Welcome to NurseCoco.com! This website is for friends, patients, nurses, nursing students and nurse wannabes, and anyone looking for nursing-related information.

Who is Nurse Coco and why does she have this website?? I am a Registered Nurse (RN) and Nurse Practitioner (NP), licensed by the state of California. I have a Master's Degree of Science in Nursing and I am nationally certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I've spent the past 5+ years working as a nurse or nurse practitioner specializing women's health, gynecology, and aesthetic medicine. And they call me Nurse Coco.

I hear people say all the time that "their job doesn't define them", which is fine for most people, but as for me, I am a nurse to my core. I feel I was meant to be a nurse, and I am all about it. Even when I was a little girl, I would steal all the Band-aids in the house so that anyone needing one would have to come to me to put it on them. I would make my dad a first-aid kit in a ziplock baggie to keep with him in the garage in case he hurt himself while working with his tools. I took my mom's book on "the home guide to illnesses and remedies"... to read it for fun before bed. Seriously.

I am so passionate about nursing that I created this website and a blog to discuss this topic with others! I'm here to answer questions on health questions, information about nursing as a career, and how to proceed if you're interested in nursing school. I'm also interested in profiling nurses on my website to detail their careers, what they're doing, how they got there, do they love it, etc. Send me an email!

All questions are confidential but I might post Q&A on my blog to help others!

Email me at nursecoco@gmail.com(please put "nurse coco" in the subject heading)

What is a Nurse Practitioner?

A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse (RN) with additional education and clinical training. The entry-level educational preparation for nurse practitioners is a Master of Science in Nursing. NPs are one type of Advanced Practice Nurse; other advanced practice nurses include nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists.

Nurse practitioners can perform many of the duties traditionally performed by physicians, including performing physical examinations, prescribing medications, ordering lab tests,  and performing some surgical procedures. NPs are especially valuable in rural locations and working in under-served populations who might otherwise have little access to health care. A NP can specialize in an area of expertise such as neonatal (babies), pediatric (kids), women's health, family, adult, or geriatrics (elders). While there are limitless job possibilities for nurses, nurse practitioners generally work in an outpatient setting (ie clinics, doctors' offices), whereas registered nurses (RNs) often work in an inpatient setting (ie hospitals, nursing homes). As a nurse you can work at the bedside, in administration, in education, as a consultant, in the legal profession, and the list goes on... As a nurse you can literally make your career what you want it to be!

About Me

I've been a nurse since 2005 but it feels like forever! I love being a nurse practitioner- I really enjoy what I do.

I just recently changed jobs. Three months ago I made the decision to make a change into the world of cosmetic dermatology/medical aesthetics. I work at a medical spa in San Francisco where I do laser hair removal, tattoo removal, Botox, fillers (ie Juvederm and Radiesse), IPL (intense pulsed light photofacials), and laser skin rejuvenation. 

For the past 5 years, I've worked in OB/GYN. In a typical day, I would perform gynecological and prenatal examinations, diagnose illness and make treatment plans, perform microscopy, prescribe medication, order and interpret labs and diagnostic tests, triage patients over the phone, among other duties. I did annual well-woman exams, pap tests, STD testing and treatment, birth control implementation, patient education, routine prenatal care, and much more!

I also work as a health educator teaching expectant parents on how to have a healthy pregnancy and how to care for their newborn baby. This is especially fun now that I have friends who are starting to have babies!

Outside of nursing, I like traveling, food and wine tasting, crafting, and I am a member of The Junior League of San Francisco.

Thanks for visiting my website! Hope you enjoy... :)