There is a shortage of primary care physicians in Connecticut. Consequently most practices are either not accepting new patients or only accepting ones to see their nurse practitioner. Since I don’t need a referral to see a specialist, I still see my eye doctor and gynecologist on a regular basis.At the present time I have no medical issues and don’t take any medication. Do you think I should go to a practice where I can only be seen by a nurse practitioner or just go to an urgent care center when I don’t feel well?
I’ve liked most of the NPs and PAs better than a lot of Drs.
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Nothing wrong with an NP for most things, and if something comes up that is beyond their training,they know to consult someone with more knowledge.
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Chances are pretty good that it will be an NP at the urgent care. The two times I went to urgent care, it was an NP. I worked with NP’s for 20 years, and they knew their stuff, so I’d have no problem with a NP
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A bit of a side note, but my daughter is a RN at a cardiovascular ICU in KC. Just a lowly nurse. But she had a patient whose hemoglobin dropped a full point, which is not normal at all and is usually indicative of a bleed. He had heart surgery and they found no bleeds. She was helping him, and I won’t go into detail about how she came to her conclusions, other than it had to do with certain smells. She said the smell was indicative of a GI bleed and she reported it to the doctor. Turns out, she was right. The doctor told her good call. I’m kind of proud of her
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Good for her. Our favorite primary care provider isn’t a doctor at all, she’s a nurse practitioner from who we get a wellness checkup twice year or consult when we might have a problem. She’s smart, funny, and good listener. Her judgements have usually been spot-on and don’t seem to be profit-based.
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kc - That is very impressive and you should be very proud of your daughter.
Prior to Dec 14, 2021 my husband’s hemoglobin had been around 13 for the past few years, in spite of the fact that he was diagnosed with systemic amyloidosis in 2018. Then on December 14 when he was sent to the ER it was only 10 so they did a lot of tests to look for internal bleeding and didn’t find any. While he was in the hospital his hemoglobin went down to 9 and despite that, as well as the fact that he had passed out a few times, they felt it was safe to discharge him to a skilled nursing facility.
Then when my husband was sent back to the ER on 2/10/2022 his hemoglobin was down to 7. When I asked if he should have a blood transfusion they said it wasn’t necessary and his low hemoglobin was caused by complications from his systemic amyloidosis which is a life threatening blood marrow disease that has no cure. So with a hemoglobin of 7 the hospital felt it was safe to discharge him again to a different skilled nursing facility where he stayed until he died on 6/24/2022.
It really bothered me that the hospitalists, during both of his hospital stays, did not want to do anything about this significant decline in my husband’s hemoglobin.
It’s the little things that confirm we did okay raising our kids, especially when our offspring potentially save lives. Congrats!
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Please don’t take this the wrong way. You should probably seek out a dr as a primary care. NPs have their limits and at you age you probably should have a PC that you have a ongoing dr/patient relationship with. If something comes up in short notice it would be best to have someone you trust and has knowledge of your health.
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That’s HORRIBLE BM. Your posts about your husband was the first time I had ever heard of amyloidosis. But just a couple of weeks ago, the owner of a local bike shop passed away - amyloidosis
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NPs usually have more availability or more time with patients. Otherwise you might need to do concierge medicine if you’re insisting on an MD. We have an NP that prescribes our psychiatric medication for three people and she’s been so awesome that she has a waiting list; your credentials should matter less than your ability because that provides good patient care, accurate diagnosis, and proper meds
Our NP went from 5 meds to one med for one of our kids and five to three with our other child. We unfortunately needed to add Depakote to the mixture
Which is better than a doctor who thinks they know.
Thanks everyone for your kind and helpful responses!
My first wife was an RN. It got so tiresome hearing how she knew so much more than the physicians she worked with. I dated another nurse and she was the same way. No more nurses after that. They are on the off-limits list the same as attorneys.
The educational inflation in health care is astounding. There used to be two year RN programs in hospitals with dormitories for the young girls. Physical therapists were trained in 4 years. Now it takes 7.
There is no reason why obtaining an MD should take more than 6 years after high school. Maybe Wintertmute can shed some light on why residencies take as long as they do. 4 to 5 years for an oral surgery residency is ridiculous. Used to be 3 when I was in school.
The university system loves to keep students in training forever.
That being said, nurses may get the clear-cut diagnoses, but for atypical cases and rare diseases, I would want an MD to figure it out.
Given crappy Medicare reimbursements, seeing an actual physician will become very rare in this country.
Henrius - What do you think of the increase in educational requirements for a dental hygienist?
Sounds like pilots and flight attendants. Work together, but don’t live together.
Kind of like a flight attendant telling a pilot how to fly a plane.
Many nurses have a deep-seated inferiority complex.
Plus they cannot shut up about their job once they are off work.
A long time ago they could take a few classes and be trained clinically in the office in about a year. Cost was minimal.
Then 2 year degrees were required.These still exist, but getting an associate’s degree is just 2 years is nearly impossible.
Now hygiene is trending toward 4 year programs.
I have had good and bad hygienists from all three types of training. As I have said many times, many jobs are better learned by apprenticeship. College is often a money and time waster.
Hygiene is a nicer job than nursing. Better hours. No shifts. You get to know patients long-term.