Getting sick is fact of life. At some point you’ll get a bad cold or break a bone or need stitches or possibly suffer from thousands of other potential ailments. And at some point medical care may be needed.
in such instances most people decide to go see their regular doctor or maybe take a trip to the hospital emergency room. But what happens when you can’t reach your doctor? Or what if the emergency room is too full? Or, maybe you don’t have the funds to pay for high ER fees? Then, what do you do?
Fortunately, there is another excellent option for medical attention: your local urgent care.
Exactly what is urgent care? A urgent care center is a facility that offers medical assistance to patients with non life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Medical urgent cares are the perfect option for people who can’t wait to schedule a regular doctors appointment and do not need/do not want to wait in the emergency room. Research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 48% of adult patients in the ER where only in the ER because their doctor’s office was closed.
Urgent care centers are staffed by medical professionals. Urgent care jobs include doctors, nurses, x-ray technicians, etc. As such, urgent care centers provide many of the same services you would receive in a doctor’s office or emergency room.
Common illnesses and injuries such as allergic reactions, sprained ankles, and cuts can be treated at an urgent care. Four out of five urgent care centers provide on site fracture care. Many urgent cares also provide laboratory services that include x-rays, blood work and CAT scans. Preventative healthcare can be received at urgent cares. Vaccinations,baby check up, physicals and drug screens are commonly administered.
One of the great benefits of urgent cares is the speed in which patients are seen. A survey conducted by The Urgent Care Association of America revealed that 57% of patients have a 15 minute or less wait time. And about 80% of visits last less than an hour. Urgent care hours tend to be much longer than regular doctor offices. The majority of urgent cares (68%) open before 9 AM during the week and 90.6% stay open until 7 PM or later. Most urgent cares also have weekend hours.
If you work, or plan to work, in the medical field, you should definitely look into urgent care jobs. There are opportunities for doctors, nurses, medical technicians, lab workers and many others in urgent care centers. Urgent care jobs often come with flexible hours and great benefits.
The bottom line is urgent cares provide excellent medical care and attentions to those in need. The next time you have a non life-threatening medical issue, contact your local urgent care. Rest assured that you’ll receive fast, thoughtful healthcare. Don’t wait to get your healthcare needs met.