Local pharmacies add walk-in clinics

BTW...doctors go to school for years to learn what they need to help people. IMO I feel the sacrifice of their 20's and 30's is sufficient enough and they should make good money for the time and effort vested in pursuing a career in medicine. Anyone who gets angry for seeing a doctor doing well is just jealous in my opinion.

think the dr oversees all their charts, not sure tho...

Podunk Girl wrote:

My question is this. Nurse practicioners have to have a board certified physician supervising their work and nurse practitioners have to have doctors to approve certain prescriptions. Generally speaking a nurse practitioner working solo just does not happen. So who are the doctors taking responsibility for the nurses patient encounters?

What prescriptions have to be approved by a physician?

llg wrote:

<quoted text>
What prescriptions have to be approved by a physician?

Anything controlled has to have doctor approval and the doctor has to sign off on the nurse practioners charts regardless of what was prescribed because NP cannot treat without doctor supervision. Now I do understand that we are talking about clinics to treat acute stuff like sinus infections and bronchitis etc but in the 14 years I was in medicine it never fails someone with a cough asks for cough medicine with hydrocodone in it. This is an example of a medication a doctor would have to approve. Or someone comes in with a runny nose and says by the way while I am here I have had diarrhea for 10 years can you prescribe me something for it. People do this all the time. This bogs down the schedule and pretty soon people are going to be waiting an hour or two at a pharmacy clinic to get a pennicillin rx.

Frankie wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree!! I changed from Walgreen because they gave me the run around over a RX and it took forever to fill. Went straight to my local friendly grocery store and they called and took any and all proscription out of Walgreens hands... and they did it with a phone call.
And it irks me that WalMart is getting in on this.. If there's a buck to be made, WalMart will dollar you to death!

What were you trying to get a controlled substance filled early? Or did you cuss out the pharmacy staff? I work in a pharmacy and I wish that everyone in their lifetime would have to do it to see the way that people act.

Whatever wrote:

If you have to sit and wait to be seen at these "clinics" near as long as you sit and wait on getting a prescription filled, you will be dead before you're seen anywya.
Pharmacy's are a JOKE!!! You can leave the emergency room with an extremely sick child at 4 in the morning....go straight to the pharmacy and they always say, "It will be a couple of hours before we can get your prescription filled." They need to get off their rear-ends and stay caught up on incoming prescriptions.
The bigger chains are the worst!!!! Walgreens and CVS!!

You can wait for an hour to order a pizza can't you. Call in your prescriptions ahead of time and don't wait until you run out and here's one for you call your own doctor for your own medication and then see how long it takes for them to call it in.

who cares wrote:

<quoted text>
What were you trying to get a controlled substance filled early? Or did you cuss out the pharmacy staff? I work in a pharmacy and I wish that everyone in their lifetime would have to do it to see the way that people act.

Oh Blow out your Torch! Controlled substance??? are you on crack?

Walgreens messed up my order and it wasn't the first time... I never cussed anyone out. I left my Rx on the counter and just said, Thanks but no thanks. With in 15 mins they had a call from my new pharmacy located in my local friendly neighborhood grocery store. I never implied all pharmacy were a pain in the butt! I had just had it with Walgreens. I'll never go back there... NEVER!

But where's your bad attitude coming from..?
I've worked with the public before, still do in sorts. Why would I have to work at a pharmacy to understand what people are like?
Reading your post and you seem to have a very bad attitude. You need to find another job where you don't have to work with the public.... not everybody is a people person and bad attitudes like yours will only bring out the worst in others.

who cares wrote:

<quoted text>
You can wait for an hour to order a pizza can't you. Call in your prescriptions ahead of time and don't wait until you run out and here's one for you call your own doctor for your own medication and then see how long it takes for them to call it in.

Most of the time they are called in at 8 am before I go to work and you would be shocked at how many times I go to pick them up at 5:30 pm and they are not filled. Pharmacies need to suck it up and do their job. My doctors??? My doctor phoned in a prescription 3 TIMES and the pharmacy kept telling me it wasn't called in. Finally, the pharmacy realized they were placing them under the wrong patient.

Not in OR wrote:

<quoted text>
Let's see, a doctor has 4 years college plus 4 years medical school plus 3-7 years residency training plus medical examiner board testing plus board certification. How is a nurse pracitioner as fully trained as a doctor? If I was truly sick, I would prefer to see a doctor over a NP. One bad doctor doesn't denounce an entire profession.

I am in medical. I'm a licensed nurse and it has not only been 1 bad doctor it's been several. I went 4 years without being diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis and I had my own labs drawn and taken to a NP before I could be seen by a Rhuematologist. Do you know what happens when you don't get the right diagnosis for RA? It's not a pretty picture. The damage continues without proper medication and then you become disabled.

Whatever wrote:

If you have to sit and wait to be seen at these "clinics" near as long as you sit and wait on getting a prescription filled, you will be dead before you're seen anywya.
Pharmacy's are a JOKE!!! You can leave the emergency room with an extremely sick child at 4 in the morning....go straight to the pharmacy and they always say, "It will be a couple of hours before we can get your prescription filled." They need to get off their rear-ends and stay caught up on incoming prescriptions.
The bigger chains are the worst!!!! Walgreens and CVS!!

Um.. You don't have to wait forever, thats why they are normally called Express Health Clinics. And I doubt at 4 in the morning, a Walgreens Pharmacist told you it would be a couple of hours. You should be thankful that a pharmacy is open at that time.

Whatever wrote:

If you have to sit and wait to be seen at these "clinics" near as long as you sit and wait on getting a prescription filled, you will be dead before you're seen anywya.
Pharmacy's are a JOKE!!! You can leave the emergency room with an extremely sick child at 4 in the morning....go straight to the pharmacy and they always say, "It will be a couple of hours before we can get your prescription filled." They need to get off their rear-ends and stay caught up on incoming prescriptions.
The bigger chains are the worst!!!! Walgreens and
CVS!!

I guess you are one of those people who thinks they are the only person in the world and, when shopping, should be treated like a queen/king and you probably get angry when you go to wal-mart on sunday afternoon and have to wait in line but think they should have more cashiers!! You need to get a life and realize there will never be enough people to check you out when you are in a hurry--if they hired more people your costs would go up then you would complain here about that!! Note to all stupid retail shoppers in the world: you gotta wait like the rest of the people!!

these clinics are certainly another way to make money--bottom line here: if they save you some cash, what is the problem. If you think the nurse cannot do what your doctor can do, then go pay your MD and quit whining. The great thing here is that people have options, but they must complain about all of them!!

these are good as people can now get the treatment/meds they need without paying the high prices of their doctors who are making payments on their big houses

Nurse practitioners have their place but a lot of doctors (especially older doctors) feel that they are the dumbing down of medicine. While some of these clinics may be money saving for the consumer, when I go to the doctor's office I pay the same amount whether I see the doctor or the NP. For my money and my health, I want to see the doctor. They have much more training and their training is much more intense.

Some of us have lived long enough to remember when a severe back ache did not have a "rule out aneurysm" x-ray consideration-- when dry skin and hair loss was not evaluated for hypothyroidism-- when bronchitis unresponsive to treatment was not followed up to rule out lung cancer-- the list is endless. We have a variety of levels of treatment available-- unlike the late 1800's when my grandmother traveled with her physician dad to tiny farms in the midwest to treat people, the only medical care available. It amounts to "pay your money and take your choice." I would gladly wait hours or days to maintain and preserve the health of my family. I have worked with internists, pathologists, GP's and specialists for many years, and the public does not realize the preciseness, compassion and thoroughness which go into evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. We are incredibly fortunate today.

In most states they have laws against clinic/pharmacy combos because it creates an extra incentive for the M.D. D.O. P.A. or N.P. to give out un necessary medication. From how this story sounds it could be okay but only time will tell. I don't know if nurse practitioners can prescribe the full spectrem of rx drugs or not does any one out there have an answer. Doc. nurse, or P.A. if they will be able to prescribe then sell you pain medication it is probably going to be a bad thing for tennessee.

www.hulu.com/watch/100279/vangaurd-the-oxycon... .this will better articulate my point.

I like the nurse practitioner as someone to see for acute illnesses that are not life-threatening. I had bronchitis and rather than driving 45 min to see my primary Dr who would make me wait another 30 minutes to get prescriptions, I went to Jeffco. I was there 30 minutes with prescriptions filled and on my way. So, total I sat around other sick people for 10 minutes and I drove 20 minutes to get there. Wow, in just about the time it would have taken me to just drive to Knoxville to see my Dr. the nice lady there helped me out. I think they are great for those small things that do not require much attention. And nurse practioners know more than a physician's assistant does. And unlike my regular Dr. who has so many patients that she runs me through like the office was a cattle shoot and misdiagnoses me causing repeated visits to fix the issue(and more money) the convenience is great!

HARLEYLVR-EVERY1 HAS 1 wrote:

<quoted text>
so... you must be a doctor... right?? my mother had been to a "doctor" but it was a NP that found her breast cancer..

Glad your Mom had good luck....but I didn't. I went to the "top" OBGYN in Jeff City. Called for my yearly check-up and of course the Dr. was too busy to see me...so they scheduled me with their "qualified" Nurse Practitioner. While doing my breast exam she was busy the entire time talking to her assistant about what she did the previous evening. Told me everything was fine which I had expected since I was in great health...just what I wanted to hear. Six short weeks later I found a lump. Went back to her and she told me to let her examine me before I showed her what I felt. She found nothing on her exam. I had to point it out to her and then she was like..."Oh, yea...very noticeable." Of course it WAS cancer. If I would have trusted her and not done my own monthly exams, I would likely be dead now. Doctors want to push us off on their N.P.'s to save theirselves money and it is wrong! Watch out Morristown, she is working in your town now!

Yes, that would have really bothered me, too. I like to jot down only pertinent items to talk to the medical professional about, trying not to forget what is important and thereby eliminating extraneous chit chat which would hinder her/his assessment. Recently have been to dance classes where some folks like to talk instead of concentrating on instruction-- so we have to repeat and repeat a lot! I read someplace to try to repeat a sentence (to yourself) which a newscaster has just spoken, and continue to do that (with the following sentence) to try to develop a habit of concentration. It might keep us younger mentally ! N.S.L.-- hope you are doing okay now. You have given good advice.