I give up. (hubby's follow-up appt)
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JessicaLCHF wrote: »Ps. I'll bet she wasn't a nurse. Did she say she was? Nurses have years of vigorous training (and thousands of dollars of student loans
). Most doctors now employ "medical assistants" instead of nurses which can have as little as four week training and most of that on procedure. Mine can't even take a blood pressure reading manually. 
I have to take a little exception with this comment. My wife is a MA. Now she may be an exception bcuz she went through 3 semesters out of 4 of nursing school before a bad experience and then my job change kept her from finishing. We have 56k in student loans... she ended up going to school for ma instead of starting over at another nursing school but it wasn't 4 weeks. Wish it was. It was 7 months and 2 months ofclinicals. It was a piece of cake for her after nursing school, but it wasn't just show up and pass. There is a state exam also. Now I'm not saying a ma or my wife know what an RN does, but some of them are still pretty educated.
I use the VA myself so I know first hand how quality care can be hit or miss. My a1c started at 7.0 ish and losing 35 lbs and exercise only got it down to 6.6. Dr is happy, I am not. I have been eating low carb, not keto,for a few months now, getting it checked again next monday and hoping for progress. Good luck to your husband.0 -
I have no problem whatsoever with medical assistants providing the care they are qualified to provide. Nor do I have a problem with nurses providing the care they are qualified to provide. What I do not like is people pretending to know things they do not know, failing to introduce themselves and state their credentials, attempting to pass themselves off as something they are not, etc.
Also, I know a little something about having *almost* all the training needed to do one thing but due to crappy circumstances stopping short of your goal and having to "settle" for a less skilled and lower paying title. I'm relatively happy in my case, but I still wish things had been a bit different and I were where my peers now are.0 -
JessicaLCHF wrote: »Ps. I'll bet she wasn't a nurse. Did she say she was? Nurses have years of vigorous training (and thousands of dollars of student loans ). Most doctors now employ "medical assistants" instead of nurses which can have as little as four week training and most of that on procedure. Mine can't even take a blood pressure reading manually.
I have to take a little exception with this comment. My wife is a MA. Now she may be an exception bcuz she went through 3 semesters out of 4 of nursing school before a bad experience and then my job change kept her from finishing. We have 56k in student loans... she ended up going to school for ma instead of starting over at another nursing school but it wasn't 4 weeks. Wish it was. It was 7 months and 2 months ofclinicals. It was a piece of cake for her after nursing school, but it wasn't just show up and pass. There is a state exam also. Now I'm not saying a ma or my wife know what an RN does, but some of them are still pretty educated.
I use the VA myself so I know first hand how quality care can be hit or miss. My a1c started at 7.0 ish and losing 35 lbs and exercise only got it down to 6.6. Dr is happy, I am not. I have been eating low carb, not keto,for a few months now, getting it checked again next monday and hoping for progress. Good luck to your husband.
I am a huge fan of people who are very well educated, and I'll trust a PA or NP any day, as most of them require more follow up schooling to maintain certification, but this was a case of a total lack of communication - doctor to Nurse/MA and the Nurse/MA claiming knowledge and experience s/he did not have.
Congrats to your wife for being an excellent example of what can be done - she's the type I always make sure to formally compliment to the management before leaving a medical facility.0 -
The VA system is broken. I know people who have DIED waiting for their scheduled appointment 6 of 8 months in the future.0
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The VA health system is a very sad example of government run health care.0
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I thought the VA rheumatologists would be excited that I went low carb to manage my pain with coconut oil and that it worked. Not so much after all but the guy was from India and said his family back home produces coconut oil. He came here to practice medicine because having access to drugs like Enbrel that was not available in India due to cost.
It seems to work best when I have a plan of action layed out for myself. X-rays, lab work gives the info needed to come up with a plan of action. The doctors, PA's, NP's have too large of a work load it seems to tweak a detailed plan for our health care. That is only going to get worse and not only at the VA I expect.
Try to study and go in with your objectives. If you are on top of your health care manage they may be caught off guard but may be happy to support you. Seldom will a doctor or other medical personnel will know how to come up with a plan as well as you can because you should know your body better than them. Some tack can be helpful when talking with the staff however.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »I thought the VA rheumatologists would be excited that I went low carb to manage my pain with coconut oil and that it worked. Not so much after all but the guy was from India and said his family back home produces coconut oil. He came here to practice medicine because having access to drugs like Enbrel that was not available in India due to cost.
It seems to work best when I have a plan of action layed out for myself. X-rays, lab work gives the info needed to come up with a plan of action. The doctors, PA's, NP's have too large of a work load it seems to tweak a detailed plan for our health care. That is only going to get worse and not only at the VA I expect.
Try to study and go in with your objectives. If you are on top of your health care manage they may be caught off guard but may be happy to support you. Seldom will a doctor or other medical personnel will know how to come up with a plan as well as you can because you should know your body better than them. Some tack can be helpful when talking with the staff however.
Gale, you are such a success story. I'm so happy for you and for your family that will get to have you around much longer now.0 -
DH's mental health appt at the new clinic is this afternoon. Let's see if they call him this morning to reschedule....
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Good luck !0
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Hope it went well!!0
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