Opportunity Lost
The article starts out promising good PR for nurse practitioners: "Peggy O'Donnell, a Lynbrook nurse practitioner, knows a thing or two about picking a good primary care physician."
This is O'Donnell's opportunity to explain that an NP often can be your primary care provider — and even better, that there are studies that show that NP care is as good as physician care. The article "Choosing a Primary Care Physician," published April 29 on Newsday.com (Long Island and New York City), gives the four opening paragraphs to O'Donnell.
Instead, the article attributes this information to her: "A good primary care physician — who could be a family practitioner, an internist, a specialist in adolescent or geriatric medicine or an obstetrician-gynecologist — communicates well with patients, says O'Donnell, who is also president of the Long Island chapter of the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State."
To be fair, the article content isn't O'Donnell's fault. It's possible that she mentioned or even emphasized the opportunity for patients to develop a primary care relationship with an NP. Sometimes mainstream press reporters just don't get it.
That means that it's up to you to educate them. With all the press about retail health clinics — "They're staffed by NPs, but be sure you have a primary care physician!" — do patients understand that they can see an NP as their primary care provider?
This is what the article does say about nurse practitioners, which is something, I guess: "O'Donnell works for a doctor affiliated with South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside. She cares for more than 100 patients a week, doing work once reserved for doctors — prescribing medicine, diagnosing illnesses and administering physicals."
Two of O'Donnell's patients posted
nice comments. Here's one:
I am a patient of Peggys, and I can tell you this, I MUCH rather be seen by her then seen by a doctor. I ALWAYS go to her first. She really takes the time to listen to her patients, and talk to them, rather then just ask 'what medicine do you need' and get pushed out the door. A physical exam with her lasts 30 minutes sometimes! Nurse practicioners are definetly MUCH better IMO.