Why are nurse practitioners prescribing me medication?

[malpractitioner]

I like cats.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Taurus]

Tell her and your health service that she's breaking the law for misrepresenting herself as a physician.

 

[drblueshades]

I sincerely hope the original poster isn't just a troll...

Nurse practitioners have independent prescribing rights in most states up to a certain schedule of drugs. NPs and PAs are great for routine medical care. Many are employed in student health centers to deal with basic medical problems affecting students (URIs, acne, some refills, etc.) They should NEVER be addressed as doctor (unless they've also got a PhD or something) but the office workers at many practice sites still call all PAs/NPs/MDs/etc "doctor."

 

[malpractitioner]

...

 

[malpractitioner]

I like cats.

 

[indo]

She is probably an illegal immigrant too. If I were you, I'd get my Methadone from an American source.

 

[booswim542]

They are kinda hard to find, but there are programs for a Doctorate in Nursing....

So technically, that person would be Dr. Nurse if they graduated from one of these programs.

Maybe this is the case?

 

[87138]

My post is NOT a trolling post. Everything above is true except for the names.

I don't think anyone thinks you're lying. I think everyone here is as shocked as I am that you had no idea what a NP was apparently.

 

[J Bone]

No offense but you should know what a NP and PA do since you are in or will be in the medical profession. They should not refer to themselves as doctors but a lot of patients call them that because most of them spend more time with the patients. Don't mean to piss anyone off but most of you will be working with mid-level practioners. Just my two cents.

 

[Biscuit799]

Usually what I've noticed with NP's (and PA's, too), is that everyone calls them "doctor," and 99% of the people they see wouldn't really understand the difference. It's like when people call me "intern." It'd take 5 minutes to explain the difference, and my life wouldn't be any different for having done it. Maybe it's misrepresentation, but I'm busy and have better things to do. It's not a big deal that she "let" you call her "dr" (Couldn't you tell by her nametag/jacket/office diploma or picture?). She probably doesn't feel like taking the 10 minutes to explain her job description to every patient she sees. The big deal is that she practices within her scope and doesn't have a problem referring out problem cases.

 

[GoBuckeyes913]

I sincerely hope the original poster isn't just a troll...

Nurse practitioners have independent prescribing rights in most states up to a certain schedule of drugs. NPs and PAs are great for routine medical care. Many are employed in student health centers to deal with basic medical problems affecting students (URIs, acne, some refills, etc.) They should NEVER be addressed as doctor (unless they've also got a PhD or something) but the office workers at many practice sites still call all PAs/NPs/MDs/etc "doctor."

I'm not even gonna lie...... I hate the fact that some nurses perform the exact same job a physician does. I mean, isn't that what is supposed to separate the two? (Why do we even bother having primary care docs and anesthesiologists if nurses do their job? With a ton less training too). Oh, and the long white coat, what's up with that?? Do they give them to everyone nowadays? Sometimes I don't know who is who is the hospital anymore, then I look ******ed when I stare at their nametag to figure out if they are an attending. I'm all for having PA's to help out, but I think they have way too many priveledges for the amount of training they receive. Maybe I'm just being a brat though

 

[SOUNDMAN]

As a PA, I have had numerous times had patients call me "Doc" etc, however if they ever said Dr. Soundman, then I would just correct them and say, you can just call me (enter first name here). In addition, I ALWAYS introduced myself to patients as "Hi, I'm Soundman, I'm Dr. soandso's physician assistant, what can I do for you?" As long as you introduce yourself with the correct title, then there really is no repercussions, as long as you are practicing within your scope, etc, etc...

 

[ufgrad00]

I went to see my doctor at our college health center the other day to get a refill of my schedule II medication. I told her I was considering going to medical school and wanted to know if she remembered taking the MCAT.

"Oh, I didn't take the MCAT, Michael. I'm a nurse practitioner. We had to take the GRE..."

A nurse what? For over a year I've been calling this woman "Dr. Jackson" and she has been prescribing me narcotics. Why has my university health center been scheduling me to see "Dr. Jackson" when she's not even a doctor? Why has she not corrected me all this time? And why is she prescribing me medication? I felt a little deceived. I think she's actually a very good health care practitioner, and I respect her a lot - so I'll continue to see her. But it was still weird to think that a non-doctor could prescribe meds?

FYI - the names used in this post are not identifiable.

You are seeing her because you are going to a college health service that doesn't pay enough to keep a full MD or DO on staff. Most physicians wouldn't waste their time seeing non-stop college related health problems like STDs or sprained joints from stupid stunts for the lower pay. Just be grateful that you have someone who is locally available to refill your prescriptions.

 

[malpractitioner]

...

 

[Trismegistus4]

I'm not even gonna lie...... I hate the fact that some nurses perform the exact same job a physician does. I mean, isn't that what is supposed to separate the two? (Why do we even bother having primary care docs and anesthesiologists if nurses do their job? With a ton less training too). Oh, and the long white coat, what's up with that?? Do they give them to everyone nowadays? Sometimes I don't know who is who is the hospital anymore, then I look ******ed when I stare at their nametag to figure out if they are an attending.

The worst part is that doctors themselves have stopped wearing the white coat, and indeed started dressing down in general. So we have doctors walking around looking like they're dressed for a casual day around the house, the men tieless, the women in slacks and turtlenecks, and no white coat in sight, while everyone else does their best to look like a doctor.

 

[J Bone]

I have spent most of my life under this giant boulder.

Maybe that is the problem?

 

[denalirx]

Usually what I've noticed with NP's (and PA's, too), is that everyone calls them "doctor," and 99% of the people they see wouldn't really understand the difference. It's like when people call me "intern." It'd take 5 minutes to explain the difference, and my life wouldn't be any different for having done it. Maybe it's misrepresentation, but I'm busy and have better things to do. It's not a big deal that she "let" you call her "dr" (Couldn't you tell by her nametag/jacket/office diploma or picture?). She probably doesn't feel like taking the 10 minutes to explain her job description to every patient she sees. The big deal is that she practices within her scope and doesn't have a problem referring out problem cases.

Just to share another perspective...I am a pharmacist (I don't dispense-only see patients by appt) and interact often with physicians/NPs/PAs. While I have my PharmD, I would *never* refer to myself as "Dr. Denalirx" ...one, because I really dislike being called that even in non-clinical settings, two, patients seem to be more comfortable because they use first names, and three, I just think it is way too confusing for patients (because Dr is reserved for physicians). That being said, I will occasionally "promote" professionals that I know are PAs/NPs to "Dr. So and So" when I first introduce myself simply because I am more comfortable addressing someone formally that way rather than with "Mr/Ms". And it is true that they may have a Doctorate in something else...I did this with professors too who may have only had a Master's.. Usually people will correct you if it is a mistake (and say hey, call me [insert first name]) and I think very very few people would purposefully mislead someone...

 

[Faebinder]

PA/NPs are called doctor so many times that it's hard to correct every single one. i mean seriously, what do you want them to do? Put up a sign saying "I'm a Physician Assistant Not A Doctor!"

On the other hand, misrepresentation during introduction or at the office clinic is a bad thing and people should get punished for it. If the secretary outside is calling the PA a doctor then she needs to be fired. There is even now a law against misrepresenting yourself as a physician. Sides, a PA/NP is sufficient for many/most refills and minor problems but it's important to know that you aren't talking to the end of the practice scope that way if things get odd then you know you need to go higher up the ladder.

Honestly, it doesn't take long for you to deal with patients to realize people are VERY evil.... when it comes to medical care at older age with chronic diseases... people want their way even if there is no way. They want that percocet refill even if it breaks your license. They want that surgery done even if you know it's not the solution to their disease. They want to stay in the hospital, even when no one including themselves or their insurance are willing to pay for it. After a few conversations like this, you get jaded and I can imagine that patients act lke complete asses when you as a PA/NP tell them something they dont want to hear. Heck they do that to neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons (two specialists that have more patients than they need to have!)

The phenomenon that patients are feeling empowered to just treat their physicians like **** and their mid levels like garbage just makes it real hard to the mid levels to correct someone's wrong assumptions.

 

[southerndoc]

They should not refer to themselves as doctors but a lot of patients call them that because most of them spend more time with the patients.

If they used time spent with a patient as a judge whether to call a NP/PA "doctor," then nurses would be called "doctors."

Where is the study showing NP's and PA's spend more time with patients when they have a similar patient load?

 

[kronickm]

Most of the patients I run into will call anyone with scrubs on a doctor.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

On my child psychiatry rotation, our team consisted of an attending physician, 3 residents, 2 students, an NP, an OT, and RNs. On child psych, needless to say, you want to establish a rapport with your mistrustful, conduct-disorder patients, and one way to do so is to dress casually.

In fact, only one person wore their white coat, and did so every day. Care to wager on which person of the team it was?

 

[deleted6669]

"PA/NPs are called doctor so many times that it's hard to correct every single one. i mean seriously, what do you want them to do? Put up a sign saying "I'm a Physician Assistant Not A Doctor!""

we pretty much do that already.
my lab coat says: emedpa, pa-c
my hospital I.D. says:
emedpa, pa-c, emt-p
emergency med. physician assistant

my scripts say the same thing. the nurses say "emedpa, one of our physician assistants, will be in to see you shortly"
if after all of this and my introduction"hi, I'm emedpa, one of the emergency medicine pa's on staff here" they want to keep calling me doc then they are either just dense or don't care. I will only correct someone once. after that they can call me bozo the clown if it makes them feel better.

also agree with southerndoc. in specialties at least pa's spend the same amount of time with pts as docs do. we don't get this magic 20 min appt schedule just because we are midlevels. we are held to the same production standards as the docs in the group.

 

[AwesomO]

Oh, and the long white coat, what's up with that?? Do they give them to everyone nowadays?

At the hospital I rotated through they had kids from the local catholic high school come volunteer during the year. They were all given long white coats to wear.

 

[Faebinder]

At the hospital I rotated through they had kids from the local catholic high school come volunteer during the year. They were all given long white coats to wear.

I'm G-vomiting,

 

[zenman]

Most of the patients I run into will call anyone with scrubs on a doctor.

Yep, and after the 500th time you just get tired of explaining...