To not agree with the nurse practiser's view that my DS has asthma and to think a diagnosis should come from a doctor?

[PolkadotCircus]

Soooo my v healthy but skinny boy 9 has had a nasty winter virus that he has had problems shaking off,symptoms involve a cough that won't go away.Loads of other kids and adults have had/got it here.

The same happened last year and our fab doctor gave him temp inhalers to calm his airways down which worked a treat and were never used again.

His grandad is the same(very skinny and some times gets a chest infection in winter it takes a whole to shake off) but still cycling 16 miles a day at 80.

Anyhow dtwin 1 keeping dtwin 2 awake so tried to get an appointment with our fab GP but because he is so fab it is nigh on impossible so was offered an appointment with a nurse which I reluctantly accepted as all I wanted were temp inhalers and ds better ASAP.

Anyhow after a very lengthy appointment when his puff was measured,history looked at,records filled in,weighed etc she finally gave us some inhalers.Puff was poor(errr yes he has a virus and a temp) and we were told to come back for a follow up asthma review.I said but he doesn't have asthma only to be told well this happened last year etc,etc.

So we went to the review puff beyond normal now and very good,virus over so no surprise.Nurse then said as he had asthma she'd like to see him again,keep him in her records,how many inhalers did he have etc,to keep him topped up when tight in the chest etc etc.

I said very firmly he doesn't have asthma and never gets tight in the chest.She then asked if he had eczema or hay fever.He had eczema as a baby and gets a bit sneezy in the summer ahhhh then they are linked so he does have asthma.Me-no he doesn't he just gets a cough he can't shake some winters.
I don't want asthma on his records unnecessarily.We politely agreed to disagree.

So aibu to think a)he doesn't have asthma and b) a diagnosis should come from a doctor.

Thank you for coming back.

Are leaflets becoming old hat for asthma?
That is why I suggested Dr Google waaay back for asthma, as the internet information on asthma does seem to be reliable.

It seems to me, that doctors themselves are more and more likely to print off some medical information from the internet for other medical issues too.

I manage a care service and every year a few of the NVQ3 qualified people go into nurse training, yes they get a degree at the end of it but pklese do not try to tell me that the academic rigour of it is the same as a medical degree.

I think that attitude stinks. Nurses are qualified in a different way and many asthma nurses are a lot more up to date on recent developments and treatments than GPs are.

How rude of you to diss someone's degree when you know little of its content.

So nurses aren't proffessionals now. Not sure of how you can establish that.

In my experiences many nurses are much more knowledgeable about asthma than GPs. In fact it was only my practice nurse explaining to the GP which made him accept the hospitals diagnosis of asthma for my son when in his case it really is indisputable (other than the fact he is 'too young' to have asthma)

I think we are going outside the world of reality if anyone really believes that it is as difficult from an academic point of view to qualify as nurse to become a doctor. Many 4 x A* people can't get in to do medicine. Nurses need different qualities, it is mainly because they do not appreciate this themselves that the NHS is in such a mess.

Being a proffessional and being an academic are two different things though.

You can no longer routinely access Nurse training with NVQ3 and 2 GCSEs - that was the diploma course that is being phased out. The entry requirements are now in line with other degree courses.

I am not saying that the academic courses compare with medicine but post qualification I think that the least rigorous regulator is the GMC and the medics are known to be the most difficult group to get to attend mandatory update training.

Great I am not a professional. That saves me my nmc professional fees for this year.

At 45 I think I'd know by now if I had undiagnosed Ashma

I didn't.

And I used to work in a respiratory department.

When you said his 'puff' was measured do you mean a peak flow? They are not too good for diagnosing asthma, however if she used a vitalograph (spirometry) you can see a huge difference in the recording of someone with asthma, even when symptom free.

In my county we have care assistants regularly going into nursing degrees. They do level 3 training in care with us, then a year "access to nursing" part time at the local college. One of my two members of staff doing the course at present tell me 7 of their group at the college have been offered places at UWE to start this autumn. We take nusing students on placement in a care home that is part of our organisation.

Higgle, you clearly have no idea what nurses do now days, what their roles are and what the training involves. You have also offended many people, me included. It's good to know I'm not a professional. Clearly you have the old fashioned view that doctors are God.

I am a qualified healthcare manager, with a post graduate qualification. Some of my staff are nurses- either awaiting return to nursing courses or just deciding not to work as nurses - and I am part of a management team for a larger organisation where other managers are qualified nurses.Every year I encourage and support my best staff to go into nursing as a career and provide the part time work and support to facilitate this, I have also tutored some of them in interview techniques, essay writing etc. to support them. Yes, I know what a nurse does, I also know that I need a doctor or consultant for advice on difficult medical problems.

Ah a healthcare manager. That explains a lot.

isithometime, the advice I was given is pretty much the same as the advice here. It does rely on you having an inhaler to use though, and I think you said that you didn't have one.

Reiterating what sashh said, regarding the OP's comment about reaching 45 without being diagnosed with asthma.

I was 45 when I had my first ever asthma attack, which was a full-on thought-I-was-going-to-die moment and was hospitalised for a week, before being diagnosed with adult-onset asthma. See this Asthma UK article as a starting point.

So in all the discussion about your son, OP, keep an eye on your own health too.

Apologies for not reading the whole thread but when we saw the GP for ds and suspected asthma the first thing he did was make and appt with the asthma nurse!

Nurses need different qualities, it is mainly because they do not appreciate this themselves that the NHS is in such a mess

How rude! It takes nurse bashing to a whole new level - so now all the NHS problems are caused by nurses eh? Nothing to do with managers at all, oh no. Or the Tories. No-one has said a medical degree is the same as a nursing degree - but Doctors have to know lots about everything where as a specialised Nurse Practitioner in asthma will have did further in depth training, not just their original degree.

The idea that all nurses are thickos and that yes they have.degrees, bless them, but they aren't really 'real' is a little outdated. I got 3 good A levels got a good degree and a graduate job but went back to do nursing because I really wanted to. I have had a varied, fascinating anf fulfilling career. I work long hours but find my job intellectually, mentally, physically and emotionally challenging and stimulating. Yes, doctor's training is more rigorous but I think nurses are entitled to see themselves on a par with other allied health professionals or teachers, say. But all too often these patronising and outdated attitudes depress and dishearten me.

higgle - the "small fee a consultant charges"? That's £350 to see one of DDs consultants, around £250 to see her main one . And that doesn't include any actual treatment, investigations or medications. I'm happy to stick with the asthma nurse to both diagnose AND treat me thanks very much.

Ah a healthcare manager. That explains a lot.

Nice one Agedknees.

I worked for a team of NHS Health Managers and they were not medically trained and did not interfere or make crass judgements on the staff that WERE medically trained. In fact, from where I was sitting, they spent all day arranging meetings, going to meetings and talking about meetings and getting absolutely nowhere. Between the Development Manager, Admin Manager and Customer Manager, they could have sacked two of them and employed an extra nurse, instead of wasting their budget on agency staff.

I've never worked in such a shambolic and unproductive environment.

However the nurses I met were dedicated, driven and worked a damned sight harder than the managers.

Sorry, slight hijack there, but I cannot bear nurse bashing, or the 1950s attitude that nurses are "not as good as" doctors.

Healthcare manager, oh right, that clearly makes you an expert, but not a clinician.

The only impact asthma has ever had on insurance for me is the huge inconvenience of having to answer 1 extra question (whether you have been hospitalised within the last x years).

If your DS goes through the next 12 months with no symptoms, the nurse will probably happily discharge them. Mine told me that nothing makes her happier than teenagers who grow out of all symptoms (I did the opposite and grew into it other, more accurately, finally got diagnosed at 13 ).

I think mine asked the question about hospitalisation and whether I was currently taking more that two medications. Even if I'd answered yes they would still have covered me but just increased the excess slightly. The cost of the insurance was the same I think.

No, I'm not a clinician, but since when has that been necessary to have a view? I've never worked in the NHS either, so please don't have another bash at them too!

higgle, did you only read the OP of that thread you linked to or all of the replies as well?

So your view on the nursing profession is of no more value than Joe Bloggs then?
He's also entitled to an opinion but please don't spout that your limited experience makes you a healthcare expert.