Have you ever seen a child brought to the Emergency Department for pinkeye? Not only that, but specifically to fulfill the requirement they receive a prescription for antibiotic ointment in order to return to daycare? You would not be alone, my friends.
In this convenience sample of 303 surveyed parents, 26% reported taking their child to an Urgent Care, and 25% reported taking their child to an Emergency Department, rather than primary care, for minor ailments – including pinkeye.
These parents were also asked several questions regarding how they dealt with illness in children outside the home, where they would take the child for care, and what sort of requirements were placed upon them by daycare. Most parents would send their children to daycare with a minor upper respiratory infection, but, fever, ringworm, and gastroenteritis were not accepted. Most parents would either keep the child at home or seek primary care, but at least 10% of those surveyed would utilize some urgent or emergent services. Significant predictors of utilizing emergency services for minor pediatric ailments were requirements for a “return to daycare” note or a parent “work excuse”, African American ethnicity, single/divorced parents, and those with tenuous job situations.
As such, the authors recommend improved guideline adoption by child care facilities to allow improved management of infectious disease – and reduced resource utilization from harried parents.
“Emergency Department and Urgent Care for Children Excluded From Child Care”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24958578