Is it really "alternative"??

[CareGiving]

I am very interested in hearing anybody's thoughts on nursing in a D.O. hospital. I'm attracted to the philosophy of osteopathic medicine, as it claims to support the body's natural ability to heal, uses non-pharm methods along with pharm, looks at the patient as a whole rather than system by system, etc. I'm wondering if, in practice in a hospital setting, this is the case. Is there really a difference in overall philosophy and/or culture? Or even if you have worked with a D.O. in a "regular" hospital setting... did he/she go about care in a different way than an M.D.? I would greatly appreciate your responses!

[Turd Ferguson]

I've never heard of a D.O. hospital? The philosophy between the two (MD/DO) is different, I haven't really seen a big difference in practice though.

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

I have noticed, and maybe it's coincidence, that D.O.'s seem to be more collaborative and respectful of nurses than their non D.O. counterparts. And just generally nicer people.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

D.O. Hospital?

[diva rn, BSN, RN]

I love the philosophy of the DO's ... However, in practice, they seem to be indistinguishable from the MD's My Rheumatologist is a DO and is well respected in our city. He has a huge practice and is board certified in internal med as well as rheum. No difference in his practice and the MD I went to before.

Maybe in an entire hospital there would be a return to the "old ways" with more of a natural flare and holistic approach..I know they also used to incorporate adjustment and manipulation

But the guys I have worked with, not so much...

[CareGiving]

Thank you for your comments! Keep 'em coming! :)

I guess I assumed most large cities would have a D.O. hospital or perhaps a larger D.O.-run facility, but I can see by the question marks that this is not the case. In Indianapolis where I live, there is a D.O. hospital called Westview.

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

We used to have an Osteopathic hospital in the south Chicago suburbs, Olympia Fields Osteopathic. I was in high school at the time, so I never worked there. My mom's friend did. I'll try to find out from her if it was any better, but I don't think I recall hearing that it really was any different from any other hospital. It has since been bought by another hospital network and hasn't been Osteopathic for many years.

Also, a lot of the physicians that admitted there weren't D.O.'s, so I don't know that you'd see a huge difference. They were the same docs that admitted at any other area hospital.

[sethmctenn]

In my experience, DOs and MDs do practice in almost identical ways. Classical osteopathy ends up being that hobby that they had in college. There are certainly exceptions but most DOs I know don't do any spinal manipulation or bodywork. The ones that focus on those aspects of osteopathy tend to work in private practice, not in the hospital.

[diva rn, BSN, RN]

Where in Indianapolis is this hospital located? I used to work at Riley in 2000-2002. I loved Indy. I had to move back to Florida-but miss you guys.

Go COLTS!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I've never heard of a DO hospital before.

In my personal experience, the DOs and the MDs were indistinguishable, other than the letters on their name badge.

[Flo., BSN, RN]

My PCP is A DO I have noticed a difference in the way he practices. He is much more hands on and orders less tests (he only orders a test if it will change the course of tx rather than based on law suit prevention) I find him very refreshing.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think that if there is a difference in philosophy and care, it would be due to the individual, rather than the training. I imagine that people who are naturally more "holistic-minded" would be more attracted to osteopathy school than traditional med school.