Dear Patient:
We are honored that you chose Urology Group of Athens for your urological care. We would like you to know that we fully integrate nurse practitioner’s or mid-level providers in our office.
Nurse practitioners are providing a crucial solution to the physician shortage that is happening in this country and is only going to get worse. With an increase in our overall population and aging baby boomers, the demand for more physicians is acute. Medical schools are graduating fewer medical doctors than ever before and there is no way to meet the demand. This shortage impacts the specialty groups the most as surgical specialties are on the top tier of the shortage.
There are only so many hours in a week that a physician can see patients in the clinic setting and also be able to fulfill operating room obligations. Therefore comprehensive and quality care of our patients is impossible without our nurse practitioner’s excellent care and attention.
Our nurse practitioners are trained to diagnose and manage urologic conditions, and work as a team to manage patient care, prescribe medications, and set up treatment plans, including surgery or appropriate diagnostic testing. Our nurse practitioners are crucial to the treatment of many of our acute conditions, including stones and urinary tract infections, and are essential to the long-term management of many urological conditions, including cancer care. Therefore you will see our nurse practitioners routinely in your follow up care, pre-operative visits, and post-operative visits. They will also be someone you see if you are in the hospital for our care. We love our nurse practitioners and hope that you will also.
If you have any questions about our nurse practitioners and how they function in our practice do not hesitate to ask.
Dr. Blankenship