Mom Guilt as a Nurse Practitioner: How I Stopped Charting at Home to Reclaim

It was October 2020 when my world shifted.

As a full-time primary care nurse practitioner and mom of two little boys, I was already stretched thin. I was already struggling with mom guilt as a nurse practitioner.

That day, clinic was chaotic. Patient visits ran long, and instead of charting as I went, I pushed all my notes to the end of the day. I stayed nearly two hours late finishing up on documentation.

When I walked through the door that evening, both of my boys looked up at me with those wide, innocent eyes and asked, “Mommy, why didn’t you come home to play with us?”

My heart shattered into a million pieces.

At that moment, I wasn’t a nurse practitioner—I was a heartbroken mom. The guilt washed over me in waves. I felt like I had let my children down, but also like I was failing at my job because I couldn’t keep up with the charting.

That was my breaking point. The mom guilt as a nurse practitioner I experienced that day changed everything for me.

In this post, I want to share what I learned about managing mom guilt as a nurse practitioner, how I finally stopped charting at home, and how you can too—without sacrificing the quality of care you give your patients.

Understanding Mom Guilt as a Nurse Practitioner

If you’re a nurse practitioner and a mom, you already know the tightrope you walk every day. You balance patient care, administrative tasks, never ending patient messages, appointments, and clinical demands—all while trying to be present for bedtime stories, soccer games, and family dinners.

Mom guilt as a nurse practitioner is the emotional tug-of-war that happens when you feel like you’re failing at both roles. It’s the voice in your head that says:

• “You’re missing out on your children’s lives.”
• “You should be doing better at work as a nurse practitioner.”
• “You’re not giving enough to anyone.”

For nurse practitioners, this guilt is magnified by after-hours charting. What’s supposed to be “just a few notes” turns into hours spent at your laptop while your family waits for your attention.

And here’s the hard truth: charting at home robs you of your family time. It’s the #1 culprit for why so many nurse practitioners feel burned out, disconnected, and struggling with mom guilt as a nurse practitioner.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

How I STOPPED Charting at Home as a Nurse Practitioner

That evening in October 2020 marked a turning point. I realized that if I wanted to stop feeling like I was always playing catch-up—both at home and at work—I had to change the way I worked.

It wasn’t just about time management. It was about charting smarter, not harder. It was about creating systems that would support me as a nurse practitioner and a parent.

So I made a commitment to myself. In order to better manage the mom guilt as a nurse practitioner, I would figure out how to finish my charting before 5:00 p.m. every day.

These are the actual tools and habits I put in place to take back my time, protect my peace, and ease the mom guilt as a nurse practitioner that used to weigh me down every single day.

1. Smart Phrases & Templates

I stopped reinventing the wheel with every chart. I created:

• Smart/dot phrases for commonly used words or phrases I could easily pull into the chart note.
• Templates with a normal review of systems and physical exams. All I had to do was update for the patient.
• Auto-populating features in my EMR to save clicks and reduce redundancy

This alone cut my documentation time in half and freed some my personal time so I could overcome mom guilt as a nurse practitioner.

***Make sure to check out my Comprehensive List of Smart Phrases. You can easily copy and paste these smart phrases into your EHR and immediately save time charting.

2. Charting in Real-Time

I made a rule: no note gets left behind. I committed to closing each chart immediately after the patient visit—while it was still fresh in my mind.

If I was waiting for lab results or radiology reports, I would take the time to get the history of present illness (HPI) and physical exam. Then I would finish the chart note after I had diagnostic results available.

This eliminated the dreaded “end-of-day pile-up” and drastically reduced my after-hours workload.

3. Eliminating Distractions

I closed my email tab. I muted my phone. I even contemplated putting a “Charting Time” sign on my office door.

Focusing in short, dedicated bursts helped me chart faster and with better quality. This helped me stay caught up so I could leave the office by 5:00pm and overcome the mom guilt as a nurse practitioner.

4. AI Medical Scribes

I stumbled upon Freed: The AI Medical Scribe and was blown away at how accurate the natural language processing was! I started using Freed AI Medical Scribe in my own practice and it has helped me sign chart notes off right after the patient visit.

Freed AI Medical Scribe offers a 7 day free trial, so be sure to use my affiliate link and give it a try!

When you’re ready to subscribe (just $99/month) use my affiliate coupon code: NPCHARTING for $50 off your first month.

5. Charting Mindset Shift

I had to stop seeing charting as a chore and start seeing it as a professional responsibility that I could control. Once I reframed it, I stopped procrastinating and started owning my workflow.

This not only helped me to regain my personal time to overcome the mom guilt as a nurse practitioner, it also helped me to fall in love with my job again!

***Check out The Nurse Practitioner Charting School YouTube channel for more charting tips!

More Time, Less Guilt, Better Balance

Within weeks of implementing these small but powerful changes, I stopped staying late at work. I was walking out the clinic doors at 5:00 p.m. with my charts done.

At home, I was present—not distracted. I was back to playing with my kids, enjoying dinner with my family, and finally feeling like I was showing up fully in both roles: nurse practitioner and mom.

The mom guilt as a nurse practitioner that once felt unbearable started to lift. I was no longer sacrificing my family for my career, and I was no longer sacrificing my career for my family. I found a rhythm that honored both.

You Can Reclaim Your Time Too

If you’re struggling with mom guilt as a nurse practitioner because you’re charting after hours, staying late at the office, or constantly feeling behind—you’re not alone.

But also, you don’t have to stay stuck in this cycle.

I created the STOP Charting at Home in 90 Days Program for nurse practitioners just like you. Inside, I share the exact systems, templates, and time-saving strategies I used (and that hundreds of other nurse practitioner have now used too) to finally STOP charting at home.

Each week, you’ll get a simple, actionable charting tip that builds on the last—so it’s not overwhelming, just empowering.

Mom guilt as a nurse practitioner isn’t a sign you’re doing it wrong— it’s a sign you care.

Mom guilt doesn’t mean you’re a bad mom or a bad nurse practitioner. It means you’re human. It means you care deeply about both parts of your life. But caring shouldn’t come at the cost of your peace.

So if you’re ready to NEVER again hear, “Mommy, why do you have to work so much?”…

It’s time to make a change.

Let me show you how to take back your time, protect your evenings, and finally overcome the mom guilt as a nurse practitioner!

➡️ Join the STOP Charting at Home in 90 Days Program today and take the first step toward reclaiming your personal time!

***Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you subscribe to Freed AI Medical Scribe. This is at no extra cost to you, but does help me continue to run the NP Charting School. Thank you for your support!

***Full disclosure, this email may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small commission if you purchase Freed: The AI Medical Scribe. This is at no extra cost to you, but does help me continue to run The Nurse Practitioner Charting School. Thank you for your support!