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]

Some C&P exams are performed by QTC Medical Services, whiich has a contract with the VBA. QTC personnel work for QTC, not the VBA or VHA. Most C&P exams are performed by VHA personnel, either GS or fee-employees. In my System, all C&P exams are performed by VHA staff or fee consultant part time employees.

At the local VAMC, the C&P examiners are on the VHA staff, but paid by VBA when they are doing C&Ps.

[iceturkee]

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.

you do realize that physician assistants and nurse practioners must have an undergraduate degree plus 2 additional years of college to become licensed as either. many registered nurses don't even have an undergraduate degree. i would hardly classify an NP as a glorified nurse. plus given dome of the doctors at my va clinic, i would rather be seen by either an NP or PA.

[jbasser]

I would rather be seen by a doctor who went to medical school, Then residency, Internship. The Tern NP still stands for Nurse.

[apachegirl]

I was seen all my life by a Nurse Practioner in our family clinic - loved her and she was damn good. We were always well taken care of. For the last 7 years, I was out of the VA system and using private "doctors" ... that got me nowhere and minimal treatment. Why? because they herd you like cattle and spend 5 minutes with you and tell you "oh you will be ok".

I have done it for a long time. My experience with my VA treatment has been positive so far. I am seen by a female "doctor" but her nurse team does most of my work. I had more treatment/tests completed in one visit than I had in 7 years of "doctors".

I believe there is a misconception around but to each their own. I will give anyone a chance, if you aren't good then I will say so. I have had more problems with "doctors" than I ever had with any treating Nurse Practioners.

[iceturkee]

I believe there is a misconception around but to each their own. I will give anyone a chance, if you aren't good then I will say so. I have had more problems with "doctors" than I ever had with any treating Nurse Practioners.

my point exactly. yes, my late mother was a regestered nurse and i am partial to nurses. but i have also known for a long time that nurses work much harder and take better care of you than most doctors. and truthfully, most of them are smarter than the dang doctor!