Parents wanting MD

[pedspnp]

Parents brought their children in today for a school physical and after the exam was completed and I had referred one for a hydrocele and estropia, expressed their displeasure at not seeing a MD INSTEAD of a glorified nurse. The mom began to rant why the "f" are we seeing you instead of the MD ( who is on vacation) . She questioned my qualifications , I explained to her what my qualifications were and that if there were any questions as to the diagnosis that I would consult . When she made the appointment she was made aware that she was seeing a NP . The mom continued to rant at that point I stated , " if you don't feel I'm qualified to examine and refer your child to a specialist , then obviously I'm not qualified too sign off on his school form, would you like to reschedule the appointment for when the pediatrician is available in three weeks . ( the child was already getting to be refused back in school with out a physical ). Rant over

[BeachFNP]

I get this occasionally. Mostly it's a sideways glance and a "is the doctor coming in?" If it's his day here I just hand them over to him and he is totally fine with it. Most of the time they turn out to be VERY self absorbed anyway so I'm glad to be rid of them.

Occasionally it's a day that he is not here and I have to explain to them that he can't be in all 3 offices everyday. They usually let it drop at that point and by the end of the appt they ONLY want to see me in the future. Occasionally someone will get all indignant and reschedule with him. Fine by me. I've got enough to do than deal with your annoying ass.

[synaptic]

I've never had this problem. i guess its because I'm male. i tell them twice I'm a nurse practitioner and by the end of the visit they are still calling me doctor. but i live in a very old school southern area in eastern ky where men are all considered to be doctors and women nurses. even my supervisor who is an md gets called nurse lmao.

[Riburn3, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

This is going to happen to any NP, especially if they are joining an established practice with few providers. When I first started, several patients would only want to see the doctor not because I am an NP, but more so because he has been their provider for years and they have only seen him for that time frame. Fast forward and he brings in other providers, and patients get off put by not seeing their doc. I know I would react strangely if in the same situation, but would never refuse care. I'm sure several of you all out there can think of a few patients that have grown very comfortable with you and would probably ask whats going on if they didn't see you.

If they were rude and acted like giant turds, I would simply let them know they would have to wait (often for several hours), and walk out the door, even if they changed their tune. It always seemed to be patients wanting the most basic things like refills or a lab review that would be the most obnoxious. Most patients by the end of the visit are very comfortable with me and before I moved into my own satellite practice, they started requesting to see only me. A few have actually transferred to my clinic because they like me.

The most important advice is to never take it personally, it happens to lots of providers, including physicians. If they're rude about it, they're patients your probably wouldn't want to see anyway. Just keep a smile on your face and move on.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Please stick to the topic at hand. While correct grammar and punctuation are important, if there is an issue with a post, please report it. Thanks.

[Laurie52]

Do these people make an appointment with a physician and are seen by a nurse practitioner instead?

[anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP]

I think it's more a matter of them not being acquainted with you. As some PP's have said when the patients have ONLY seen that MD of course they want to see who they know. I am in the same boat myself. I joined a practice with 5 established MD's. They get overloaded but not a lot of the patients want to see me because they don't know me. When some of them finally DO see me many ask "if Dr. So-and-so isn't available can I see you?" Even many that I see in the chronic care management program (with many issues going on) feel that I'm competent and ask if they can see me again.

If somebody starts questioning me being a NP vs MD or about me being so new (only 6 months out...eek!) I just joke and say I haven't killed anybody yet....

Sorry it went down that way but some people you just aren't going to please!! I still get upset (well, more aggravated) at those situations but then when I get a "thank you" or "you know what you're doing! That new medicine helped a lot!" it seems to even out.

[BeachFNP]

Do these people make an appointment with a physician and are seen by a nurse practitioner instead?

Our scheduler is trained to explain to people who they will be seeing when they come for an appt. this is usually only an issue with new patients, because once they are seen they prefer to stay with the same provider. In my practice we have 4 providers: 3 NPs and 1 physician. They are told "you are scheduled in the (location) office with (provider)." So it shouldn't be a surprise when they see who they were told they were seeing. You'd be surprised how people still react to it though.