4 ms·

It's so frustrating. We signed up for a pediatric practice in Atlanta that has 8 doctors. We saw a great doctor on our first visit, then our next visit we didn

by elif 2y ago

It's so frustrating. We signed up for a pediatric practice in Atlanta that has 8 doctors. We saw a great doctor on our first visit, then our next visit we didn't even get to see a doctor, just a nurse practitioner... Kinda annoying I don't want parenting advice from a nurse... So on our way out when scheduling we asked if we could see the same Dr next time. "Oh sorry she only works Tuesdays" "Okay weird but this is 2 months out though so that should be fine" "Actually Tuesday would put you over a week away from when the appointment was requested I can schedule you with ..." 3 visits later and we still haven't seen a doctor once. Not even a 30 second pop in the room to say hi. We've gotten like 20 immunizations from nurses and can't ask doctors about any of it.. Like cool cool all for these peopl advancing their careers without med school but like ... Usually you want your doctor's to have gone through medical school

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> our next visit we didn't even get to see a doctor, just a nurse practitioner... Kinda annoying I don't want parenting advice from a nurse Is your kid sick? If not, you don't need a doctor.
- elif 2y ago
  For a baby you have regularly scheduled appointments through the first year to make sure developmental milestones and for the correct immunization schedule. The amount of bad and actually hazardous parenting advice I've gotten from nurses and PA's is staggering. When we were discharged from the hospital, the pediatric nurse actually told us it was safe to feed him in the car seat on the drive home.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > a baby you have regularly scheduled appointments through the first year to make sure developmental milestones and for the correct immunization schedule Sure. None of this requires a doctor, though. > pediatric nurse actually told us it was safe to feed him in the car seat on the drive home This is bad advice. But I'm failing to find studies that quantify the risk. You're correct that they shouldn't have said this. But I'm not convinced no doctor would advise similarly. If everyone wants their kid to be seen by a doctor, we either need to lower the standards of doctor or normalise perfectly-well kids being seen by NPs. (That or a higher billing code if a patient demands a doctor for routine care.)
    - elif 2y ago
      >Sure. None of this requires a doctor, though. When literally googling your question is more reliable than asking your 'doctor', something is in need of fixing.
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > When literally googling your question is more reliable than asking your 'doctor', something is in need of fixing Google can't administer vaccines. It also can't fill out a chart that might be important in an emergency.
    - elif 2y ago
      By the way I'm curious how long ago you had your children, as I'm finding that advice from previous generation parents does not age well at all.
      - recursive 2y ago
        I find this to be true also. But how can this be? Either feeding a baby in a car is not that big of a deal, or something about the cars or carseats changed? I think it's more like the former. I'm sure you can get all kinds of dated advice from board-certified physicians too.
        genewitch 2y ago
        what does "feed in the car" mean? a bottle or breast-feeding? Obviously the kid should be in a carseat and restrained and protected, so i'm assuming bottle? What reason would you not give a baby a bottle in the car? "no pillows no blankets in the crib" was the newest info when we had our last child. I'm trying to remember other things that were different between the kids, but funny thing about having children is there's amnesia about the whole process.
        recursive 2y ago
        I just assumed bottle. To be totally honest, I'm not even sure why it's a bad idea. I'm just going along. Infant in arms in a moving vehicle is bad because of the lack of restraints. That's all I know.
fma 2y ago
I live in Atlanta and I wonder if it's due to the influx of out of state families moving in. It didn't use to be like this. My child was sick recently and we couldn't get an appointment for a sick visit for several days. This too is an office with a dozen docs/NP. We ended up going to another one of their offices 30 minutes away which had availability (i.e. lower population density?). For the receptionist that said "it would put you a week away"...that's when you should just push back and say that's fine. There are very few appointments that need to be exact. And you know what, if you're not sure and you're there, ask the doctor if it's ok :) Also because I'm trying to spread awareness and you'll likely encounter this: Be aware of "hospital/facility fees". https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/09/patients-charged-hospital-facility-fees https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/09/pati... This happened to us, with a Northside Imaging center in a shopping plaza. A chest x-ray that's normally $50 at a regular center is costing us $500.

by elif 2y ago

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> our next visit we didn't even get to see a doctor, just a nurse practitioner... Kinda annoying I don't want parenting advice from a nurse Is your kid sick? If not, you don't need a doctor.

elif 2y ago
For a baby you have regularly scheduled appointments through the first year to make sure developmental milestones and for the correct immunization schedule. The amount of bad and actually hazardous parenting advice I've gotten from nurses and PA's is staggering. When we were discharged from the hospital, the pediatric nurse actually told us it was safe to feed him in the car seat on the drive home.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > a baby you have regularly scheduled appointments through the first year to make sure developmental milestones and for the correct immunization schedule Sure. None of this requires a doctor, though. > pediatric nurse actually told us it was safe to feed him in the car seat on the drive home This is bad advice. But I'm failing to find studies that quantify the risk. You're correct that they shouldn't have said this. But I'm not convinced no doctor would advise similarly. If everyone wants their kid to be seen by a doctor, we either need to lower the standards of doctor or normalise perfectly-well kids being seen by NPs. (That or a higher billing code if a patient demands a doctor for routine care.)
  - elif 2y ago
    >Sure. None of this requires a doctor, though. When literally googling your question is more reliable than asking your 'doctor', something is in need of fixing.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > When literally googling your question is more reliable than asking your 'doctor', something is in need of fixing Google can't administer vaccines. It also can't fill out a chart that might be important in an emergency.
  - elif 2y ago
    By the way I'm curious how long ago you had your children, as I'm finding that advice from previous generation parents does not age well at all.
    - recursive 2y ago
      I find this to be true also. But how can this be? Either feeding a baby in a car is not that big of a deal, or something about the cars or carseats changed? I think it's more like the former. I'm sure you can get all kinds of dated advice from board-certified physicians too.
      - genewitch 2y ago
        what does "feed in the car" mean? a bottle or breast-feeding? Obviously the kid should be in a carseat and restrained and protected, so i'm assuming bottle? What reason would you not give a baby a bottle in the car? "no pillows no blankets in the crib" was the newest info when we had our last child. I'm trying to remember other things that were different between the kids, but funny thing about having children is there's amnesia about the whole process.
        recursive 2y ago
        I just assumed bottle. To be totally honest, I'm not even sure why it's a bad idea. I'm just going along. Infant in arms in a moving vehicle is bad because of the lack of restraints. That's all I know.

fma 2y ago

I live in Atlanta and I wonder if it's due to the influx of out of state families moving in. It didn't use to be like this. My child was sick recently and we couldn't get an appointment for a sick visit for several days. This too is an office with a dozen docs/NP. We ended up going to another one of their offices 30 minutes away which had availability (i.e. lower population density?). For the receptionist that said "it would put you a week away"...that's when you should just push back and say that's fine. There are very few appointments that need to be exact. And you know what, if you're not sure and you're there, ask the doctor if it's ok :) Also because I'm trying to spread awareness and you'll likely encounter this: Be aware of "hospital/facility fees". https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/09/patients-charged-hospital-facility-fees https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/09/pati... This happened to us, with a Northside Imaging center in a shopping plaza. A chest x-ray that's normally $50 at a regular center is costing us $500.