good days and bad days. Hopefully, your good days will outnumber the bad.

Jason Gleason 30:03

Absolutely. And all of you can relate to that out there. Christopher, how about you? What do you do on those days where you want to give it up and go work at Walmart or McDonald's or some other place, other than being an NP?

Christopher Gleason 30:12

Go into the patient room and scream? No, no, no.

Jason Gleason 30:16

Oh nice. I want to be your patient.

Christopher Gleason 30:18

No, no, the patient's not in there. I just go in there when it's empty and scream. Um, no, just like Vanessa and Jason, I mean, looking at there'll there'll be days that you go in and you look at your schedule and you see those patients on there that are, you know, that that can be taxing and they can be trying and they can they can take a lot out of you. And when you see those those names come up, it it can be very stressful for you. And you're like, oh, you know, like Vanessa said, what could go worse? And unfortunately things can go worse. Um but on those days, you know, and as Jason alluded to, going back and finding your why, going back and finding why, you know, what brought you to the NP career field, what brought you to to wanting to care for patients. And I think that really kind of brings things home and really kind of helps you zero in on yes, this may be a bad day, and yes, you will have those days throughout your career. But, you know, it's gonna help you lead into that, okay. This while I have this bad day, you know, tomorrow's gonna be a better day. You know, I have you always always have that opportunity. And I think too, when, you know, like Vanessa said, going in and seeing that that one patient that, you know, g gives you that hug, or that one patient that you know you've impacted, or that one patient that says, thank you for whatever you've done for them, I think that in and of itself, you know, just makes the NP career well worth it.

Jason Gleason 31:32

Absolutely. And and many of you out there are saying, I get this, I've experienced this, right? And some of you out there, even today or you're burned out and you're ready to give it up. Don't give it up. You're gonna get through this. But what'll help you is knowing your mission statement because often we're excited on day one. But I'll tell you what, after years in the practice now, decades, sometimes you lose sight of that on how exciting that was, your very first day of practice and what an honor it is to take care of all those patients out there. So reconnect with that and who you are. And if you're that new NP out there, so nervous about your first day, write down your mission statement. You write down a short one and again a longer one. But here's the deal you don't want to write down that mission statement, then tuck it away in a notebook somewhere where it's collecting dust and you never look at it again, right? So put it somewhere. You know, I think it's a great idea. If you have a mission statement and it's short enough, right? And it's small enough, print it out and tape it on the back of your name badge, right? So you always have that there so you can look at it, reference it quickly. And again, get back on that field when you're ready to give up. Don't, don't give up. And it here's the deal with this podcast: we are here for you. We get it. And like I said earlier, we're gonna be real with you, gritty, share our successes and a lot of our challenges that we've had and lessons learned over the over our time together through these 28 episodes. And there are those days, like we just said, that really they suck, right? There's no other way to put it, they're just total garbage. But don't give up on those days and fully know this that we've got your back. Because you're not an audience member to us. You're not some customer at Fitzgerald, you're a friend and a colleague. That's the relationship we want to develop. We want to develop an entire community, but not only between us and you listening out there watching, we want you to build into this community and share with each other. So again, share this information with your friends. The more people we have tuning in and subscribing to this podcast and listening to this and sharing, that's gonna be a strong community. And the NPs are already a very strong community, and this will definitely add to it. So take your mission statement, again, pointers to take home here. Write a mission statement, a short version and a longer version. Put it somewhere meaningful that's readily accessible to you, like on the back of your name badge. Put it there, maybe put it on your bathroom mirror somewhere or at work somewhere on your desk. Write up your mission statement. I think it'd be super cool if you wrote up a mission statement on an 8 by 11 piece of paper and frame it and put it on your desk. And then your colleagues will say, What is that? Oh, it's my mission statement. That might do something to spark a little interest from your colleagues and energize them and inspire them not to give up and to stay on the field and stay engaged as well. Because we all need that support from each other. So choosing your North Star values for your first job, what does that mean? What I'd like Vanessa and Christopher, and I'll tune in too, is to talk about is what are our North Star values? What I'm talking about is what is at the core of your essence as an NP and as a human being? What are those values that you bring forward? What were your North Star values, the non-negotiables for your very first job? Like these are my values. I bring these to work, and this is how I'm gonna incorporate them into the practice that I'm building. So, Christopher, tell us what are your North Star values that you go to work with each day as your foundation?

Christopher Gleason 34:36

I think for me, one of the one of my North Star values would be just the ability to care for the patient and to get the note and to get to know the patient. You know, I said in the beginning I've kind of had a very career going from correctional medicine to you know family care, to uh pain management, things of that nature. One of the things that I learned from all of that though is how much I love being in primary care. Now, primary care in and of itself is a beast, and I'm not gonna lie about it. It's it can be very challenging at times. However, being able to go in and to get to know my patients, get to know their families, get to know their jobs, you know, get to know their dogs, the and then be able to, when they come back for those visits, be able to have those conversations with them, say, you know, how how's your wife doing? How's your husband doing? You know, did you did your child graduate college yet? Things of that nature. I love that personal connection. So for me, that's one of my North Star values with being at NP is just being able to have that connection with my patients.

Jason Gleason 35:29

You know, you mentioned connection. What I've started doing, I'll pass this as a clinical tip or pull out there for all of you. And again, we want to hear from you too. Please email your us yours. Um, but one of the things I started doing that's really made a big difference in my practices, in my documentation on my progress note, the template I have in my EHR, for every single progress note, at the very, very top, even before I go into the note itself, like assessment and all the different areas of the note, at the very top of every single note, I type in big, bold capital letters, connection point. And then I write some kind of connection down, like what their pet name was. Did they have somebody recently pass away in their family, perhaps? Did they go on a vacation? What do they love to do, hobby-wise? Some something to connect with the essence of their humanity beyond the healthcare that we provide. And what that connection point, putting that in my documentation shows me is the very next time I see that patient for a follow-up visit, I read the previous note I had, and at the very top is that connection point because we can never remember all the details about all of our patients out there, right? It's pretty complex, especially when you have a thousand or more patients on your panel. But if you if you take a little note and start the visit off with, gosh, how's your dog Sam doing or whatever? The patient's gonna love that. And you're genuine. You're not just writing things down and then using it, you know, to stir discussion. It's genuine interest, you know, in their life and who they are as a human being and what their interests are. I love, love what you mentioned about connection. Vanessa, how about yourself? What North Star values do you have?

Vanessa Pomarico 36:55

So, my very first day of nursing school, my mom said to me as I walked out the door in my brand new starched white uniform, and she said, you treat every patient as though it was me in the bed. And that was a very heavy thing for me to carry, but it's something that I strive to do every day. Am I successful at every day? No. But I really try hard because I, you know, our patients are at their most vulnerable when they're sick. So when they're coming in and maybe they're a little bit cranky that day, or maybe they're giving my staff a hard time, I always think they're not feeling well. And how would I feel if this was my mother, my father, my sister, my niece, my nephew, whoever, and somebody spoke to them in an improper manner. And so I always try to keep that. That's my North Star is treating every patient as though it was a family member.

Jason Gleason 37:49

I love that. I love that. Thank you. So many good North stars out there, you know. And we encourage each of you listening or watching to think about your own. And again, get that list out. Write those things down and put them someplace where you can focus on them, right? Because it will get you through those days. It'll be a good reset for you. So, tips for our friends tuning in. And again, this will be in your show notes. So you don't have to write these down. Please don't run and get a pen or paper. We want you to enjoy this podcast and just listen to it. It'll be in the show notes. It's on the screen here for you as we talk about them. So, tips for our friends tuning in. Um, so important as it sets the foundation of your NP career and practice, pick three non-negotiables. Again, like we've been talking about here, the North Stars. Pick three of them. Examples include mentorship, schedule, scope, autonomy, location, your pay that you're gonna get. Uh what, what, what is the pay floor, so to speak? What will you accept as payment for your services? What's the bottom line that you're not gonna go below? What I find often NPs, and we'll talk about this during one of our episodes on negotiating your contract. But NPs, one of the horrible things that I think we do as nurses is we settle for less because we're worth so much more. But we settle for less because we're excited to get that job. We want to land it. We don't want to look for another job uh somewhere else that'll offer us more money. But we deserve we deserve to be compensated for what we're worth. But often we we settle for less and we should not be. So go into those situations ahead of time, recognizing, you know what, I'm worth it. And this is gonna be my absolute basement of what I'm gonna accept. So you have to know those other HR-related things, administrative things about your North Star values as well. And then rank your values, you know, rank them as learning, lifestyle, mission, money, mobility. Uh, do you want to move from the bottom of an organization up top? What is your overall overreaching goal uh for your entire career? Kind of map it out. That would be helpful. Define your red lines, examples, unsafe volumes, unclear supervision, no onboarding, chaotic culture, all those kind of things. You have to know your bottom lines, your red lines that you're not gonna be forced to cross. And there too, I see new NPs, Christopher and Vanessa, I think you can relate to this or see this. I know I've experienced myself personally, but you know, if you don't know your red lines going into a practice, especially as a new NP ahead of time, that can get you into big trouble, right? I've had some NP colleagues that they get hired in an organization and they're not told ahead of time that they don't have any nurse or medical assistant working with them. They are the nurse and the provider. They will check in their patient, they'll see the patient, they'll discharge the patient. And I actually worked, you know, in some settings where that was the case and it's chaos. It's absolute chaos. So you have to from day one understand what your red lines are and then communicate those during job interviews or negotiating uh times with employers. It's so important. So think about you know, what unsafe volumes of patients am I going to take? Am I gonna take like 30 patients or 40 patients on my schedule a day where I spend five minutes with them and the quality care, you know, tanks and their safety issues there, obviously, with that. Unclear supervision, no onboarding. You know, from day one, yep, you're an NP, here you are. No orientation, no mentoring, nothing. Just go at it. And you kind of get lost in the mix. Don't settle for that. Make sure that there's a plan for onboarding and a chaotic culture. Know what the practice is like. I encourage each of you out there, if you're going through interviews right now, ask the administration, the management, the clinic leadership, can I spend a day in your clinic, right? Can I come and visit you? Because they can turn on the polish and shine. Any of us can, right? For a first visit. But if you spend an entire day in a clinic and actually talk to the people on the front lines on how it is there, you'll pick up right away if it's a chaotic culture or not. And you may want to avoid uh working in such a place. But in in most parts, I think you're gonna find that it's an amazing culture to work in because most places are really good. And then here's another topic. Thinking back on your first NP job, how did you seek out mentors and build connection with them? Christopher, go ahead and answer that for us.

Christopher Gleason 41:44

So um, as I said, when I first started as a nurse, I graduated in 2006. I started working for an FQHC, which uh, for those that don't know, it's a federally qualified health center. Um they they deal a lot with uh Medicaid and Medicare uh individuals. The um and I became friends with a nurse practitioner. Her name was um Patricia Brown. She was an amazing nurse practitioner and probably truthfully one of the people that inspired me to become a nurse practitioner. Um and just working with her and the working with her, I got the chance to actually develop a mentorship relationship with her. And ac actually when I did my clinicals for my NP program, um she she in fact did become one of my preceptors and became a mentor there. And then after graduation, I actually worked at the same facility she did. Um and again, she we can she fell into that mentorship role and uh and that preceptor role once again, which was just amazing for me because yeah, she was such a wealth of knowledge and the way she took care of her patients was something that I I wanted to strive to do after I graduated. Excellent.

Vanessa Pomarico 42:48

So I I was very fortunate. You know, one of my preceptors gave me the green light to call her, you know, after I graduated, whenever I got stuck. But the doc at my first job was also a professor for the school of medicine uh at our local hospital. And I was very, very fortunate that she had an infinite amount of patience and wisdom that she was willing to share with me. Um, she made it very easy if I had a question just to knock on the door, have her come in and see the patient. And that in turn really is what spurred me on to kind of pay it forward. And I really do firmly believe um in mentorship. As I said, I am uh the chair for the AANP mentorship program. And it is a free program, put a little plug in there, free mentorship uh to anybody um who qualifies uh and they are a member of AANP. And I just have to say that I've maintained relationships with just about every single nurse practitioner student that I've precepted over the years, including somebody who is in Australia and is now paying it forward with mentorship. Yeah.

Jason Gleason 43:50

That's pretty cool and fun to listen to with the accent, right? Yeah.

Vanessa Pomarico 43:54

Well, she's from America. She moved to Australia.

Jason Gleason 43:57

Oh, nice. Oh, nice. Did she pick up an accent? Right? Yeah.

Vanessa Pomarico 44:01

Not yet, but I think her kid has. Yeah.

Jason Gleason 44:03

Nice. Yeah. Yeah. That's excellent. Excellent. Yeah, for me, I I I just I can't stress it enough how important mentoring is. You know, and I've worked in both over the decades where I've had to start day one without much mentorship and you're kind of on your own. And that's a big deal, right? It's not safe in a lot of ways and it's frustrating and there's high burnout. The the places that do it well though have a good mentorship program, and most places do. Like at the VA, it's it's pretty good. They they do a lot of mentoring and onboarding, and not just for a week, but weeks at a time. They ease you in to seeing those patients and building up your volume and stuff so you're just not hit with a wall on day one. So mentoring is so important. You know, here's some additional tips for our friends out there listening. And again, this will be in your show notes, so please don't write these down. Just some tips when you're thinking about mentoring and seeking out mentors and how to interact with them. You know, first of all, identify your triangle of mentorship. And what does that mean? That means that you should have a mentor for clinical questions, a mentor for workflow and electronic health record, kind of administrative type questions, and then a career mentor, someone that inspires you. Like, gosh, how did you get to where you're at now? I often have people, Vanessa and Christopher, you probably have people that come up to you. Gosh, how did you become a national speaker at AA and P conferences? Or how did you get plugged into FHEA as faculty, those kind of things. So again, a clinical mentor that's focusing on those day-to-day issues, like, gosh, what do I do with this patient in this scenario? Workflow or electronic health record, administrative kind of mentoring. Again, your triangle, clinical, workflow, electric, electronic health record, administrative, and then that career mentor, somebody that really inspires you. And they're different people, right? So one person doesn't feel inundated by all of your questions. Focus on that triangle. Again, clinical, administrative, and then career mentors. Have three of those people in your toolbox for you where you can go to and people you trust and interact with and have a good connection with. Ask with specificity can I run one case by you weekly for 10 minutes for the first 60 days? That is such a great recipe for mentorship when you're the mentoree and you're being mentored. Because you, if you've ever been a mentor before or preceptor, you know that it can drive you bonkers, right? That's the negative side. Do it. The gritty real side is like, oh, all these questions, and I don't have time for this today. I have all these patients and a busy schedule, and I'm gonna get out here at eight o'clock tonight. Those kind of situations come up, and that's reality. But you don't want to overwhelm a mentor either. So being kind and doing it the right way and respecting their time and not overwhelming them. So if you're a new NP going into a practice, ask things like, gosh, can I run one case by you weekly for 10 minutes for the first 60 days? And stick to that. Obviously, if you have other things you have questions about, you never want to be in a situation where you don't ask a question because, oh, I've already used my question for the week. But but kind of minimize it and give them a heads up. You know, expect at least one question for from me for about 10 minutes, some kind of discussion for the first 60 days that I'm starting my practice. And then join one community now. What does that mean? This tip is wonderful. Join a state or national NP organization. AANP is out there. That's the premier organization out there. I think Christopher and Vanessa would agree how important that is to join a national organization because you have all that mentorship, those people that really inspire you and that you look up to, and that they will look up to you and be inspired by you as well. So seek out, join those communities. And some of them are free, some sometimes there's a minimal membership fee, but get out there and join some kind of community. Don't be isolated and in the dark by yourself as you're launching into the NP world. An alumni network, maybe your college has an alumni network. If they don't, start one. Start one up. An alumni network of NPs that can be mentors for each other. And again, show up for those times when it's really tough and we're ready to give up. Those mentors will pull you through. They'll pull you through and they'll pull you up, right? Some of sometimes all of us need a hand to get back up on our feet. And then pay it forward early. Share your templates, resources, and encouragement with your cohort. This is for mentors and also mentors that are out there that you're you're working with colleagues. Share the information. Share the information you learn on this podcast with other people. Share it because we all learn from each other. So share templates that you might create in EHR, share a great resource like phone apps that you come across that you use in clinical practice and encourage, encourage those around you, whether you're you're a mentor or a mentoree, encourage those around you and don't lose sight of that. So that is a great discussion on mentoring and again, launching into NP practice. Let's shift our focus now to our game called fact or fiction, where we give you kind of some hotfire questions and just go through those. And we cut through the noise, cut through the fiction to give you some factual-based practical information you'll find very helpful. And again, this is in your show notes for you, so you don't have to write things down. So, fact or fiction, we'll dive into these quick questions. Not much discussion here, mostly yes or no, but just some good questions to go through. So your why can change over time and still be authentic. Vanessa and Christopher, what do you think? Can your why change over time and still be authentic?

Christopher Gleason 49:06

I think your why can evolve over time. I don't think the basis of your why ever truly changes, but I think um as your as your practice progresses, the the the why can evolve along with that practice.

Jason Gleason 49:18

Excellent.

Vanessa Pomarico 49:19

I completely agree. Yeah, completely agree.

Jason Gleason 49:22

Yeah, I do too. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, how about this one? Burnout is only about workload, not about values or support. What do you think, Vanessa?

Vanessa Pomarico 49:32

Fiction.

Jason Gleason 49:33

Absolutely.

Vanessa Pomarico 49:34

Because value, if you don't have the support and you don't have your values, that's gonna add to your burnout.

Jason Gleason 49:38

Absolutely. Work life balance, values, support, all of that is important. A strong mentor relationship can shorten your learning curve by months if you have a good mentor. Are you gonna be ahead of the game or not?

Christopher Gleason 49:50

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. They can play a key role in in learning and developing your practice as well.

Jason Gleason 49:57

Absolutely I think Vanessa and I would agree with that. Absolutely. So sharing a patient's story is always okay if you remove the name and any other identifiable information from the story.

Christopher Gleason 50:10

Absolutely. As long as the patient information is de-identified, then you know, sharing those stories can actually be key in in helping other NPs learn and developing their career.

Jason Gleason 50:21

Outstanding. Yeah. And you'll hear us, you know, during our 28 episodes together, we're going to share patient stories with you because it makes the information real, right? And again, that's that's the purpose of this podcast is to be real with you and honest and open. And we'll share patient stories. But if you share a patient story, and you'll notice this among us too, never, ever, ever drop a name or ever, ever any identifiable information. Never do that. And all of you know that out there listening or or or uh or watching us, but make sure you remove all identifiable information. What I'll often do is refer to my patients as Joe, Sandra, Mark, you know, but don't use their real name. Never ever use their real name and never ever share any identifiable information with them. But it is okay to talk about patient stories because that's how we learn together, right? So as I mentioned, our next segment for each episode will feature our Launchpad mailbox, and that's where you can send in your comments, your clinical pearls tips. If you love us, hate us, you want to send any comments, please don't send hate mail. Uh, but we wouldn't appreciate that. But uh but anything you need from us, yeah, just interact with us at your lifeline, your connection to us. And that again is at nplaunchpad @ fhea.com. NPlaunchpad @FHEA.com. And we look forward to getting all your feedback and interacting with you and uh mentioning some of your comments, clinical tips, and pearls, and answering some of your questions during our podcast itself. So that's our launchpad mailbox. Obviously, with our first episode, we have no questions for you this time, but hopefully next next week we will. So let's wrap things up for this podcast. I know we've run over significantly during this first time together, and and I'm glad that we did, honestly, because you've got to know us uh deeper. We're friends of yours, we're colleagues, we're not just here talking, uh talking heads or hosts of a podcast, but we really are genuine friends and colleagues of yours, and we hope to build on that connection and build our community together. So let's wrap up our time here. So the landing checklist, here is your checklist to summarize, right? So here are your three take-home tips from this podcast. Draft your personal mission statement. Remember, a short one and a long one, and tuck it away somewhere where you're gonna have ready access to it, not in a drawer somewhere where it's not gonna be meaningful to you anymore, but keep it readily available to be a reset for you on those hard days and to be an encouragement to you and maybe even an encouragement to others. Blow it up, put it in a frame, put it on your wall or your desk at work and have others uh look at that, read it, and they'll be inspired and encourage them to write their own mission statement. And I bet, I bet this will happen if you do that. It can change a negative culture, right? Because if people reconnect with why they're there and who they're there for, that's the magic in the sauce, right? So write up your mission statement. I'd say even frame it and put it somewhere people can see it, especially yourself on those hard days. And again, create a short version. So if you're sitting on an airplane somewhere and someone asks you, hey, why are you an NP? You're like, uh, I'm just tired and want to go to sleep. Do we have to talk about this right now, right? Yeah, no, you don't want to do that. Be prepared with a short elevator speech or airline seat uh speech that you can deliver and really shine, right? Tell them all about how great NPs are and the fine work that we do across the country. And then identify a triangle of mentors. Remember the triangle of mentors? Don't bombard one mentor with all of your questions. Really seek out a triangle, somebody that can be your clinical mentor to handle those tough clinical questions, an administrative mentor, which is more of the nuts and bolts of practice, and then that career inspiration mentor. Seek out that triangle, get those people set up in your life, and you're gonna do so, so much better. And you're gonna help other people do that as well. And then share one sentence of your why, that mission statement. Share that with each of those in your triangle. Let them know why you're an NP, right? Why you're an NP. So here is your weekly NP practice project, also known as your homework. But weekly NP practice project sounds way cooler, doesn't it? But this truly is your homework for the week between now and our next podcast when we join you again. We want all of you out there to email us a one paragraph version of your origin story, the why. Send us the why, right? And your origin story, your mission statement and why you love being an NP or why do you want to be an NP? Give it to us. Send that to us. Keep it short, please. And we may read some of those during our podcast episodes. And remember, never, ever, ever no protected health information in anything that you send us at all, including about your family members. Because honestly, as friends and colleagues, we might get emailed that says, hey, I have this family member that has this issue. What do you think? Again, we are your friends and colleagues. We are not here to provide medical or legal advice, any of that. We're not here for that. We're here to connect with you as friends and colleagues. So please don't send us that kind of information and certainly never ever any PHI protected health information on anything that you send us. So I again, our hearts are here for you. We want to connect with you. We're your friend, your colleague. I can't thank you enough for tuning in. And I'll pass over to Christopher and Vanessa here in a minute, but thank you so much for tuning in and listening to us during this podcast. We're so excited to share with you. I know we run long on this first podcast so you can get to know us and really the foundation of why we're here for you. And we truly are. We're here, we have your back. We are here for you always, and we hope that uh this builds a connection and builds a great community of NPs across our country and perhaps even around the world. We are just so delighted to join you for NP Launchpad. And remember, connect with us through, again, it's on the screen, nplaunchpad at fhea.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Vanessa and Christopher, you want to close us out?

Vanessa Pomarico 55:48

Thank you everybody for joining us in our in our inaugural uh podcast episode. And we really do look forward to sharing a lot of our experience and our wisdom with you over the next 28 episodes.

Christopher Gleason 56:02

And I concur with what uh both Vanessa and Jason said. Thank you again for joining us for that first for our first episode. Um we hope we're able to impart some really good tips and tricks and um just some good um teachings along the way.

Jason Gleason 56:17

Excellent. You know, one last thing before you leave. Please do us a favor. You're our friend and colleague now, right? So please do us a favor if you would, if you would not mind doing these things. These simple actions will help us grow this podcast, broaden its reach so all of us can help and support more of our NP colleagues and friends. Because you know, some of your NP colleagues and friends are isolated out there working in the middle of nowhere and they don't feel connected to anybody. So please do these few things for us if you would. It's so easy. Remember this. Please drop a five-star rating for this podcast because in the podcast world, that bumps up the podcast, makes it more visible in the thousands and millions of podcasts that are out there because we want visibility. So more people will join us as we build this community. Not because we're we're clickbaiting, we want the clicks, we want followers, all that garbage, but because we want to connect with people. We want to make a difference, some kind of positive difference in your life and the lives of your colleagues and friends out there that are NPs or considering our NP profession. So drop a five-star rating. If you don't think we're worth five stars, tell us because that is our goal. We want to be five. We want to be 10 stars for you because you sure out there are 10 stars to us. And then hit follow. That's another thing in the podcast world. If you follow us, that again will bump up the podcast so it improves visibility. Tap subscribe. That also will uh build your connection with us even deeper than what we've talked about. And most importantly, and this is so important to us because our heart is genuine for you out there. We want to support you or your friend and colleague. Please share this podcast with your colleagues, family, friends, anybody out there, even if folks are considering joining the NP profession or even becoming a nurse, share this podcast with them because the more listeners we have, the more connection and momentum we're gonna build. And you know, NPs, when they have good mojo, they are unstoppable, right? So please share this podcast with everybody you know. And as we sign off, stay tuned for our next episode, which is gonna focus on the nuts and bolts of the fun topic: licensure, DEA registration, APR and compacts, and NPI. Who wants to throw up in their mouth right now, right? Talk about complex issues. We're gonna dive into that in our very next episode, so stay tuned for that. Have a great day, everybody. Now, guess what? Get out there and change the world and make a positive difference as an NP. Thanks so much for tuning in, everyone. We'll see you at our next show.

Voiceover 58:34

You've been listening to NP Launchpad, presented by Fitzgerald Health Education Associates. Like, subscribe, and share. And for more tools to power your NP career, visit FHEA.com.