Depending on what state you intend to practice in, you may or may not be required to be under the direct supervision of a licensed physician. This is wonderful news for any student who took the time and initiative to study in online family nurse practitioner programs because they can actually start their own clinic or their own family practice, and not need to scour the earth for a doctor to oversee their work. Online family nurse practitioner degrees are just as highly thought of as those acquired on campus, and because they can be taken off-hours, RNs can continue working while earning that degree.
Getting Started in Your Own Practice
The following advice is assuming that you will not need to be under the auspices of a licensed physician. If you live in one of the 21 states you can find listed here, every decision is your own. Therefore, it is up to you to get the ball rolling. The first thing you want to think about is location. Where is there a need? Bear in mind that there may be ‘old school’ thinking in which potential patients want a medical doctor and may need to be brought around to the fact that your license allows you to practice without being supervised by a physician. If the need is great enough in the community you choose, it will be easier to get those dissenters to capitulate to modern times.
Funding for Your Practice
If you need funding for your practice, and few NPs don’t, the first thing you will want to do is write up a business model. Yes, you are in healthcare, but just like any other industry, healthcare is a business. No lender will even consider a loan without a viable business plan so get to work on that immediately.
Getting the Word Out There
If you are new to the area, marketing is a must. Some family nurse practitioners set up a practice in the same community where they worked for a doctor or hospital as a nurse, and those are the ones who have an advantage developing a patient base. As you have been working with patients and they develop a rapport with you, they will be reluctant to switch to another provider midstream. This is especially true of those with chronic conditions. They don’t want to repeatedly give their history to new doctors or FNPs when you leave your current post.
While ethics may prevent you from telling them where you are going, there is nothing wrong with saying goodbye and wishing them well in the future. After that, it is up to them to find where you will be going – and believe it or not, patients make pretty good detectives when they want to know where their doctor or FNP moved to! You now have joined the ranks of those who have successfully graduated from universities offering nurse practitioner programs. Give yourself a big pat on the back. It wasn’t easy getting to this point but you did it! Good luck with your new practice.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
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