The American Journal of Bioethics recently published a survey evaluating the perception of patients towards the care they received in the emergency room, with a special emphasis on the impact physician assistants and nurse practitioners have on the overall quality of care experienced by the patients.
Eighty percent of the patients said that they expect to see a physician, such as a specialist in emergency care like Dr. Josyann Abisaab, when they arrive at the ER. Parents of child patients were even more insistent that their son or daughter be examined by a doctor, even for a relatively minor problem like a sprained ankle.
In the case of non-urgent illnesses or conditions patients had an overwhelming preference for seeing only a resident (60%) over seeing a PA (42%.) The survey also questioned residents’ preferences, which turned out to be not so different from non-medical patients. Residents preferred seeing a resident alone to seeing a PA by 65% to 38%.
Some analysts take issue with the study, saying it is flawed due to the fact that the small number of patients questioned were overwhelmingly urban, English speaking and educated. An additional improvement of the study would be to not only take a larger sample population, but to separate the answers based on age. It is believed that older patients are more inclined to prefer physicians over PAs and NPs, while younger patients are more willing to accept the new emergency room practices, which use NPs and PAs to a much greater extent than in the past.
