When you bring your child to a health care clinic, your youngster sometimes may receive care from a certified family nurse practitioner (CFNP) rather than from a medical doctor. This nurse works under the supervision of a licensed physician; he or she has completed substantial education and training to be qualified to diagnose illness and injuries and to provide treatment. Rest assured that your Family Doctor in Starkville MS wants to be sure your child gets the best care available, and having these nurses on the team can be a significant advantage.
A lower percentage of medical students are choosing to go into family practice in the 21st century, instead deciding to pursue specialties as surgeons, internists or other medical practitioners. This means that without a CFNP or two on a clinic’s staff, that clinic would not be able to accept as many patients, to see them quickly or to spend as much time with each patient.
At Children’s Health Center of Columbus Inc., for example, having CFNPs on the staff allows a larger number of pediatric patients to have regular checkups as well as urgent care appointments when the need arises. These nurses are qualified to diagnose common childhood illnesses such as strep throat and earaches, and to write prescriptions for antibiotics and cough medicine. They can provide a tetanus shot if a child has cut himself with a rusty metal object, and they also provide other immunizations. Thanks to the CFNPs, medical doctors at the clinic can take their time with patients who need the extra attention because of a more serious or complicated problem.
This method of care is a bit different from what you may have been used to when you were a child. Back then, however, general practice doctors were much more common, and your community may not have faced a shortage of these practitioners. The country’s medical care system needed an additional way to provide the generalized care that most patients need; CFNPs help fill the gap. If your Family Doctor in Starkville MS has these nurses on the staff, be glad for the keen insight of this doctor, who understands that the clinic now can provide more thorough and expert care.
