I like the idea of urgent care as a mid-point between ER and the doctor's office, but there are limits to the staff's diagnostic training and competency. I've had better luck at urgent care clinics with PAs, and will avoid FNPs unless it's something simple.
After digging the hole deeper ("maybe if I had seen you before as a patient, I could see the difference"), the FNP said "let me see what I can do for you" and left. Ten minutes later, she came back in and asked for my name and date of birth. Isn't protocol these days to verify the correct patient *before* you evaluate them? That's the first question you get from every person you get handed off to these days. So on the second trip she confirms the patient's identity, then announces her diagnosis -- dermatitis! Scrip for a topical steroid. Are you kidding me? My nose is going to explode at the tip in a few days, and it's so obviously an infection. After more complaining about coming in with a misconception about a rash, then clinging to that misconception by diagnosing dermatitis, the FNP said that if it didn't clear up in a few days, I was welcome to return to MedExpress or go to my PCP.
Caveat emptor
After nagging from my family, I went to MedExpress in Chelmsford with a red, swollen, and acutely painful (to the touch) tip of my nose on Friday after Thanksgiving. After a 30-minute wait in the exam room, the FNP came in and said "I understand you're here about a rash". Hard to believe that the triage nurse would take my stated symptoms and enter "rash" into my chart, so either the FNP didn't bother reading my chart or she was talking to the wrong patient. Ok, so I start again with the triage and describe the symptoms (which other than the pain are obvious to everyone who looked at me in the past week). She looked inside my nostrils, probed the nose tip a bit, and said "Was your nose red when you came in, because it's not red now. And I'm not seeing the swelling". I looked in the mirror and saw the same swelling and redness that brought me in here. The FNP then asked if I had "before and after pictures". She was actually looking at "after" in the flesh, but this is the first time in my 60+ years as a patient that a health care provider asked this ridiculous question. If you can't accept the patient's view of symptoms, that this is *abnormal* redness and swelling, you shouldn't be in health care.
The FNP said that she would let me talk to her Medical Director. I said no, just give me the paperwork, but was ignored. I said I was done waiting and walked out to get a proper diagnosis -- nasal vestibular furnunculosis, which I am treating topically with mupirocin ointment. This is also commonly called the "Rudolph" symptom, and should have been obvious to anyone who is paying attention to (and accepting at face value) the reported symptoms.
My daughter had an X-ray on her forearm. She was seated and they DID NOT put a full apron on her, just her pelvis. I asked the technician a few times about the procedure and she said they just need to cover the pelvis. I was confused and voiced my concerns BUT really wish I would have demanded a full apron, seriously why not?!!! After speaking to another X-Ray technician from Tufts and learning that my 8 year old daughter SHOULD have had the full apron on to protect her thyroid. We will not be going back. Urgent Care in North Billerica does use a full apron for protection!
Thank Goodness for this place! It makes everything so much easier when you have 2 very active boys. Sore throats, strep throat, ear infection, stomach bug, a cut in the forehead that had to be glued. It's right in the center of town, plenty of parking, have been promptly assisted every single time and nurses are super friendly and talk to the kids and show interest in knowing how they're feeling. Great place for simple emergencies.
Medexpress Urgent Care is a US Hospital based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Medexpress Urgent Care is located at 39 Chelmsford St, Chelmsford, MA 01824, USA.
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