NP Reasoning
An Educational Blog for Nurse Practitioners
Do you want to enhance your diagnostic reasoning skills? You’re in the right place!
My mission is simple: to deliver top-notch content on diagnostic reasoning, testing, and practice management that fuels your professional growth and boosts your confidence in primary care.
Stay ahead of the game—don’t miss the latest updates to enhance your practice and elevate patient care with our regular blog posts and free newsletter.
Low back pain is one of the most common primary care presentations. How confident are you with your differential diagnosis, when to order diagnostic imaging, and how to interpret radiology reports?
Read time: 5-10 minutes.
We review 3 key mechanisms of dysphagia, differential diagnoses, and diagnostic imaging considerations. We review red flags you do not want to miss!
Knee pain is a common primary care presentation, and we need to be familiar with differential diagnoses and indications for diagnostic imaging.
Read time: 5-10 minutes.
We review common etiologies of traumatic and non-traumatic shoulder pain, and when to consider diagnostic imaging.
(Read time: 8-10 minutes)
We review differential diagnosis of chronic lower limb edema, and diagnostic imaging considerations for lower limb chronic venous insufficiency.
A review of common differentials for acute nasal obstruction, and when to consider diagnostic imaging (hint: rarely do we need imaging unless red flags emerge).
(Read time: 7-8 minutes)
Hip pain has a long list of possibilities - break it down by anterior, posterior, and lateral hip pain to narrow down your differential. Let’s get into when to consider diagnostic imaging for this common primary care presentation.
(Read time: 10-12 minutes)
Chronic cough is a common primary care presentation. Do you feel comfortable with common differentials and when to consider diagnostic imaging?
(Read time: 7-8 minutes)
LUTs is a common primary care presentation. What differentials are we looking for and when are bladder scans indicated?
(6-7 minute read)
From biliary colic to pancreatitis - we review RUQ pain differentials you do not want to miss, and considerations for diagnostic imaging.
(6-7 minute read)
We review important pearls and pitfalls of ultrasound versus CT when working up this common presentation.
(6-7 minute read)
We review pearls and pitfalls of non-invasive cardiac tests for patients presenting with cardiac chest pain.
(5-6 minute read)
Are you comfortable knowing when to consider diagnostic imaging for a patient presenting with headache? Do you know your red flags?
(Read time: 6-7 minutes)
We review common differential diagnoses for neck pain, including red flags, and when to consider diagnostic imaging.
Read time: 5-6 minutes
Hint: if it walks and talks like a hernia without red flags, ultrasound isn’t needed.
Read time: 2-3 minutes
We review diagnostic pearls for thalassemia, including use of the CBC, iron studies, peripheral blood smear, and hemoglobin electrophoresis
Read time: 6-7 minutes
We review the utility of ESR and CRP as inflammatory markers when evaluating patients for suspected inflammatory or infectious disease processes.
Read time: 6-7 minutes
We review the utility of serum TSH, free T4, free T3, and when to order thyroid antibody testing (hint - almost never!)
We review how lab reference ranges are established, the limitations of lab reference ranges, and tips for dealing with lab results that do not correlate clinically.
Illness scripts are organized mental summaries stored in our memory to help us detect and diagnose diseases in medicine. How can we get good at this?
Read time: 7-8 minutes
A Case of Anchoring Bias
We present the common cognitive bias known as anchoring bias, and how this can affect patient care.
Read time: 4-5 minutes
Fagan’s nomogram helps us determine the probability of a patient truly having a condition given a particular test result - why is this an important concept?
Read time: 7-8 minutes
We break down these important concepts in simple terms to apply to our everyday practice.
Read time: 7-8 minutes
How can we summarize concise and accurate differential diagnoses to better patient care?
Read time: 5-6 minutes
As clinicians we are constantly trying to solve puzzles. Is there a way to make this easier?
Read time: 5-6 minutes
Important statistics we explain in simple terms to apply to everyday practice.
Read time: 7-8 minutes
Sensitivity rules things out, and specificity rules things in. What more is there to know?
Read time: 5-6 minutes
How to use checklists and mnemonics to NOT miss important diagnoses.
Read time: 4-5 minutes
One of the hardest parts of being a clinician is knowing how to create accurate and succinct differential diagnoses. How is this done?
Read time: 3-4 minutes
We address common challenges NPs face in practice, such as documenting efficiently, managing the ever-flowing inbox, staying up to date, and more. You’re not alone!
Read time: 6-7 minutes
We reflect on external & internal causes of burnout, and strategies for building resilience in healthcare
Read time: 5-6 minutes
A review of the NP job market in Canada, including salary and funding comparisons across the provinces.
Read time: 6-7 minutes
We take you through step by step to hopefully make your journey a bit more clear!
Read time: 5 minutes
We we review documentation tips including SOAP note pearls and use of charting templates.
Burnout in medicine is a hot topic. Is there something to be said about job-personality mismatch as an implicating factor?
Read time: 5-6 minutes
Imposter syndrome is a real thing for a novice provider and a seasoned provider. How can we deal with this phenomenon?
Read time: 5-6 minutes
Mistakes are a part of life - and a part of being a clinician. How can we deal with mistakes in a healthy way to prevent burnout?
Read time: 7-8 minutes
Interviewing for a job is a skill - we review tips and tricks for having a successful job interview.
(Read time: 5-10 minutes)
Get varied experience, check out resources a head of time, and familiarize yourself with diagnostic reasoning concepts.
(Read time: 4-5 minutes)
From the AANP to the ANCC, we review popular studying guides and tips to help you on your way to success!
Read time: 5 minutes
We take you step-by-step through the process of getting your NP licence in Canada.
Read time: 5-6 minutes
We go through the ins and outs of how to pursue an NP career in Canada.
Read time: 5 minutes
Resources for Everyday Clinical Practice
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Clinical Resources
Resources for your everyday clinical practice.
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Guidelines
National and international guidelines for your everyday practice.
The most important thing you should know as a clinician.
Read time: 3-4 minutes