Waiting at the docs office

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Specializes in LTC.

My two yr old woke me up at 5am vomiting and coughing with a fever that has since gone up to nearly 104 . I took him to the Peds office like they told me to and sat for over 3 hrs and he still wasn't seen I suspect an ear infection or the flu. I have to go back in the am . I wanted him swabbed for flu. It is a 20 min test! The mom in me came out and then the nurse came thru I offered to swab him myself if they would just do the test but noooo I am so aggravated at this place! If they were too full to see him they shouldn't have told me to bring him in. I also wanted to flog one of the moms in there! She came in and said her kid wasn't sick and needed to be seen first to avoid her getting sick and in 10 mins she was seen. I'm going to take my son out of their office after this next visit and get him in with my doctors office. I'm rotating motrin Tylenol and pedialyte but to have a sick baby is so scary how do you experienced moms deal with this? I work with elderly so I'm not even close to being a pro with kids . Help !

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Sorry your child was not seen in three hours. Most doctors are not routinely swabing and testing for the flu since pandemic per CDC advice but instead treating according to symptoms.

http://answers.flu.gov/questions/4524

Your current doctor may not even know what's happening in the waiting room!

I strongly suggest that you write a letter/email letting them know of your concerns. A three hour office visit wait often is a result of overwhelmed staff telling too many people to come in at the same time -- learned from 21 yrs experience in Peds offices with own children.

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Specializes in LTC.

Good news...I think. I took him back the next am....tested negative for both types of flu..a and b...and no ear infection but the doc said its a flu like virus. .....still....the wait is terrible. The next am....I waited in the waiting room for 20 mins then in the back for over 2 hrs....he ordered a cough syrup with codeine in it. Its helping him...but drying him out really bad. I am still going to change offices asap. There has got to be a better way of handling this kind of thing at an office. I dont know the ins and outs of it since Ive never worked in one but still....

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Specializes in M/S, SNU, Office, and Private Duty.

That is just horrible that your office made you wait 3 hours!! They should have let you know if they did not have any appointments for you! We have patients call in and see if we have any appointments each day (15 min intervals), if not we refer them to our triage nurse or urgent care. Even if we are running behind the most our patients wait is 30 min unless something catastrophic happens. I would definatley write a letter to your current office and find a new one soon!

Glad your little one is doing better.

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