To not want to see a Nurse Practitioner.

[Selks]

Have just rung the GP for a Drs appointment today after being ill for a fortnight and having a suspected kidney infection. The collective advice of MN and NHS direct said I should see a Dr ASAP.
The only appt offered to me was with a nurse practitioner. I spoke to the duty Dr and that is all they will offer me. No disrespect intended to nurse practitioners but after being misdiagnosed by the nurse practitioner before for an unrelated issue I am not keen to see them again for a condition that if misdiagnosed could potentially end me up in hospital. Dr was unwavering when I voiced my concerns.
AIBU to want to see an actual Dr?

YABU

You are blaming all NPs for one mistake from one NP. I have had much better care from NPs than from Drs many many times.

If you are ill enough to see someone, see someone.

Are you seein the same Np as before?

Tbh I don't think you have a choice. Seeing someone is better than seeing no one and theoretically if you need a dr they will get you an appointment.

I am happy to be persuaded that I am wrong, by the way.

And drs make mistakes all the time. Don't r under any illusion seein a dr will instantly mean u get treated. I wish we had a NP. Our drs are rubbish

YABU for listening to the collective advice of MN and NHS direct. An NP I perfectly capable of arranging urine tests and prescribing some trimethoprim, nitrofurantoin, cefalexin or similar - if she needs GP input she will go and get one for a second opinion.

That's kind of like saying "I don't want to see a Dr because one got something wrong once".

Tbh I would be more than happy to see a NP, I'm just generalizing here but I've found their knowledge to frequently be more up to date than GP's.

The NP will only do what the GP would do anyway- if you have ?kidney infection- take a urine sample and send it off.

Yes, I admit I have only seen a nurse practitioner once before, it was a bad experience and it has coloured my response in this instance. I'm quite relieved by your responses that I am BU actually and I'm prepared to accept that I might get a decent nurse practitioner this time.

NPs have more time to give you, so will hear all of your symptoms and will go consult with GP if there is any doubt about the course of treatment needed.

You have a right to a second opinion anyway so see what happens and go from there. It's also very common fir one lot of ABs to not shift it so again that's not a mistake if that
happens.

Having a NP must be a great device. All those people who wouldn't have seen a dr as a result of minor issues a nurse could deal with easily and probably do a better job

Giles, in our GP practice NPs aren't used along side Drs though, they are used instead of.

I'd take what's on offer Op. Certainly don't allow this to drag on, you will feel dreadful. I've had alot of contact with Drs in the past 2 years (both in hospital and at the Gps)and could write a book about the mistakes they've made, misdiagnosis, paperwork lost etc. I've had nothing but great advice and care from NP. I might add I've also got a fantastic Dr now. Go and see the Np s/he will call the Dr if necessary anyway.

Glad to hear of people's faith in NPs, it's making me feel better about it.

But if you otherwise wouldn't have seen anyone .......

Lila, I am attending the appt with the NP.

I saw a nurse practitioner a couple of weeks ago for a 'sensitive issue' I was 34 weeks pregnant and my appointment ended up over running from a 10
Minute appointment into 50 minutes because she was so thorough and wanted to make sure i got the best treatment I could have whilst pregnant...

That was my 1st experience and I would now see a NP over a GP any day

HTH x

Giles, I wouldn't have seen no one, I would have seen the Dr.

Thanks Miserable.

Diagnosed by a Nurse Practitioner? Nurses do diagnosis now? From cold, not just variations on pre-existing conditions?

I admit I'm not clear on what the roles used to be, but that has actually shocked me.

Is there some medical benefit to doing things like this?

Or is this using nurses as cutprice doctors and hoping no one ends up in front of them with something serious they're not qualified to recognise?

Selks, the nurse will refer you straight to a doctor if she thinks you need to see one, dont worry about that! Alternatively she can certainly get a prescription made up for you.

An NP has more training than a nurse, Parsing. I am not sure where the line between NP and GP lies, but NPs can and do diagnoses illnesses.

My experience with the NP before was rubbish. Went in regarding a chest infection. They clearly had a huge bee in their bonnet about anti-biotics and how they are over prescribed and gave me a big lecture about it. They refused to prescribe, telling me it was not a chest infection, and sent me away. I ended up very poorly eventually got the correct treatment from the Dr. That's why I am wary.

But GPs do the same thing all the time Selks. Read MN for 10 minutes and you'll see the threads.

All HCPs are human. Humans make mistakes.

Apparently - but why would you want them to?

I can completely understand specialist nurses for management of longterm conditions - they'll get much better at it than a GP, as they'll see so many cases and have a better idea of day-to-day living with the condition.

But walking in cold off the street when you might have indigestion or you might have cancer.. enough GPs miss stuff like that, I can't see how reducing the years of training and other professional requirements is going to improve diagnosis.

Nurse practitioners can write prescriptions and are very experienced. Give me one of them over some junior doc any day. They are generally fab.