Minute clinic = 100 minutes of aggravation

Luke’s eye became red today. It came on all of the sudden. I decided since the doctor’s office is so far away that maybe I could try one of the clinics inside a pharmacy. It seemed like a great idea and a time saver. They are staffed with nurse practitioners and can treat the routine stuff and also 1 mile from my house. It was about 1:30pm and I thought, what a great time to go, I bet no one will be there. The other kids are still in school and the morning rush would be over. I was right; no one was there--including the nurse practitioner. They take a lunch break from 1:30 to 2:30. We went home and regrouped. We headed back at 2:15 and were first in line.
She looked at Luke’s eye and noticed it had a lot of drainage. That seemed to freak her out. She decided the best thing to do was to not treat him but send us to our primary care physician! I realize that many things today are CYA. Believe me, I understand that very well. But really, even my barely used nurse brain can pick out a case of pink eye. So much for a time saver, from now on I’ll stick to the doctor we know. Even if it takes forever to drive there.