I just finished my Wendy's chicken sandwich, baked potato, and frostee....and they were delicious! They've had me on a strictly liquid diet, but I couldn't deal with the liquid hospital food anymore, so I had my mom sneak that stuff into me. Besides, if they are going to release me today, I wasn't going to be comfortable leaving before I knew I could eat real food! So I just ate the most I've eaten in days with only oral pain medicine, and my throat is feeling pretty good, all things considered. I just have to wait and see what the PA has to say once she comes back later this afternoon.
The only thing I have not been thrilled with while I've been here is the huge number of PAs I've seen and very few MDs! Most of them have done a good job consulting with physicians and relaying things back and forth (as they should). However, I had one particularly bad one on admission, who I think completely overstepped her role as a mid-level provider. On admission, she knew my ENT had written me a prescription for antibiotics and high dose steroids, in addition to pain meds and fluid. However, she decided that the steroids might be too much for my immune system and didn't know if I needed the antibiotics or not. Her two years of PA training were apparently equal, in her mind, to the 4 much more rigorous years of medical school, plus years of difficult residency that the MD went through, so she changed the orders. Fortunately, the doctor heard about that early in the morning and changed it back.
I really do like PAs, NPs, and nurses. I realize they play a valuable and important role in health care delivery. Some patients don't need to see a doctor for every little complaint, and doctor's couldn't do their job well if they didn't have some help. However, it's unfortunate when a few of them forget where their role ends and just how much more training the physicians really do have.
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