Urgent Message: While children presenting to urgent care centers usually have minor illnesses, attentiveness to vital signs and behavior is crucial to avoid missing rare but serious diagnoses. Diabetic ketoacidosis is the most common initial presentation of type 1 diabetes mellitus in young children. Capillary blood glucose measurement is a universally available screening tool that should be used liberally in ill-appearing children with alterations in level of consciousness. Ramiro Rodriguez, MD; Samantha Reis, MSN, FNP-BC, …
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Altered Mental Status in the Urgent Care Patient
Urgent message: As the population of seniors swells, more cases of senile dementia, delirium, and psychosis are apt to present in urgent care. Here is how to assess and manage altered mental status patients in the urgent care setting. RAUL E. RODON, MD Introduction Evaluating patients presenting with altered mental status in the urgent care setting requires a modified skill set, one that varies from the assessment of patients with a similar profile in a …
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