[NPInfo] Prime Med conference Midlevel talk and NPs being mentioned on Public Broadcasting TV

[Carla Anderson]

Good points Karen.  
   
  This reminds me of something I was going to mention to the list, along the lines of MD support. Last week I was listening to Oregon Public Broadcasting OPB live TV, and Christiane Northrup, MD, a renowned OBGYN physician, speaker and author,  was speaking about Women's Hormones, and Adrenal fatigue, and how it affects the transition into Perimenopause and Menopause...
   
  She also spoke about Prempro and the WHI study, and the Bio Identical Hormones. She gave an excellent talk of how to experiment with our bodies, and just use a "dusting" of hormone if needed. She also spoke in great length of the initial perimenopause phase is when your progesterone literally drops to zero, and then what you have is an estrogen excess in the ratio.  She reminded us that progesterone (not provera or progestin) works on the GABA receptors like a benzo, and relieves anxiety. She said persons with progesterone deficit may suffer from anxiety, difficulty tolerating stress, restless arms and legs, inflammation and myalgia among other things, and that each person is chemically comprised differently, and also differ from year to year and it is ok to experiment with the hormones.
   
  She spoke of the egos of physicians, and how not too long ago, if a female patient walked into a doctor's office, and was not taking HRT (usually Prempro), the doctor would not even see them. They would not be a partner, or listen to the patient with a book in their hand wanting to ask questions. They also felt one dose was good for all which as we know is not true and can be very dangerous.
   
  Then she went on to say that some women did very well, others suffered heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer etc. She also said that regarding Prempro, one of her colleagues felt it is a natural hormone for those whose main food is hay.
   
  At the end of her talk, the host who was lifting up her latest book, reminded her "weren't you going to say something about Nurse Practitioners?"  And Dr. Northrup exclaimed, "oh yes!"  Nurse Practitioners are wonderful providers who often do a far better job than us physicians in providing education, being partners in care, and in individualizing and tailoring treatment regarding hormone treatment." "I highly advise you to seek out a Nurse Practitioner"....etc
   
  This was before a live audience and millions of viewers.  I have her original book "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom", and have seen her speak with Dr. Andrew Wiehl, and others. The perspective IS changing, and the the phsycians that are confident in themselves are very supportive as well.  Now if we can just get Oprah to do for us what she did for Barak Obama and we will really be on the map!
  Carla Anderson, FNP, Portland, OR

karenfnp at comcast.net wrote:
  I applaud the the effort to offer a talk focused on the role of NPs and PAs in health care at a Prime Med conference. Though it is overwhelmeingly product oriented, I enjoyed a keynote speech at the Anaheim PrimeMed conference in May 2007 which addressed American Mania and looked at how Adam Smith's capitalistic theory and American's drive to multi task and not be satisfied with "enough",has developed the public health problem of an overly action, work, entertainment oriented society that is too stimulating and leading to many chronic health problems. There was no product endorsement, other than he did author a book on the subject. It demonstrates that the planners of Prime Med realize they need to offer more than the gadgets and free lattes at booths to maintain their provider customer base.

On a related note, I attended a risk management conference offered by the Oregon Medical Association recently. When after a second speaker used the term, physician-extender, I raised my hand and made it very clear that I was offended by the term and that there were many NPs in the room that also few this as inflammatory. The lawyer for the organization said that this is a commonly used term but he would refrain from using it in the group. An ER doc, who was also a nurse apologized profusely for the use of the term to the group twice and said she made a special effort, likely due to her nursing background, to honor the uniqueness of NPs.

I think that their is a genuine need to explain our uniqueness to docs as well as insurers so that we are not just fewed as a way for people to make extra money in their practices by having a lower cost (to them) colleague/employee.

Karen Riesinger 
karefnp at comcast.net
Portland, Oregon
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Carla R. Anderson, FNP-C
  Healing Presence Family Practice, PC  
  carla_rayne at yahoo.com
  503 819 9726