Taking care of your children is one of your top priorities. So when health issues come up suddenly, it can be frustrating waiting several hours – or days – before being able to see your child’s doctor.
Thankfully, there is another way you can get quality pediatric care without having to wait: pediatric urgent care.
Let’s take a look at what pediatricians and pediatric urgent care do, and when it’s a good idea to visit a pediatric urgent care center.
What Is a Pediatrician?
Pediatricians are doctors for infants, children, and adolescents. Anyone under the age of 18 should be seen by a pediatrician. They are similar to primary care physicians in that they take care of routine health problems, checkups, and immunizations.
Similar to other medical specializations, pediatrics is a distinct branch of specialized medicine. While primary care physicians (also called general practitioners) take care of many different kinds of health conditions, they are not specialists in children’s medicine. Pediatricians specialize in taking care of a variety of health issues specifically in children.
What Is Pediatric Urgent Care?
Urgent care centers handle acute and minor injuries and conditions. Pediatric urgent care facilities specialize in treating these issues for children by having pediatric specialists on their medical teams.
This allows young patients to be examined and treated by specialists who have the medical expertise to diagnose, treat, and prevent conditions specific to children.
Pediatric urgent care lets parents get their child’s health conditions checked out quickly, because most urgent care centers are open for significantly longer hours than typical pediatrician clinics. Additionally, most urgent care centers have a walk-in policy – eliminating the hassle of requiring an appointment.
Sometimes children get sick during the night, and your pediatrician’s office may not have any appointments available the next day. Many pediatric urgent care centers are open until 8 pm daily and are also open on weekends, allowing you to visit them whenever necessary without having to juggle work schedules or wait several hours or days before seeing a doctor.
When Do I Need Pediatric Urgent Care?
You will need a pediatric urgent care clinic when something comes up that isn’t a life-threatening situation but needs care very soon.
Let’s say your child needs to get immunizations before starting the school year. Or perhaps your child needs a routine checkup to make sure they’re healthy. You are probably safe going to your child’s pediatrician to get things like these taken care of.
Pediatric urgent care is for more serious issues that need immediate treatment and cannot wait for an appointment days later.
A good way to determine which one to visit is if your child experiences symptoms that prevent them from going to school or taking part in regular activities, and you cannot get an appointment with a pediatrician. In this case, it’s a good call to go to a pediatric urgent care center.
Here are some examples of when your child may need pediatric urgent care services:
- Fevers
- Tonsillitis
- Allergies
- Flu
- Pink eye
- Strep throat
- Rashes
- Stomach flu
- Diarrhea
- Fractures
- Sprains or strains
Urgent Care Center in Fairless Hills, PA
Patient Care Now Urgent Care is a trustworthy and experienced urgent care center. They specialize in treating patients of all ages, including children.
If your child needs medical care soon, Patient Care Now Urgent Care has pediatricians available to care for your child, as well as adult care and orthopedic specialists for musculoskeletal conditions.
Call us at (267) 202-6433 today for more information. You can also check in online right now to save time once you’ve arrived. You can trust us to take care of you and your child when you need a doctor sooner rather than later.
