Not the Worst Job but that's not saying much
Pros
1. I like having control over my schedule. You can work anyway of the week. 2. You have 7 paid holidays a year. 3. There is no on call. 4. Co-workers are great if you can ever make contact with them. Once you do then it is nice to have someone you can ask questions to. 5. Pay is good and bonuses (but you really have to work for those bonuses.
Cons
1. Management with unrealistic expectations. A lot of micromanagement. 2. You have a team meeting once a month that lasts an hour. Then there are some various surprise pop up meetings regarding training or updates. 3. We were seeing 7 for a ten hour day. They have started overbooking our schedules- plus driving & charting. 4. Drive time in between patients is ridiculous- sometimes you will drive back & forth to areas. It makes no sense how they schedule these members. They book by county so you will drive within the entire county all day 5. The EMR/Charting system is very dated and very, very slow. 6. Multiple different websites, systems, windows needed to do a visit. 7. They constantly adding more for NP's to do during visits, on top of already unnecessary visit & assessment components. 8. Since the pandemic we were wearing gloves, mask and goggles in sweltering heat temperatures (some members don't have air-conditioning). We are now down to just a mask but even that can be unbearable in high temperatures. 9. Members are often feel co-erced into doing a Housecalls visit when they really don’t want one; many complain about being constantly harassed to complete one. 10. You will be going to underserved areas that are absolutely filthy (Frequently exposed to cigarette smoke, animals, high bed bug risk). I have been chased by dogs twice. 11. There will be members that cancel/refuse the visit or or just not be at home (even when you call and confirm prior to their visit). They will refuse parts of the visit such as urine dipstick and A1C screening) which affects your metrics & bonus potential- even though you have no control over that. So your metrics (how successful you are are) depends on members ability to be accountable and dependable (and we all know how patients are with that) 12. Work/life balance- often charting after work hours, doing meetings or trainings, you also have to call all of your patients for the next day to confirm their appointments. 13. Overall - unrealistic expectations for nurse practitioners. Working conditions are terrible (you will be standing in the rain, freezing cold and sweltering hot temperatures). Members will sometimes not let you in their home so you will be standing outside in the elements to complete a visit. You will sit in your car in the elements because you will be waiting on members to get home so that you can complete the visit. 14. There are no opportunities for growth. I applied for over 50 jobs and never received an interview.
