Maybe.

I had a NP as PCP for a few years. She was book smart with zero common sense. I had an acute infection that she could not figure out and I was trying to get her to investigate what I was eventually diagnosed with. Instead of considering my suggestions, she asked the doc to come in and lecture me about misogyny .

After I got that, I flipped the script and got him to admit he never looked at my chart and he has no idea why I keep coming in, but that nearly weekly visits from a previously healthy person was an “interesting” matter. We had what turned into a good convo and the doc agreed we should look at alternate ways to determine if this infection existed outside of the CDC checkbox method. Right in front of the NP who was smarter and more highly trained than me in medicine. She left pissed off and feeling undermined but she needed an ego check and a lesson on patient care. I was always nice to her and respectful even with our disagreement on my condition.

A week later I was diagnosed and started getting treatment. A week after that I finally got to see a specialist on the matter that I had to wait months to get. So I stopped going to the NP entirely. Once I got better I switched to a different practice.

For sure those with nursing experience can be fantastic allies though. When I had a different issue that involved multiple inpatient visits over time I showered all kinds of love on the nurses. They would always check in on me even if I was not in their charge, they’d give me the nicer rooms, etc. a few times they tracked down absent docs and ride them to do their job. One even took my visiting kid to the caf for a treat when their shift ended so I could take a quick shower.

I thought so too.