Nurses Recommending Doctors?

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If you know what it is like to need a doctor but don't know how to go about finding one who suits you what can you do? Some people aren't in any kind of shape to go doctor hopping until they find one they are comfortable with.

I know in Texas the doctors struck down a proposal for a doctor rating system, but what about a recommendation service? Any of these around?

Would it be out of line to call a nursing home in the area one evening and talk to the nurses there about what doctor they would suggest?

I ask because my mother is very uncomfirtable with her doctor and it is a monumental effort for her to even get out of the house to go see him. Watching your aging parent going downhill is really sad (though she's only 67). I feel helpless to help her but I want to do what I can, even though it may not be much.

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Specializes in Medical Telemetry, LTC,AlF, Skilled care.

From what I've always been told, nurses recommending physicians is a big "No no" because we don't have the "capability" to refer patients.

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Do you have friends who work in a general medical area? Or friends with elderly parents who are happy with their care? I don't believe you would get much info by just cold calling a nursing home, but word of mouth from friends goes a long way. I have spoken of doctors I really liked to friends looking for OBs for instance.

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

I referred this same question to the case manager in my department when my elderly father in law came to live with us. I was given a number of geriatric specialists, however, she gave me her opinions regarding a few and was honest that she didn't know the others. I don't know what type of nursing you do, but if you work in a hospital, you can always look at the list of doctors associated with that hospital and get someone's opinion. I would trust her opinion any day of the week. We now see someone she has refferred and love her!

Case in point, our ER doc had referred my "dad" to a specific physician(on call) while hospitalized-in the ER the doc responded during our 24 hours waiting for a bed(I am a nurse there and couldn't get admitted any sooner) every time he was called with a change in condition IMMEDIATELY. When my father in law was placed on the floor-it would take many calls to get him to respond, or he'd hang up(our surgical residents would handle negative changes if I beeped-they were great!). Needless to say, I wasn't putting up with that crap! Told him, if anyone died due to his inattention I would be the first to volunteer myself to the family for legal proceedings. After our conversation, I was told that he returned all calls made to him within 5 minutes(March), nurses told me he is still answering that floor immediately.

I truly don't believe a nursing home staff rn or any other employee will ever say anything bad about the physicians that work with their facilities. Even when we went to rehab LTC, this same doctor was attached to the case Ugh! Even though he did not call them back when they called, they never said one bad word about him(even in frustration), regardless, how I bugged them to keep calling.

Anyway, your mom is very young-call your local hospital, go to your local senior center, call your local health department or social services. Find a geriatric physician, maybe mom is depressed-anxiety seems to accompany some people's aging.

Good Luck

Maisy;)

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That's the problem. I grew up in thsi town but haven't lived there in over 12 yrs. and we didn't frequent the doctor's office very much so it's basically like we are new there.

It saddens me to see the helpless child she is turning into, basically a mental invalid. She whines that her doctor doesn't listen to anything she says to him. Her doctor doesn't care. He makes her feel uncomfortable.

But she feels powerless to try to find one on her own. I wanted to help.

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

Is it possible to go with her to the physician? Maybe you can see what she is talking about...is the doctor not listening or is your mom not being clear with her symptoms? I used to make my mom write everything down because she got so nervous, she'd forget what she wanted to tell doctor. Also, is her hearing good? My mom refused a hearing aid, so when doctors spoke normally she didn't understand or hear everything, but if they raised their voices she thought they were mean and yelling at her. Or, like my father in law's old doctor in FL his answer was that he was old for every complaint, that doctor was an idiot! I still think that looking for a physician who specializes in geriatrics is the way to go! Good luck.

Maisy;)

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From what I've always been told, nurses recommending physicians is a big "No no" because we don't have the capability to refer patients.

What do you mean by capability? We're very capable of having opinions!

It's not ethical to recommend a physician that we work with, but there's not a thing wrong with providing a list of physicians that we think are good, without saying who's not good.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
It's not ethical to recommend a physician that we work with, but there's not a thing wrong with providing a list of physicians that we think are good, without saying who's not good.

Really? I was looking at having surgery and asked a nurse-friend and she recommended a couple of surgeons saying, "They're nice, communicate well, and we rarely see their patients coming through for rework. I'd go to one of them."

I figure that the nurses who are taking care of their patients are the best people to judge a doctor.

I don't understand why my friend was being unethical by giving her honest opinion about the docs she works with.

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Specializes in Medical Telemetry, LTC,AlF, Skilled care.
What do you mean by capability? We're very capable of having opinions!

It's not ethical to recommend a physician that we work with, but there's not a thing wrong with providing a list of physicians that we think are good, without saying who's not good.

I believe you took my post out of context. I should have have put capable in quotation marks. I was simply repeating what I had been told which by no means makes it true. Didn't mean to anger anyone :

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I believe you took my post out of context. I should have have put capable in quotation marks. I was simply repeating what I had been told which by no means makes it true. Didn't mean to anger anyone :

I took nothing out of context, I read it literally. Quotation marks would have made all the difference in the interpretation. You did not anger me, it just surprised me that "capability" was brought into it......withOUT the quote marks!

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Specializes in Medical Telemetry, LTC,AlF, Skilled care.
I took nothing out of context, I read it literally. Quotation marks would have made all the difference in the interpretation. You did not anger me, it just surprised me that "capability" was brought into it......withOUT the quote marks!

Post edited, Sorry about that! :)

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