MA's diagnosing illness!

karenG · Sep 28, 2003

whats a MA??? means master of arts here!

Karen

cannoli · Sep 28, 2003

Maybe you could vent the same to the head of the urgent care clinic. Maybe someone could/would talk to the M.A. and tell him/her to keep the mouth shut, as it is inappropriate and overstepping bounds.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 28, 2003

MA=Medical Assistant.

We had one at my doctor's office who sent my sister home without even letting her IN the exam room after a fall from the back stairs that left her in pain, and with a large lump on her left shin. The MA said "You're walking on it, it isn't broken, the doc won't even X-ray it" and told her not even to bother going to Urgent Care as they wouldn't look at it either.

My sister, being rather intimidated by medical people, did as she was told. Even after I assessed the injury and advised her to be persistent (I took one look and KNEW it was broken), she never went back, and she hobbled around for months thereafter. She now has a permanently deformed lower leg, which still aches in cold weather and when she's been on her feet too long.

Thankfully, that particular MA no longer works for our doctor, but I wonder how many OTHER people she ran off like that.

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Sep 28, 2003

WOW. Scary.

smk1, LPN · Sep 28, 2003

wow that's awful. I think i might call and complain as the more i thought about it the madder i became! it's expensive to visit the clinic and i would at least like to know that the people working there are working within the scope of their practice and i don't feel like i should have to squint at peoples name tags to figure out if what they are telling me could be legit or they are just pulling it out of their you know what! I don't have anything against Ma's but please do your job and assist the doctor or nurse, don't try to be one.

EastCoast · Sep 29, 2003

Understanding that this is annoying I would put my anger on the back burner and get your husband a good exam.

Blood in the urine..either gross or microscopic is not normal. While it is easy enough to say it is a kidney stone to assume that diagnosis without a renal ultra sound is foolish.

Leaving a clinic with a diagnosis of 'probably' is lousy care and not acceptable, period.

Take your husband to a PCP or a urologist.

smk1, LPN · Sep 29, 2003

just reiterating that the NP did set up an appointment for an ultrasound as i said in my first post, so he is getting proper care. Maybe that wasn't clear.

sjoe · Sep 29, 2003

smkoepke, it is not clear from your profile whether you are a health care provider or not, but you are certainly correct that this person was WAY out of line, legally as well as professionally. His/her supervisor needs to know what is going on, for the employing facility is liable for this kind of behavior--practicing medicine without a license.

EastCoast · Sep 29, 2003

smkepke,

given that i missed that he was getting u/s i have nothing to add except i'm glad he's on the right path. good luck

smk1, LPN · Sep 29, 2003

sjoe im a prenursing student and before i became a stay at home mom was a NA and a school health assistant. This is my first term back to school after being home with my little one for 3 years.

jemb · Sep 29, 2003

Glad your husband is getting the proper care after the shaky intro at the clinic.

I find it very distressing that many, if not most, freestanding "urgent care" clinics have no licensed nurses on staff. They are staffed with medical assistants. The only thing that qualifies them as "urgent care" is the hours of operation, but because of the label, many people are fooled into thinking that an urgent care clinic is a step down from an ER.

Personally, I'd like to see the clinics that have RNs post it on their doors, and those without any nurses post "no licensed nurses on premises", so the public has a chance to know what to expect.