RN-MSN – Chief Nursing Officer
Illness and injury are inevitable parts of life.
Whether it’s with intense and excruciating abdominal pain, a fall down a flight of stairs, or a child with a high fever on the weekend, life happens.
These occurrences will happen and when they do, it is important to know where to go – urgent care or the emergency room.
While the answer is not always simple, knowing the difference between these facilities can guide individuals in making the best choice.
One of the main differences between urgent care and emergency rooms is the type of staff that are present at each facility.
Most urgent care facilities are staffed by physician assistants (PAs) and nursing assistants. Most emergency rooms (ER’s) are staffed by emergency room doctors and intensive care unit nurses, as well as imaging experts.
If an individual has suffered a non-life-threatening injury and needs immediate medical attention, an urgent care facility may be the best.
Urgent care facilities provide dedicated care to patients with routine ailments and minor injuries that may include but are not limited to:
Emergency rooms are equipped to treat children and adults for both major and minor medical emergencies such as:
Typically, an emergency room can perform various imaging techniques such as x-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, and laboratory testing.
Insurance companies typically accept visits to both urgent care facilities and emergency rooms; however, it is important to remember that the average cost of an urgent care visit is much less compared to the cost of an emergency room visit.
Generally, the wait times are also shorter at urgent care vs ER, so this is important to consider as well.
Whenever an illness or injury occurs, one needs to decide how serious the issue is and how soon to get medical care at an urgent care facility versus the emergency room.
Keep the following factors to keep in mind when trying to consider the best option:
While urgent care facilities serve as a valid bridge between one’s primary care provider and emergency room services, there are a few differences among nursing practices.
No appointment is needed at an urgent care facility. They’re primarily staffed by family care and emergency room physicians.
However, urgent care facilities do not:
There are typically physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and nursing assistants that work at urgent care centers at both urgent care facilities and emergency rooms.
However, an emergency room is staffed and equipped to perform specialized testing and intense treatments needed for life-threatening situations. This is not the case at an urgent care facility.
The decision of whether to attend urgent care vs ER should be made based on the severity of a patient’s condition, medical issues, if it can wait to be evaluated by a primary care physician, and cost.
A question that should always be considered and asked when deciding between an urgent care vs ER is “Why am I going?” If the answer is: “Because I have life-threatening injuries or symptoms”, the choice should be to go to the emergency room. Otherwise, an urgent care facility should suffice.
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