Should we go to urgent care or the emergency room?

When your pediatrician's office is closed and your child needs medical treatment, we offer the comfort of walk-in urgent care service with no appointment needed. With a typically lower co-pay than an emergency room, the Nicklaus Children's Urgent Care Centers offer personalized and prompt care for babies, children, teens and young adults under 21 years old provided by board-certified pediatric physicians for minor injuries and illnesses.

If your child's illness or injury is life-threatening, call 911 or proceed to the nearest hospital emergency room. Otherwise, here is a list of some conditions for which you may want to seek treatment in an urgent care setting:

• Minor allergies
• Minor asthma attacks
• Minor burns
• Bruises, cuts, wounds and lacerations (including stitches)
• Colds and coughs
• Minor dog/animal bites
• Earaches and ear infections
• Fever in children older than 2 months
• Flu and sore throat (strep detection by DNA test available)
• Mild stomach pain
• Minor head injuries (without loss of consciousness)
• Mononucleosis (often called “mono”)
• Muscle strain injuries
• Nausea
• Pink eye
• Rash
• Sprains and fractures (splinting)
• Urinary tract infections
• Vomiting, diarrhea and mild dehydration

Urgent Care Locations

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Zero Suicide Initiative

Nicklaus Children's has joined Zero Suicide, a quality improvement initiative that elevates system-wide suicide prevention and care, with the goal of saving lives.

Through a grant provided by the Children's Hospital Association, Nicklaus Children's is implementing Zero Suicide's proven prevention and care practices adapted within a continuous quality improvement model.

Goals include:

• Reducing suicide deaths
• Decreasing hospitalizations
• Enhancing quality and continuity of care
• Improving post-discharge follow-up visit attendance
• Improving screening rates
• Implementing system-wide care pathways
• Reducing inpatient psychiatric hospital readmissions

What Patients and Families Should Know

As part of this initiative, patients ages 8 and above in our Emergency Department, Urgent Care Centers and inpatient units, are being screened for suicidal ideation. Parents and clinicians will be made aware when children report such thought patterns. Additional follow through and recommendations will be made for as appropriate to children's care needs.

If you have concerns that your child may be contemplating suicide, please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.