AS
Ashtyn Stewart
Feb 18, 2026
Disclaimer: I have had a few prior visits that were better, a few not great. But this visit was not good. I am pregnant, and I work in healthcare myself, so I figured there might be some “fear” in treating me, but I did not imagine I would be treated so rudely.
Prior to my appointment, I called my OB nurse line to discuss safe treatments for me so I could consider if I even wanted to be seen at an urgent care or not. They gave me safe options for prescriptions/treatment. I have an important certification test in two days that is 3 hours long, so I ultimately decided to be seen at urgent care so I could be operating at my best for this test. The staff that got my vitals and first met with me was kind and professional. The provider however was not very caring and didn’t seem confident. We discussed my symptoms and I declined being swabbed for flu, covid, or strep because it was going on day 4 or 5 of illness so I’m out of antiviral treatment window (I think me having my own opinions/convictions annoyed her), also I doubt I have either one because I only have sinus congestion/drainage and sinus/ear fullness with thick mucous; no fever, sore throat, vomiting, abdominal pain, chills or body aches and I don’t have tonsils and haven’t had strep since I was a teen and had them removed. As a nurse myself (and about to be nurse practitioner), I know my symptoms don’t align! The provider challenged me on it, so I explained my reason for not thinking it was necessary, and she said “okay but,” and made a baby bump motion over her belly with her hand (real professional). She didn’t give me a reason WHY she wanted to swab me, which would be the professional thing to do. The provider then asked what I was wanting and I said I was hoping for a steroid to nip it in the bud, and that my OB had said that was okay. She said she’d need to consult their on call provider. She left. Then before she came back, I heard her outside my room trying to whisper to a coworker but I heard her say “She wants a steroid shot but she’s not gonna get one”. So of course I’m already a little annoyed before she walks back in. She says she’ll send in a z-pack but that’s it. I tried to tell her that I had called and asked my OB who said it was safe, and inquired about how a steroid is given to pregnant moms in preterm labor to help the baby’s lungs so what was the reasoning she didn’t want to give me one, and I didn’t really get a straight answer.
I’m mostly mad because I feared this would happen and they’d be afraid to treat a pregnant woman. On my way out however I asked if I could give her my OB after hours number and we talk with them about it and she told me “no because I have other patients to see”. Which is a dumb response because I’m also a patient…So, I wasted two hours total and was treated rudely and unprofessionally by the provider. It is now the next day and she didn’t even send the z-pack to my pharmacy so I have called my OB again and will be wasting time and money at a different urgent care. She better hope that my illness doesn’t affect my test taking abilities as it cannot be rescheduled!!😡