Boulergirl, did you read the whole article? It is not going to be a mass merchandising effort like musical instruments, more like the optical department, McDonalds, the hair salon etc...on wal mart property, but not exactly walmart. In any case, I think the concept is a wonderful idea! Currently we have only 3 choices if we are sick. What if you can't sleep in the middle of the night because you hurt your back moving some boxes the day before? You call your PCP in the morning, and they can't get to you for at least a week. The local urgent care center won't take insurance, requires up front payment and will probably run up a fairly high bill. So, do you go to the local ER where you know you will have to wait for 4-6 hours on average, still run up a big bill but only have to pay your $50 copay? Well.....I had this very same thing happen to me just this week, so it is fresh in my memory. Fortunately, I work in an ER and went by and had the ER doc write me a Rx for some muscle relaxers and a few vicodin....I took them, slept for 12 hours and was good as new. BUT, most people do not have that option. If the "big box" option had been there, I might have taken it. I was in such pain, I was willing to check into the ER as a patient but fortunately did not have to. I had never experienced pain that ibuprofen would not touch, so I had to do something.
When my kids were little and I knew they had an earache, sore throat, etc... I would have been happy to take them to the quick clinic instead of the ER or wait for days to get a doctor appt. Have you ever wondered if your kid had a fracture. They really didn't have anything deformed or obvious, but they were still in pain and not acting right. Wouldn't you have loved to run up to the local store and have a quick x-ray and know for sure? We now have independent labs that do various labs on request that recently required a physician order. We can order meds on line. Look at the advertising every day on TV for meds for acid reflux, depression, high blood pressure, weight loss, sexual dysfunction. Don't you think those pharmacutical companies know we will ask our doc for these meds? Or order them online if we can. Nurses complain when people do not take responsibilty for at least part of their healthcare, then when alternatives come along, we cry foul. We are striving to educate our patients and the public at large, and I think we have come a long way. Will these clinics ever replace acute care facilities? Not by a long shot. Will it free up nurses, doctors and patient rooms so the truly sick can get care? I think it just might. I for one say, Go for it!
Our health care system is in grave danger. If we are not willing to think outside the current box, we are doomed. Even if the ER I work in were to lose 20-30% of our minor care patients, I still think we would be overwhelmed with patients. We have 52 beds in the ER and they are always full. We have people waiting in the waiting room at 0500 because we are full. We may hate walmart for whatever reason, personally I love it, but we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Unless we want total governmental intervention and control of our health care system (Think VA hospitals, IRS, post office,), we must explore other ideas. The system is in serious need of repair. Nurses are in a great position to do something constructive instead of just complain about it. Let's at least look at other options before we react negatively.
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They're already selling musical instruments (made in China) from the optical department, and apparently their instruments are crap. If their attempts at getting a corner on the healthcare market are anything like their attempts to replace the local music store--look out. 
