Nurses’ Perspective

Amherstburg nurses are expecting competitive change due to the opening of a new clinic.

According to Brittany Lewis one of many nurses at the Home Health Care Clinic in Amherstburg, the new clinic being built could be an issue.

“It’s probably going to shut us down 100 per cent,” said Lewis. “Our doctors are on-screen, these are nurse-practitioners in person who can physically touch a patient.”

Lewis said there is a lack of trust between patients and nurses. She added all of their assessments are done in the clinic and patients sometimes get only a couple minutes with the doctor.

“There’s a lot of distrust and a lot of people think if you have WebMD everybody thinks they know more than us,” said Lewis. “They come in and tell us what they want and their diagnosis. No matter what you say or how much schooling you have, you are wrong.”

Maeghan Lugosi, who works with Lewis suggested there are two extremes to both sides.

“There are some people who spend the time, especially if they’re open minded when talking to nurses,” said Lugosi. “Then it’s a whole different story. It can be a great and positive experience because they feel sometimes the doctors don’t have enough time to listen to them, when we are here we do take more time with those patients.”

According to Lugosi, the community is lacking family practice and definitely needs more around the town. She believes it is going to be good for the community because the practitioners can prescribe medications, but suggests prescribing narcotics may be an issue.

“It’s going to suck because they’re going to take our patients away,” said Lugosi. “It doesn’t matter where they put it, people will go to it because they need the help. It’s a lot closer than it is to Windsor, that’s all that matters.”