Should I complain about the nurse at my doctor's office?
I'm kind of torn here.. not sure what to do...
I'm a medical buff and I am a trained medical transcriptionist plus I've got several medical conditions, so I know a LOT about medication, diseases, etc. etc. My minor was also psychology.
I've been going to a new doctor's office for about 2 years now, and the go-to nurse for all medical questions, medication changes, and even lab results is this one older lady. She can be really nice sometimes but a lot of the time she is very gruff and even gets her information completely wrong.
Here are some examples:
She told me my white blood cell count was high but "that probably means nothing." I was getting tested to see if I had some autoimmune issues so I could get in with a rheumatologist at the time, so a high WBC is one of the KEY things that gets you in.
I have chronic PAIN and the Mobic I am on wasn't completely covering it anymore, so I asked for something more during an appointment and got tried on tramadol (which made me severely nauseated) in an attempt to avoid narcotics. I called to let them know about the nausea and the nurse called me back and said the doctor suggested either amitriptyline or Cymbalta. I then said, "Hmm.. but those are both antidepressants.." because I was trying to avoid AD's as I have been on almost ALL of them when I was misdiagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder for decades only to find out this past year that it was PMDD the entire time. Anyway, she says, "Amitriptyline isn't an antidepressant, but Cymbalta is." Well, amitriptyline is actually one of the oldest AD's on the market. It was released for the first time back in the 1960s or 70s. I didn't know how to respond so I just let it go without saying she was wrong.
Finally, this past week I called back after the amitriptyline didn't work for my pain (but it did WONDERS for my migraine associated vertigo!) but it was actually causing me to be severely depressed. I wanted to try a muscle relaxer instead of pain medication because I just knew narcotics would be my only bet (other than the Cymbalta, which I forgot about until the other day.. lol). I also wanted something else for my vertigo. I told her I was previously on Flexeril (one of the most common muscle relaxers) but it gave me severe reflux, and she said, "There aren't any other muscle relaxers." O.o Um.. I couldn't just go along with her this time so I politely said, "There are others. I can't think of the names but I've seen them online," and she got gruff with me and said she'd call me back. (She later did call back and was REALLY nice and told me what muscle relaxer and migraine prophylactic the doctor recommended.)
Should I say something about her? Other times she has actually forgotten why she called me.. and even said, "I'm old" once... lol. I don't want her to lose her job or anything, but I think she needs to use a little discretion when she talks. Simply not saying anything at all is better than sticking your foot in there.. lol. But it just makes her and the office look bad.. I was thinking about asking the staff if she's okay.. like if she's been working too hard lately or having trouble remembering things. I'm kind of sick of always having to talk to her. It's hard to explain things to her.. I have to say everything slowly and without medical terminology for her to understand.
What would you do?
Yea, I've thought about that too. I don't think she prescribes anything but I don't know for sure either. I don't want it to get back to her in the wrong way or hurt her feelings, ya know?
Quoting AmberMerrell:
I'd say something. Better safe than sorry, & she could seriously hurt somebody if she gave them the wrong medicine.
Report her if you want, then move on to the next nurse to dictate.
WOW... if I ddi that shit I'd be fired.
You need to comlain it sounds like she hsould retire
she seems like that she does not know what shes supposed to know and with that shes not performing a good job. Most people dont know as much as you know and would trust her blindly.
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on Feb. 17, 2012 at 6:30 AM