QUOTE(EveryMoment @ Jan 29 2007, 01:30 AM)
Why? Because NPs and CNMs are generally scheduled 30-45 min. for an annual exam and docs spend about 7 minutes in one. The nurse does all the prep work, etc, and you're up on the table when the doc comes and that's that. NPs/CNMs are much more focused on health promotion and health counseling. There's nothing fancy to a pap smear or an annual exam that a doc would do more thoroughly or be more expert at! Does your doc spend 15 min discussing the risks, benefits and alternatives to the different contraceptive options? Does your doc spend 4 min. counseling you on breast self-exam? Does your doc take a nutritional survey and discuss your vitamins and supplements? You see my point.
WIth regard to contraceptive options, breast exams, etc, that information is available from a multitude of sources all of which are available just about everyone. And that's fine that the nurses communicate this information to the patient, but there is no substitute for medical school and residency.
QUOTE(EveryMoment @ Jan 29 2007, 01:30 AM)
I truly believe that CNMs and NPS are experts in healthy women and docs are specialists for problems. CNMs /NPs KNOW normal and do recogize deviations from normal. Docs are trained in pathology, not normalcy. The problem is, if you're healthy a doc does not know how to treat you as anything but a problem. For some people, I guess that works, but for health economics it certainly does not. (And your insurance company is NOT charged the same for the NP vs. MD).
that is absolutely ridiculous! How can you say that nurses are "experts" when compared with doctors?! I had a problem brewing for a couple of years and saw 2 different nurse practitioners, neither of which caught the problem. It finally took a real doctor, someone who spent 8 years of intensive study, to figure it out.
I am sure there are plenty of competent nurse practitioners out there, but they are not to be used as a replacement for a doctor.
