Scary reading doctor forums about NPs...

[thenewguy8]

So as I've been winding my way through the decision-making process of NP/PA/MD/DO I found myself at a very active forum community of medical students/professionals/etc. across all parts of the field. I learned LOTS when i was specifically researching what was needed for the medical school process. (I removed the name of the forum due to an administrator PM I got)

I did a search of the term "nurse practitioner" within their forums to get a sense of the thoughts on the field from that angle...

Wow! I was not prepared for the amount of negativity and vitriol I saw. Most of what I read was very damning of the NP field (specifically in regards to the progression of NPs to have scopes similar to MD/DOs and independent practice rights).

Is this the feeling everywhere? I'm excited about the opportunity to practice primary care medicine in a primary care clinic without the massive sacrifices of MD/DO school. But I sort of get the sense that NP's are becoming pariahs.

Now I know this is just an internet forum, but I wondered if practicing NPs or NP students were getting a similar impression?

Thanks!

[kalimum3]

]I read your article and feel that it is true. I do feel that nurse practitioners are trying to take over primary care. I understand that there is a shortage of not only primary care doctors but doctors in general. I believe that they changed laws so nurse practitioners can help with these shortages but it seems that it is now out of control and they are trying to overtake primary care. I don't understand why people would want to go to a nurse practitioner when they can see a doctor who has more education and more credibility. Personally, I don't think that nurse practitioners have enough education to take care of patients on their own. I feel that they were only allowed to practice patient care to help out physicians, not to push them out of their field and take over! I say, let the nurse practitioners help the doctors in some other way, don't let the patients suffer by making them see nurse practitioners instead of doctors!

[rltst10]

]Kalimum3,

]

]I want to thank you for your opinion and input. But I feel that you have it wrong about nurse practitioners. We are there to help the doctors by seeing patients and lightening the patient load for doctors. We are just as knowledgeable as the doctors are, educated with the same information, but we are educated differently in that we are more patient care based where physicians are more disease processed based like SandyNP stated above. I think there are more of nurse practitioners coming out of schools to help with the crisis we will soon be in with the baby boomer generation that is starting to retire and the need for more healthcare providers.

[FNPdude74]

My preceptors have been mostly MDs. They've all been supportive of my role as a FNP student. I really like working in the military hospitals. They're use to having PAs and NPs as students and working people coming in and out. Also, some NPs "precept" some medical students and residents... I disagree that we're here to "help the doctors by seeing patients and lightening the patient load for doctors". It varies by the type of case. NPs are here to help the United States care for the growing population of either insured or medicare eligible individuals, not merely to help physicians lighten their load. Many of the physicians I spoke with told me they feel that NPs have nearly the same caseloads. Of course, something like Kallman's syndrome would require a pediatrician to become involved and if needed, a pediatric geneticist; also the whole team...lol like radiologist to get MRI/CTs to detect absent olfactory bulbs, hyposmia/anosmia, delayed puberty...etc (but these are not always there). So I guess what i'm saying is complicated cases like this requires a team of generalists and specialists and NPs are part of the team as PCPs.

[zenman]

] I don't understand why people would want to go to a nurse practitioner when they can see a doctor who has more education and more credibility. !

My wife prefers her current Women's Health NP over the GYN the NP works with. My mother who had many chronic medical conditions liked her physician but preferred the NP's that worked with him as they had more time for her. My dad, who had a Aortic valve replacement 20 years ago and a cardiac arrest 10 years ago, regularly sees a PA at the VA hospital. Recently, I saw my regular primary care doctor for a heck of a rash on my back. His treatment didn't work, and since I was traveling, I saw an NP at an urgent care center. She prescribed something else and yipee, it's working.

What was your question again?

True, we don't delve as deeply into chemistry and other sciences as physicians in their reductionist system. I don't understand the deepest actions of the medicines I prescribe because half the time no one else does either, but then I use the same textbooks and reference books they use. What I do however, is focus on my patients and what is going on with them, what the meds are doing with them, and not what I think the meds should be doing. I listen, and I don't force my will or my "expertise" on them. I listen to what they are not saying. I see on another forum that physicians don't even recognize the word "patient satisfaction" because you can't measure it in a research study. To me it's just about the most important aspect in my relationship with a patient.

Others can say more than I can.

[zenman]

My preceptors have been mostly MDs. They've all been supportive of my role as a FNP student. I really like working in the military hospitals.

Good point, and only to make this point, here's one sentence from an eval from my physician preceptor: "I would not hesitate to hire Mr. zenman to work with me or to refer a family member to him." We even talked about going into practice together.