For a parent of a sick child a children’s urgent care can be a big help, especially if you cannot get an appointment with their pediatrician that day. The sick child may need to be seen that day but is not sick enough that a run to the emergency room is necessary. These urgent care facilities for children focuses on the needs of children and are better equipped to deal with the needs of children. They often provide treatment for medical conditions like fevers, eye or ear infections, serious coughs, etc.

An urgent care facility for children is where medical personnel deliver care outside of the emergency room of the hospital. Most times it is on a “first come-first serve” walk-in basis. The hours of an urgent care varies. They can extended hours, regular business hours, and weekend hours. With extended hours this can mean being open until eight or nine in the evening. Most are open on weekends to see children that are not ill enough to go to the emergency room but cannot wait until their pediatrician opens on Monday. If it is late night then you may have no choice but go to the emergency room.

Urgent care for children has a goal, which is to give prompt care illnesses, non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, and acute injuries. Many times the nurses and physicians who work in this type of setting are more comfortable working with children and treating their illnesses and injuries than they are working with adults. When a child is hurt or sick they may be more relaxed and less frightened in the calmer environment of a children’s urgent care than in an emergency room that can be very noisy and crowed. They may also be treated more quickly because in an emergency room they work with the more serious cases first so the wait to be seen can be a long time.

It can be stressful when caring for a child that is injured or ill for a parent especially if they have to wait a long period of time in an emergency room. It can help to comfort the parent knowing that there is an urgent care for children nearby that they can take their child too to be treated by professionals who have experience working with children. Having this experience can help a physician and nurse to know how to talk to a child who is sick or injured and help them relax. This can make the visit less difficult for all involved. If the child is seriously ill or injured you should take them to an emergency room.