Nurse Practioner Are Seeing Patients Instead Of Doctors

[tmoe]

The previous post was closed.was told to start over,anyway I ask the question about NP as being my primary doctor. Is this going on at all

VA medical center or just in Augusta Ga.Carlie says its been going on but in my seven years as seeing VA doctors this is my first with a

NP.She is doing good so far even givin some pain meds. I think it maybe a good ideal stay on her good side,because they are the one

that does C&P exams mostly. I guess you see the doctor when dying only.I know a lot of MH doctors quit at Charlie-Norwood but looks

like regular doctor also

[Chuck75]

NPs and PAs are not unusual in the VA outlying clinics. Doctors are few and far between, with one on duty at the most in my area.

At one point the clinic even pulled in one of the C&P examiners from the area VAMC (not a doctor), since the doctor had moved and there was no replacement.

[Notorious Kelly]

I had an NP for years- SSDI even used her non-doctor stats as reason to reject her support letter for me

She was very professional and I had complete faith in her.

No different than active duty in the 80's when Physician Assistant would see me on base.

[jbasser]

71M10 brought up a couple of good points. These Nurse Practitioners are becoming more educated and are actually pretty good besides there exams are signed off by treating doctors.

It is a sign of the future as the entire medical community is doing it.

J

[Teac]

Having an exam signed off by a treating doctor is not the same as having a doctor treat you. Sometimes when I use BAMC for treatment I end up seeing a resident doctor, who has to get the attending to sign off on prescriptions, treatment and such.. why do you suppose one doctor has to sign off on another doctors work.. simple because they are not qualified to treat you.. the same goes for a NP and PA...they are glorified nurses, or medics nothing more. Doctors make mistakes every day, when you accept treatment from NP, and PA you are just asking for trouble.. maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but eventually getting treatment from these folks is going to bite you in the butt....

Now when one doctor has to sign off on another persons work that increases the doctors workload, and invites more problems. At BAMC, sometimes the attending doctor will come into the treatment room and you can hear both the attending and resident discuss the prescribed treatment, other times the attending leaves and comes back with the signoff and you have no idea what the two discussed, if anything at all.

Jbasser is correct in saying the entire medical community is using PA's, NP's and even residents.. but they only get away with it because the patient accepts it. If you really don't want to be treated by one of these folks .. you have every legal right to refuse to accept treatment from these under qualified people. If enough people refuse treatment from them they would have to go back to school, and get a real education and become a doctor...

Really guys why pay for the high cost of a doctor, and then get treated from someone who is not qualified to be called a doctor, I mean come on do you really think your paying less because your seeing someone other than a doctor.

And frankly a lot of doctors that are certified just squeak through the training, so you can't always be sure. The VA using so many foreign born, non-English speaking doctors which presents problems too. Some VA's ( if not all) also gets away with hiring doctors who are not licensed to practice medicine in the state that they are employed. Many PCP's in San Antonio VA are from Mexico, came to the US to study medicine, some how got a degree, and without any state license are hired to practice medicine at the VA.

Now I have a few reasons for feeling the way I do:

While I was on active duty, A female flight surgeon at Fort Hood almost killed me in 1980 by prescribing me medication for back pain, but she never treated me, instead she allowed a female medic to prescribe the treatment. If they together had taken the time to review my record they would have noticed I was allergic to the drugs that were prescribed.

Another time, a resident female eye doctor at VA San Antonio preformed cataract surgery on my left eye, the male attending doctor who was also the chief to the clinic, was also in the operating room and had to take over when the resident screwed up my surgery. And today, I am almost totally blind in my left eye.....First at that time I did not know that the female was a resident in training and she was from Columbia. The male attending was from Mexico and had no business practicing medicine, and tried to blame my loss of sight on a head injury I had 20 years prior. Had I know ahead of time what I was getting into I would never of allowed these people to operate on my eye. Because of these two people I have a hard and fast rule.. The VA will never operate on me again, and any emergency treatment I need I get from BAMC or a Local Hospital.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Teac

[71M10]

Teac,

You are quite right you can refuse to be treated by a NP or PA. However, I am not entirely sure that you can specify to the VA whom your doctor is going to be or where you will receive services. When it comes to down to it, I believe they can say this is who is treating you take it or leave it. Private insurance is another matter entirely, since you are essentially selecting your service provider, you make the decisions.

I personally believe properly implemented an NP or PA is a competant and usefull provider for services. Where the problem comes in is misuse of them or when the worst NP/PA's are supervised or coordinated by doctors of questionable medical skill and even worse management skills (does anyone doubt they exist?).

But when talking doctors and competancy I find this little tidbit interesting. DOT has strict rules on how many hours and miles a driver can log in a single day and mandatory documented rest breaks. This is all done in the name of safety. The thought being a tired driver will make mistakes. Doctors on the other hand have no hourly restrictions and medical residents are exposed to 24 -16 hour shifts and often log 80 hour work weeks.

[carlie]

Just an FYI to all -

We aren't just vulnerable to poor care at the VAMC's . .

Poor medical care happens on a regular basis - EVERYWHERE !

Just like Burger King - they say - Have It Your Way !

Bottom line - we will all have it - THEIR WAY.