Behind the White Coat
There is a lot of pressure that comes with wearing the white coat. I was SO excited to get mine before beginning my clinical training and to take the White Coat Oath. A rite of passage. Why? Well, it isn't the coat itself at all. Patients see the white coat and they expect answers. They expect to be listened to and to reach resolution. They respect the white coat. Let me tell you, it takes a lot to earn the proverbial white coat whether it be a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. It is hard won. Behind that symbolic white coat -that isn’t even always worn, because let’s face it, sometimes we don’t want to because we are overheated, or we want to appear more on your level and some people don’t like the white coat for it makes them nervous, and sometimes it just doesn’t go with our outfit but I digress…--- The symbol of the white coat represents a lot. It represents years of hard work, in the case of nurse practitioners it represents years of patient care as an