THIS. This is the sentence that grinds my gears more than anything in the ER. I have worked in several different emergency rooms and I definitely have seen my fair share of pediatric patients and very sick ones at that. BUT if you bring your kid to the ER and you have left their fever or pain untreated, I may come unhinged. More often than not, I have parents that come in and say the reason they do not medicate is because they feel that the emergency room staff will not believe them. I am so sorry that society has made you feel that way. We are trained to go off of subjective symptoms as well as objective symptoms and do not let anyone tell you different. No matter what your age, if you say that you had a fever preceding coming into the ER, then we do all of the things necessary to rule out why you may have had that fever.
I just cannot stand when I see a little patient in pain or miserable from their fever and the parents say they haven’t treated it because they were waiting on us. More often than not, if you would just treat the fever, then you can save yourself a trip to the ER! Our acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the exact same that you have at home! Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t a “prescription strength” children’s Tylenol or Motrin. It all comes down to proper dosing. Most of the time, parents do not know their child’s weight. So if that is one piece of advice I will give you as a parent, is try to remember that one piece of information or keep up with it so you can properly medicate your kids at home. Many parents do not want to over dose their children (and rightfully so!) so they end up under dosing them which is pretty much the same as not giving any medication at all. Parents come in very frustrated because the medicine will not break the fever but usually it is because of under dosing. If you click this link —> http://stan.store/HollyHollandRN, you will find a free PDF to download of acetaminophen and ibuprofen dosing charts for your little ones! Happy Medicating!!!
A few other reminders about Tylenol and Motrin:
*DO NOT give ibuprofen to children under 6 months of age
*DO NOT give acetaminophen to children under 2 months of age
*Ibuprofen can be given every 6
*Acetaminophen can be given every 4 hours
*Great rule of thumb is to note the time given for the first medication given, then continue to alternate medications every 3 hours. This is ideal for optimal pain and fever control.
*It is SAFE to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen at the same time
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to me!
ALL MY LOVE,
Nurse Holly <3
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