What is difference between nurse practitioner and doctor

Everybody poops. But does everybody’s poop look more or less the same? What does it mean if your stool looks or smells a little funkier than usual — could it point to an underlying health condition?

We talked to experts about all things poop to help make sense of the different colors, textures and scents you could notice after your next number two.

What’s in a stool?

Your poop can tell you a lot about your overall health, says Dr. David Kim, a Texas-based gastroenterologist.

“Your bowel movements provide direct evidence of how your digestive tract is functioning,” Kim says. “Bowel movements can change from chronic conditions and medications, but can even change as a reflection of stress and mental health.”

If poop talk makes you squeamish, you’re not alone. But try to set aside any embarrassment when you go to the doctor. Medical professionals are used to discussing the details of patients’ bathroom trips.

“The first thing I talk to my patients about is ‘How are your bowel movements?’” says Dr. Alfredo J. Hernandez, a gastroenterologist in Miami. “You’ve just got to be open about it. A lot of patients are scared to talk about stool or their poop.”

What’s normal?

It’s hard to define a “normal” stool, since everyone is different, Kim says. But in general, “the ideal bowel movement should be brown, solid or semi-solid and easy to pass.”

Doctors use the Bristol stool chart to assess stool consistency on a scale from one (hard and pebble-like) to seven (liquid). Ideally, your stool should land around a three or four: sausage-like and smooth or a little cracked on the surface. A lower number is associated with constipation, and a higher number indicates diarrhea.

But the Bristol chart is just one way to evaluate what you see in the toilet.

“You should pay attention in particular to any changes in color, consistency, frequency and smell,” Kim says. “Any of these changes would indicate a change in your health.”

What does a change mean?

If you notice a new hue in the loo, it might be from something you ate. But in some cases, a change can point to a possible illness or health condition.

Here’s a rundown of what different stool characteristics might indicate. When in doubt, reach out to your doctor. A one-off odd stool isn’t usually a cause for concern, but if the change persists for two to three weeks, that’s a problem.

Hard stool

A firm, hard-to-pass stool is a telltale sign of constipation. You might experience constipation if you’re dehydrated or not getting enough fiber.

“This can be helped by increasing fiber and drinking plenty of water,” says Kim.

Other causes of constipation can include irritable bowel syndrome, some medications or certain lifestyle changes, such as aging, traveling or pregnancy.

Loose stool

Loose, watery stools are usually caused by diarrhea, “or when not enough water is absorbed in your colon,” Kim says. “This could be due to infection, inflammation (such as inflammatory bowel disease) or be medication-related.”

Black stool

It might seem alarming, but black stools are often caused by medications like Pepto Bismol or even from eating licorice.

In more severe cases, “tar-like or jet-black stools could be an indicator of bleeding within the GI tract, particularly in the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as the esophagus, stomach and small intestine,” Kim says.

Yellow stool

If you notice your stools are yellow, it could suggest malabsorption — especially if the stool looks greasy or fatty. “These stools tend to float in the toilet bowl and can be seen with diseases related to the pancreas, or with certain infections,” Kim says.

A yellow stool might also suggest celiac disease, which can be triggered by gluten in the diet.

Green stool

Green stools are almost always related to something you ate.

“That’s probably spinach,” Hernandez says. “Or sometimes blue dyes turn out green in the stool.”

Pale stool

If you notice pale, chalky or white stools, especially if you also start losing weight unintentionally, reach out to your doctor right away.

“Pale or chalky, white stools could be an indicator of a blockage in the bile duct,” Kim says. “The pancreas, liver and bile ducts should be investigated.”

Red or orange stool

Think back on your last few meals: If beets were on the menu, there’s a good chance a red stool was caused from food, not blood.

If you’ve been eating a lot of carrots or sweet potatoes and your stool is orange, “there’s probably a lot of beta carotene in it,” Hernandez says.

But if you notice a persistent blood-like hue, reach out to your doctor to rule out other causes.

Pencil-thin stools

An isolated incident of very thin stools is not cause for concern, Kim says. But in some cases, pencil-thin stools could indicate a blockage in the colon.

“If stools are consistently looking thinner or associated with alarm symptoms such as bleeding or weight loss, a colonoscopy should be considered,” Kim says.

Slimy stools

“Most of the time, mucousy stools might just be hemorrhoids or the anal glands creating mucous,” Hernandez says; as hemorrhoids become enlarged, they can produce mucousy discharge.

But if you’re noticing a high volume of mucous in the stool, mention it to your doctor. They may order further testing for inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.

Changes in frequency

You don’t necessarily need to have a bowel movement every day, Hernandez says, although some people do.

“If you’re having an easy bowel movement every other day or every third day, that’s normal,” he says. But any time your frequency decreases (or increases) dramatically without explanation, you should check in with your doctor.

Changes in smell

“Bowel movements should smell bad, but an unbearably bad smell could indicate certain infections such as Clostridium difficile (a bacterial infection) or Giardia lamblia infection (a parasitic infection),” Kim says. If you’re worried, mention it to your doctor.

“Most of the time, it’s nothing,” Hernandez says. “It’s related to what you’re eating and how your body is digesting.”

When to see the doctor

Any time you notice a major change in bowel habits lasting more than a couple of weeks, reach out to your doctor.

“If you were having nice sausage-like stools your whole life, then you started having diarrhea or soft stools or pasty stools, that’s when I start getting concerned,” Hernandez says.

Weight loss is another red flag for gastroenterologists. If you’re having unintentional weight loss, your doctor may order testing such as blood work, stool sample studies or a colonoscopy to rule out pancreatic, colon and liver cancers.

For most poop concerns, you can go to your primary care provider. “A lot of changes in bowel habits occur from medications that doctors give,” Hernandez says.

If your GP can’t get to the root of the issue, they will likely refer you to a gastroenterologist. From there, your provider could end up recommending a colonoscopy — but that’s not the starting point for most patients, Hernandez says.

“We have stool studies that look for inflammation, blood, the function of the pancreas, infection,” he says. “I don’t go to get a colonoscopy first thing. Every patient is different.”

Need an appointment with a gastroenterologist? Find one on Zocdoc.

Is a nurse practitioner as good as seeing a doctor?

Essentially, a nurse practitioner can do everything a doctor can do, although they are not able to perform surgical procedures. Doctors may, on average, complete more specialized training as well, although nurse practitioners complete extensive education and training programs as well.

Is a nurse practitioner higher than a doctor?

In California, most NPs work under the supervision of a cooperating physician to prescribe medication to patients. "We can pretty much do anything that a doctor can do with the exception of performing surgical procedures independently," says Sylvia Estrada, nurse practitioner in the Cedars-Sinai breast cancer program.

Why be a doctor and not a nurse practitioner?

Specialization: Becoming a doctor instead of a nurse also allows for more opportunities in terms of specialization. For example, individuals who want to focus on one area of the body can do so, and they may choose to focus on internal medicine instead of surgery.

Do patients prefer doctors or nurse practitioners?

Patients indicated they are more satisfied with nurse practitioners' care than with doctors', according to a small survey conducted researchers at the University of Michigan.