Happy New Year. I am so glad you guys decided to
come onto the podcast today. I cannot wait to dive into the
content that we have written for today.
I have written most of my goals in true transparency.
I know we talked about this last podcast episode that I would be
writing goals and one of the goals that I have for this year
is doing a Sunday fast and I'm trying to work on fasting from
cell phone, which is super hard just because so much is relying
on your cell phone. You're constantly on your phone
for Target app and ordering your groceries.
And it's just the life has become so dependent on the phone
that it's really hard to what I like to call Sabbath from these
things. One thing that really helps has
been this app called brick. I don't know if you've ever
heard of it, but this is an app that you put on your phone and
it locks your phone from social media.
You can't even rig it where you're like remind me in 15
minutes to close down social media.
No, the app is closed and it is been a game changer in starting
what I'm calling like a Sabbath or a fasting from the world
because we need a break. I think there is so much of our
lives that we need to spend in quiet and focus.
I am committing to this for my goals for 2026.
I feel like when you speak your goals out loud, they become a
lot scarier. Yes, I am going to be working on
what can I eliminate and still be successful in 2026.
So stick with me. Let's dive in today's episode
after we hear a couple words from our sponsors.
Hey and Peas, let's talk about a partner that supports both your
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Gobi Meds is a powerful telehealth resource for
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Plus, they handle the heavy lifting with smooth clinician
LED onboarding and transparent pricing.
You can even earn revenue by joining their medical affiliate
program. Just look for the link at the
bottom of gobiemeds.com. But let's be real, you spend all
day taking care of others. And if you're looking into
prioritizing your own metabolic health or energy, Gobie Meds is
here for you too. Whether you're patients or for
yourself, go to gobiemeds.com and use code SUCCESS and PS to
get $50 off. Take care of your practice and
yourself with disclaimer. Copied Meds facilitates access
to compounded medications. Prescriptions required online
medical consultation results may vary.
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Welcome back to the Success NP podcast.
I'm Sandra Pagenta from Success NP and today we are talking
about the unspoken side of being a nurse practitioner.
The stuff that isn't on the exams, isn't in textbooks and
absolutely affects your confidence, your license, and
your future. If you are a new NP or even a
few years in, this episode matters.
Have you ever looked around at work and thought everyone else
seems confident? Why do I feel like I'm barely
holding it together? If you have had that thought,
this episode is for you. I want to share today a few real
life personal examples that I have experienced in my career.
Because if you see yourself in the stories that I share today,
I want you to know you are not failing, you are not behind, and
you are definitely not alone. The reality Chuck Clinical
skills do not equal career skills.
And here's something nursing school doesn't say out loud.
Because being clinically competent doesn't automatically
mean you're professionally protected.
A lot of new MPs struggle with knowing when to push back versus
saying yes to a certain caseload of patients on your schedule or
being pushed to work autonomously on your own too
soon. A lot of NPS struggle with
understanding expectations in their first role from how you
will generate your income. A lot of NPS struggle with
navigating documentation coding safely, which depends on your
workplace options. A lot of NPS struggle with
recognizing red flags and jobs and contracts, for example non
competes. A lot of NPS struggle with
feeling confident and making independent decisions and most
of us learn these lessons the hard way through anxiety,
burnout, or near miss mistakes. A lot of common early career
mistakes that we see all the time.
Accepting a job offer without a clear onboarding schedule.
Not understanding productivity or the coding expectations of
your job, thinking I'll just figure it out as I go, and most
commonly, believing that asking for help is a sign for weakness.
None of these things mean you're a bad NP.
They just mean you're a new NP and a system that assumes too
much too soon. So one of the things I've talked
about before on the podcast, and I'll reiterate today I remember,
was that I took a job that in hindsight, I really didn't vet
well. So let's take it from the top.
When I first was offered my very first NP job, I remember
applying to zero other jobs. It was literally the first job I
applied to and I got it. What I didn't realize was that
there was no onboarding for this job.
None. They were just making the roll
up as I was in it. There was no productivity
expectations that were clear and I never sought to clarify them.
I was seeing patients from inpatient, outpatient settings,
all different types of disease processes and it was clear that
they were complex and I hadn't been trained appropriately.
I shouldn't have been surprised when I was fired from this job.
I remember feeling is this is just how I'm supposed to feel in
every single role that I take is that I'm inexperienced and I
don't know what I'm doing and this was just normal.
And honestly this kills me because I know so many other MPs
feel this exact same way. They assume that struggle is
normal. Inside the Success NP Complete
NP playbook, we are going to talk about what safe onboarding
looks like, how to advocate for support, and how to recognize
job red flags early. And the biggest shift?
Stop internalizing system failures as personal failures.
If I could go back, I would tell that Sandra that was a brand new
MP and had no idea what she was doing, that this needed to be
ironed out better, that I needed to be demanding for clear
expectations, more rigorous settings for education, and stop
expecting that the job was going to have my back.
Jackie and I didn't start Success and P because we wanted
to do a course. We started it because we kept
seeing talented nurse practitioner students in
practice struggling to get to a spot in their clinical rotation
where they felt confident. The way that nurse practitioner
schools push you through your clinicals leaves you in this
constant state of feeling a lack of confidence because you
started a rotation. You go in blind.
You then work your way to a point of feeling confident and
then they pull you onto your next rotation.
It's almost like you get trained to feel this way even in your
clinical rotations. We started the digital clinical
booklet guides as a way to get you to the spot where you felt
comfortable quicker. We don't want to see NPS
doubting themselves, burning out early, leaving positions that
they thought they would enjoy, but actually you've come to find
out they didn't vet properly. And the problem isn't
intelligence, it's a lack of structure in mentorship after
graduation. Once you learn how to think like
a provider, not just a student, everything changes.
And that's what we wanted to create for other MPs with our
complete MP Playbook course. Another story I want to share is
about confidence and feeling like I didn't trust my own
judgement. Sometimes you know the answer
but you don't trust yourself. You're constantly second
guessing diagnosis. And you knew they were right,
you just didn't trust your gut. And how to overcome this?
At least at times I felt like I was textbook smart and then real
world. I'm super unsure and what I
found helped me the most wasn't studying more.
I read a quote that said you don't learn to swim by staring
at the pool, you learn by getting in the order.
I think that's a really great quote for what it's like to work
your way to confidence. You wouldn't get into the pool
though if you didn't have a coach.
Someone that is going to help you learn how to swim because
then you might drown. You need a coach to teach you
how to swim and something to encourage you that you are
capable of doing it. How to teach you how to be a
provider, not a student. How to use decision frameworks
that they used to help them get to answers quicker and how to
tolerate uncertainty without panicking.
It's a skill and it's one that most nurse practitioner programs
don't teach you. And it's something that, like I
said, I experienced in my career and I still experience it every
day. But the panic is different.
The panic is not as loud. And it is also with
understanding and knowing at this point of my career where my
resources are, because you'll always come to a spot where you
don't know what you're doing. The most important part is
knowing. But I know how to figure this
out. All right, So the solution, what
does Success MP do for me? What does the Complete MP
Playbook help me with? It's not about memorizing more
facts. It's about teaching you how to
approach patients with confidence, how to organize your
clinical thinking, and how to protect your license and your
time. Hey and Peas, let's talk about a
partner that supports both your practice and you.
Gobi Meds. If you offer weight management,
Gobi Meds is a powerful telehealth resource for
compounded GLP ones and Wellness options like NAD.
Plus, they handle the heavy lifting with smooth clinician
LED onboarding and transparent pricing.
You can even earn revenue by joining their medical affiliate
program. Just look for the link at the
bottom of gobimeds.com. But let's be real, you spend all
day taking care of others. And if you're looking into
prioritizing your own metabolic health or energy, Gobi Meds is
here for you too. Whether you're patients or for
yourself, go to gobimeds.com and use code SUCCESS and PS to get
$50 off. Take care of your practice and
yourself with Gobi. Disclaimer Copied Meds
facilitates access to compounded medications.
Prescriptions required online medical consultation results may
vary. At the Success NP podcast, we
talked a lot about professional growth, but personal health is
just as important as career advancement.
For women navigating hormonal changes.
Laceras Harmonized Hormone Program offers personalized
hormone replacement through an easy, fully telehealth process.
Their approach combines comprehensive lab testing,
one-on-one provider consultation, and customized
treatment plans designed around each woman's goals, lifestyles,
and biology. Many women experience
improvements in focus, energy, sleep and mood, and overall
quality of life, which makes a real difference both inside and
outside the clinic. If you're ready to take control
of your home run health, visit lacera.com/HRT and schedule your
free consultation with Lacera today.
Because when you feel aligned, everything you do improves.
Hey MP student or MP graduate, Yes, you ever freeze when it's
time to present your patient case to your preceptor.
Suddenly you're rambling about the thing that happened and the
preceptor gives you a puzzled look.
Winging it is no longer an option.
Introducing the Case Presentation Guide, a free step
by step framework made by experienced M PS for NP students
and new grads. Learn what to say and what to
skip, how to keep it concise, and how to sound like you
actually know what you're doing. Nail your assessments with
clarity, move through the history, and plan like a pro.
The best part of the Case Presentation module is that it's
free 99, so make sure to click the link in the show notes.
This is all a part of our course launching January of 2026 called
the Success NP Academy. It is your step by step guide to
launching your MP career with confidence.
We'll help you go from overwhelmed to organized with
lessons on charting, case presentation, job hunting, and
actually feeling ready for day one in practice.
Because let's be honest, they taught you how to diagnose
pneumonia, not how to negotiate a contract or figure out
malpractice insurance. You've got the degree.
We'll help you get the direction.
Now let's get back to the conversation.
Basically, it's teaching you how to build a sustainable career,
not just survive your first job. Inside our course you're going
to find practical frameworks you can use immediately, real world
guidance for early practice and support that's designed for NPS
by NPS with community. This is the stuff you didn't get
in school but are expected to know from day one.
You might think you just need more knowledge, like I just need
to learn more, which might be true.
You might need to. But what you actually need, and
probably more so need is guidance, structure and
reassurance. New M PS aren't under prepared
just because they don't work hard enough.
They're undersupported after graduation and that's why we
created Success NP and why we feel like this course is going
to be life changing for nurse practitioners.
If you're listening and you're thinking, I wish somebody would
have explained this earlier, this is exactly who success in P
is for. This course isn't about being
perfect, it's about being prepared.
Success in P was built for the moments no one prepares you for
that self doubt, the fear of missing something, the pressure
to perform without mentorship. If you saw yourself in any of
the scenarios I said today, I'm telling you this course was made
for and you can learn more about Success in P and our course at
the link in the show notes. You don't need to struggle in
silence to earn your confidence. We're going to have community
where we talk about clinical discussions, where we help
transitioning nurse practitioners.
We can talk about your career in the growth and preventing
burnout and being well-rounded. We would love to see your wins
too. We want to see all these things
things as we grow our community. If this episode resonated with
you, I hope you share it with another nurse practitioner who's
quietly struggling. And remember, confidence is
built, competency is developed, and support makes all the
difference. You are learning, you are
growing, and support is not just a weakness, it's a strategy.
All right, so I'm so glad you stayed on.
Hope you guys are excited about the course.
We're offering $100 off for the first 50 NPS that sign up.
And every day we March a little bit closer to that number.
And I pray that you guys are considering it, thinking about
it, or at least check it out and share it with a friend who you
think that this course could potentially help.
It is an investment in your future.
And I know that if you've been listening to the podcast and
you've been looking at the content we've been creating for
the last 4-5 years as we've been in this space and know that
you're going to find that we are committed to you growing as a
nurse practitioner and being the best, most successful NP you can
be. And for the success NP quote of
the day, strive not to be a success, but rather to be of
value. Albert Einstein.
And guys, here's to a beautiful 2026 and thanks for hanging out
and be well friends. Thanks for tuning into another
episode of success. And PS we hope today's
discussion has shed some light on the diverse career options or
taught you how to improve your clinical practice as a nurse
practitioner. Remember, whether you're
considering a specialization, pursuing advanced
certifications, or exploring non traditional roles, there's a
wealth of opportunities out there waiting for you.
Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss an episode and
leave us a five star review. It helps the podcast grow.
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updates on new podcast episodes and other information to help
you on your own NP journey. You can always message us at
successandpeacepodcast@gmail.com with any NP podcast episodes or
topics you'd like us to discuss. Until next time, take care, stay
curious, and keep advancing your careers as a nurse practitioner.
And just a friendly reminder, the information on this podcast
is for educational purposes only.
The information should not be used and substitute for
professional care by a medical provider.
The information on this podcast does not represent medical or
professional advice or services. Bye for now.