These days, more young adults are staying with their pediatricians at least through their college years, says David Tayloe, a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who still practices in Goldsboro, N.C. Even though most colleges have health services on campus, when students are home for weekends and holidays and need a doctor, the pediatrician's office may be staffed when the adult-oriented internist's office isn't. "We're cheaper and nicer and easier to get a hold of," says Katherine Karlsrud, MD, a Manhattan pediatrician. Besides, she notes, "if your kid is out of town and gets into trouble, he's more likely to call the pediatrician he's known all his life than the new internist who happens to be his parents' doctor, too." Many pediatric practices are working hard to make their offices comfortable for older teens, with separate waiting areas, reading material and even adolescent specialists on staff. And many form bonds with patients that last into adulthood.
In a social media landscape shaped by hashtags, algorithms, and viral posts, nurse leaders must decide: Will they let the narrative spiral, or can they adapt and join the conversation?
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