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Nurse practitioners gather locally
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT, Times Staff Writer
When Catherine Harding moved to Hernando County from Tampa, she would often commute back for meetings with other nurse practitioners to keep updated about pending legislation and other issues. But as the county's ranks of health professionals grew, Harding found more and more like her, with busy schedules that don't allow for such long hours. So, to solve that problem, about 30 nurse practitioners have formed the Nurse Practitioners Council of Hernando. "Most of us work long hours and have families," said Harding, who is president of the newly formed group. "But we still have very high educational goals and want to keep up on the issues that affect us professionally." Harding specializes in cardiology, but nurse practitioners work in specialties as diverse as obstetrics and psychiatry. "There are rules about when and under what circumstances nurse practitioners can prescribe narcotics," she said. "But in many ways, we function like a doctor." Many nurse practitioners work with a physician who signs off on their work. Harding, a nurse practitioner since 1985, works at Brooksville Regional Hospital with four cardiologists, making rounds to see patients and perform stress tests. "I love what I do," she said. "I turn off my pager at the end of the day and go home to my family." More time with her family is not the only reward Harding enjoys because of the nature of her job. She also spends more time with patients. Her average visit with a cardiac patient lasts 20 minutes, she said. "Nurse practitioners tend to focus on health maintenance. We are trained to deal with the psychosocial issues that have so much effect on someone's overall wellness," she said. "We treat the patient as a whole and not a disease." Most of her counseling deals with diet and exercise, she said, something doctors often don't have time to discuss in depth. "We can deal with those kinds of things. We can teach them how to take better care of themselves and live a healthier lifestyle," Harding said. "That's our niche." Since moving to Brooksville three years ago, Harding said, she has found an untapped wealth of places for nurse practitioners to work. While many of the group's members are from Hernando, several come from north Pasco and south Citrus counties to meet at Pinebrook Medical Center on State Road 50. In July, Gov. Jeb Bush declared this Nurse Practitioners Week. But if the career she loves is to grow and survive, Harding said, some issues must be dealt with, including continuing education and pending legislation. "(Nurse practitioners) need to be savvy about the political issues that affect them," Harding said. "It's important to know the issues that affect you and your practice." For information about the Nurse Practitioners Council of Hernando, call 796-6721.
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