Being a parent involves making lots of choices, including choices about your child’s health. One of the biggest decisions happens when your child is injured or sick: Do they need emergency room care, or is a walk-in clinic a better choice?
Of course, when your child isn’t feeling well, you’re already stressed, and making that type of care decision can be even more taxing. To help you decide which option suits your child’s needs, the team at Nevada Pediatric Specialists has gathered a few helpful tips to guide you.
Walk-in clinics — or urgent care centers — are designed to provide a wide range of treatment options for kids with non-life-threatening medical issues. You can think of a walk-in visit as an on-the-spot sick visit for issues that need prompt treatment, without needing to wait for an appointment.
Emergency rooms are designed to treat life-threatening or very serious medical problems and injuries. The wait time in an emergency room can be a lot longer, and your final bill can be substantially higher. That doesn’t mean you should avoid ERs entirely — there are times when going to the ER is absolutely the right choice.
Every patient and every medical need is different, but there are a few general guidelines that can help you decide between visiting our walk-in clinic for urgent care and visiting the emergency room. In general, our clinic can be an ideal choice for patients with issues such as:
In addition to offering Saturday hours, our practice has an after-hours phone number, which means getting your child the right care at the right time is just a phone call away.
Our clinic features an on-site lab so we can test your child for underlying infections and medical issues. On-site testing enables us to provide your child with care right away, without waiting for lab results to come back from an outside facility. We also have an on-site pharmacy, so you can skip waiting in line at your local drugstore.
Our walk-in clinic is equipped to handle many injuries and illnesses, but it’s not the place to go in emergencies. Head to your nearest ER if your child has issues such as:
You should also head to the emergency room if you have a young infant with a fever of 100.4 degrees F or higher.
Being a parent is filled with joys and challenges. Nevada Pediatric Specialists helps parents make the right decisions to keep their kids healthy as they grow. We’re conveniently located in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada. For all of your child’s health needs, call us, walk into our clinic, or book a visit online.
