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Attention Women: Do You Know if You Need Medical Care Right Away?
There are times when waiting for care could be detrimental to your health – especially for women. Learn from Nurse Practitioner Sherry Pearson what symptoms require urgent or emergency care, including what to do and where to go after surviving a physical or sexual assault or abuse.
Featured Speaker:
Sherry Pearson, CRNP
Sherry Pearson became a Registered Nurse (RN) in 2007, and immediately went into the world of Women’s Health. Sherry became a nurse to strengthen the emotional, physical, and mental well-being of all women. She wanted to promote success, leadership and autonomy amongst women. Sherry ultimately wanted to make a difference in everyone’s lives that she was able to touch. For 13 years, Sherry worked in the hospital setting in Labor & Delivery, postpartum, high risk women’s health, and women’s surgery. For 4 years, Sherry was a Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) RN in Baltimore, caring for women who were victims of rape and domestic violence. For the last 4 years, Sherry has been an instructor at John Hopkins School of Nursing, teaching maternal/newborn health and interpersonal violence with SAFE. Following her long tenure in Women’s Health, Sherry decided to become a nurse practitioner (NP) and graduated with her NP degree in 2018. She decided to go into Urgent Care to participate more in primary prevention, early detection of illness, and to manage and treat all other acute illnesses for individuals across the lifespan. Sherry is a mother of 2 children - an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl and has been happily married for 11 years. Transcription:
Attention Women: Do You Know if You Need Medical Care Right Away?
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by University of Maryland Urgent Care.
There are times when waiting for care could be detrimental to your health especially for women. So today, we are checking in with nurse practitioner, Sherry Pearson, about what symptoms require urgent or emergency care, including what to do and where to go after surviving a physical or sexual assault or abuse. So Sherry, sometimes there are conditions or signs or symptoms that something is wrong and you should be seen quickly. Now, what would those include for women in particular?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: Some of the conditions or signs and symptoms that warrant a visit sooner rather than later for women include situations such as abnormal vaginal bleeding or moderate abdominal pain, abnormal heavy vaginal discharge. Things like intense lower back pain, any kind of solid lumps that are fixed on the breasts that a woman would discover would need soon evaluation, if a woman is having nipple discharge that's of concern, and this is outside of like breastfeeding and a pregnancy-related situation. There are others I can think of such as postpartum depression, symptoms of a urinary tract infection or mastitis of the breast or abscesses.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, I assume that some of those symptoms would require care in an urgent care or in emergency department. Now, how do you know when you need to go to one of those and which would be best for a situation like that?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So urgent care and the emergency room are slightly different for sure in which situations are better for one rather than the other. Urgent care is a great place to start. It's really good for acute complaints like new-onset complaints. In an urgent care setting, they provide fast assessments. You can usually get in and out within an hour. Evaluation of the patient is done in the urgent care. Treatment plan is established for most of the situations that come in. Urgent care is also great for like early detection of illness if something has just started. Of course, it's better to catch it early than wait a while. Urgent care is also great for referrals. So if something ends up not being very urgent or it involves specialty care, then urgent care can help make an appointment and get you to a specialist to help resolve the situation. That would be like an gynecologist if the patient doesn't have one or maybe a urologist or maybe a gynourologist. So there's different specialties that help assist with women situations. But a lot women health conditions can for sure be treated in urgent care setting. And typically, you, you know, you can be in and out of there quickly. So this makes it very convenient for the patient as well.
And then we have the emergency room situation, which of course is for emergencies, for situations that are generally posing a life threat, and those situations should go to the emergency room first before urgent care. And those kinds of situations would be very heavy, ongoing vaginal bleeding, if the patients says they have postpartum depression with suicidal ideation also, if the patient has mastitis or an abscess, but they also have systemic symptoms like fever, chills, nausea, vomiting. It could be more than just the acute simple situation. It may involve IV fluids or imaging or so, and that's when an emergency room would be better. Other things are like severe abdominal pain.
So situations that may involve imaging or IV medication or a specialist needed immediately, those would be emergency room scenarios. And the great thing is that even if they choose to stop into the urgent care, that's okay also, because we can get them to where they need to go and do our best to stabilize them and get them situated and have them in a safe environment until we can get them to the emergency room. So sometimes people just don't know which way to go first. So it's not a bad thing if they come into the urgent care first, because we can always get them to where they need to go.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, on the other end of the spectrum, what are some symptoms that might pop up but are okay to wait on or just call your doctor and schedule a visit in a couple of weeks?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So of course, there's definitely variables to this scenario, but symptoms that may be okay to wait until an appointment would be a missed menstrual period, so if there's a possibility of pregnancy or their period is usually very regular in cycle and they've missed one, that'd probably be okay to wait. If a patient has a new-onset general appearance change of vaginal discharge for a few days, this may be okay to wait also. If the patient has abdominal cramps, that are, you know, short-lived 15, 20, 30 minutes or so, and they're not used to that, but the pain is resolved with over-the-counter medicine, this is probably something that can wait also.
If a woman is in a postpartum period and has feelings of stress and frustration and feeling overwhelmed, this may be something that can wait as long as, you know, they do not feel like they are harm to themselves or harm others, then it's probably okay to wait. And, if a woman has a change in their urine appearance, like a one time episode, maybe it's darker than usual or so, it's also okay to wait a little bit longer because other natural processes such as diet can change that. Giving that a little bit of time would be okay as well in most scenarios.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, jumping back to the urgent care versus the emergency department, we talked about some of the differences, but are there things that maybe would surprise people that an urgent care could actually take care of?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: Yeah, I think so. There's different things that we see and often a patient comes in and kind of questions whether or not it's okay to be evaluated in the urgent care. And some of those scenarios are an IUD placement, check and evaluation. Some women get nervous that is it out of place, is it still where it's supposed to be? And they'll come in just for a check for that and we're happy to do that.
Not everybody knows that they can have an incision and drainage and resolution of abscesses, which we most certainly do. Sometimes, especially during the pandemic, getting refills when you need them or hard to get in with your regular scheduled GYN or so. So we do refills with birth control. We can surely help with that. If a woman is having issues with depression and anxiety, like new onset, we're happy to initiate medication to help with that. Some people don't realize that they can get a referral and resources. We have lots of those. We're part of the network of University of Maryland, so we're happy to help get them to where they need to go. And if a woman feels unsafe or she's a victim of domestic violence or any kind of intense scenario like that, the urgent care is also a place where it's a safe environment. We can reach out to a crisis center, get help with domestic violence, keep them safe until we find a safe plan for them if they're a victim of assault. So urgent care is also very useful for that.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that leads me into my next question. When it comes to physical or sexual assault or all kinds of forms of abuse, what should a woman do if this happens to her? You mentioned she can go to the urgent care.
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So for women, it's very important that they are seen and evaluated and treated by a healthcare professional, as soon as possible after the incident occurs. The top priority here in these scenarios is that the patient is safe and creating a safe environment for her, and we can help with that. And while within our care, we would also treat any physical problems that may be happening such as like wound care.
Of course, we can create a safe plan, which whatever resources need to happen. The patient may want us to call the police. They may want or need safe housing. All of that, we have resources for to help provide them with, to care for them physically, emotionally, and their housing needs. And most other aspects of a safe plan, we can at least initiate
Caitlin Whyte: Well, Sherry, we covered a lot in a short amount of time, but are there any other takeaways that you would like to leave our audience with?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: For women, you know, their care is definitely at times specialized and their health concerns in an urgent care situation can be treat quickly. And the quicker you have your situation or symptoms evaluated, the more likely you are to have a speedy recovery. And also the game there is to prevent progression of illnesses to a more severe state and a more severe state can result in hospitalization. So the earlier you're evaluated, often the better the outcome. And we know that it can be challenging for women to recognize what's urgent and what's emergent and to be expected, especially if you've never experienced something, before you have a first time ever symptom.
So my advice is that it is better to be evaluated and be told that you're okay than to not be evaluated at all, and then end up in more of a crisis situation. So we would rather you come in and see us than stay home and not, because you're unsure, because reassurement is its own reward if that is all that is given, because that's all that you need. We're always open to women's health and we're all trained and well-equipped for women's health situations, and that's all that I would want to say.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, Sherry, this is such a critical conversation. I'm sure we could talk for hours about it, but that's all the time we have for today. Thank you for joining us and for all the work that you do. This episode is sponsored by University of Maryland Urgent care, offering care for a variety of non-emergency illnesses and injuries. UM Urgent Care focuses on providing a superior patient experience. The caring team at UM Urgent Care ensures that patients receive high quality health care that is convenient and affordable. With multiple locations throughout Maryland, you can find an urgent care center near you or schedule a telemedicine visit today. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. And thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.
Attention Women: Do You Know if You Need Medical Care Right Away?
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by University of Maryland Urgent Care.
There are times when waiting for care could be detrimental to your health especially for women. So today, we are checking in with nurse practitioner, Sherry Pearson, about what symptoms require urgent or emergency care, including what to do and where to go after surviving a physical or sexual assault or abuse. So Sherry, sometimes there are conditions or signs or symptoms that something is wrong and you should be seen quickly. Now, what would those include for women in particular?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: Some of the conditions or signs and symptoms that warrant a visit sooner rather than later for women include situations such as abnormal vaginal bleeding or moderate abdominal pain, abnormal heavy vaginal discharge. Things like intense lower back pain, any kind of solid lumps that are fixed on the breasts that a woman would discover would need soon evaluation, if a woman is having nipple discharge that's of concern, and this is outside of like breastfeeding and a pregnancy-related situation. There are others I can think of such as postpartum depression, symptoms of a urinary tract infection or mastitis of the breast or abscesses.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, I assume that some of those symptoms would require care in an urgent care or in emergency department. Now, how do you know when you need to go to one of those and which would be best for a situation like that?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So urgent care and the emergency room are slightly different for sure in which situations are better for one rather than the other. Urgent care is a great place to start. It's really good for acute complaints like new-onset complaints. In an urgent care setting, they provide fast assessments. You can usually get in and out within an hour. Evaluation of the patient is done in the urgent care. Treatment plan is established for most of the situations that come in. Urgent care is also great for like early detection of illness if something has just started. Of course, it's better to catch it early than wait a while. Urgent care is also great for referrals. So if something ends up not being very urgent or it involves specialty care, then urgent care can help make an appointment and get you to a specialist to help resolve the situation. That would be like an gynecologist if the patient doesn't have one or maybe a urologist or maybe a gynourologist. So there's different specialties that help assist with women situations. But a lot women health conditions can for sure be treated in urgent care setting. And typically, you, you know, you can be in and out of there quickly. So this makes it very convenient for the patient as well.
And then we have the emergency room situation, which of course is for emergencies, for situations that are generally posing a life threat, and those situations should go to the emergency room first before urgent care. And those kinds of situations would be very heavy, ongoing vaginal bleeding, if the patients says they have postpartum depression with suicidal ideation also, if the patient has mastitis or an abscess, but they also have systemic symptoms like fever, chills, nausea, vomiting. It could be more than just the acute simple situation. It may involve IV fluids or imaging or so, and that's when an emergency room would be better. Other things are like severe abdominal pain.
So situations that may involve imaging or IV medication or a specialist needed immediately, those would be emergency room scenarios. And the great thing is that even if they choose to stop into the urgent care, that's okay also, because we can get them to where they need to go and do our best to stabilize them and get them situated and have them in a safe environment until we can get them to the emergency room. So sometimes people just don't know which way to go first. So it's not a bad thing if they come into the urgent care first, because we can always get them to where they need to go.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, on the other end of the spectrum, what are some symptoms that might pop up but are okay to wait on or just call your doctor and schedule a visit in a couple of weeks?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So of course, there's definitely variables to this scenario, but symptoms that may be okay to wait until an appointment would be a missed menstrual period, so if there's a possibility of pregnancy or their period is usually very regular in cycle and they've missed one, that'd probably be okay to wait. If a patient has a new-onset general appearance change of vaginal discharge for a few days, this may be okay to wait also. If the patient has abdominal cramps, that are, you know, short-lived 15, 20, 30 minutes or so, and they're not used to that, but the pain is resolved with over-the-counter medicine, this is probably something that can wait also.
If a woman is in a postpartum period and has feelings of stress and frustration and feeling overwhelmed, this may be something that can wait as long as, you know, they do not feel like they are harm to themselves or harm others, then it's probably okay to wait. And, if a woman has a change in their urine appearance, like a one time episode, maybe it's darker than usual or so, it's also okay to wait a little bit longer because other natural processes such as diet can change that. Giving that a little bit of time would be okay as well in most scenarios.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, jumping back to the urgent care versus the emergency department, we talked about some of the differences, but are there things that maybe would surprise people that an urgent care could actually take care of?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: Yeah, I think so. There's different things that we see and often a patient comes in and kind of questions whether or not it's okay to be evaluated in the urgent care. And some of those scenarios are an IUD placement, check and evaluation. Some women get nervous that is it out of place, is it still where it's supposed to be? And they'll come in just for a check for that and we're happy to do that.
Not everybody knows that they can have an incision and drainage and resolution of abscesses, which we most certainly do. Sometimes, especially during the pandemic, getting refills when you need them or hard to get in with your regular scheduled GYN or so. So we do refills with birth control. We can surely help with that. If a woman is having issues with depression and anxiety, like new onset, we're happy to initiate medication to help with that. Some people don't realize that they can get a referral and resources. We have lots of those. We're part of the network of University of Maryland, so we're happy to help get them to where they need to go. And if a woman feels unsafe or she's a victim of domestic violence or any kind of intense scenario like that, the urgent care is also a place where it's a safe environment. We can reach out to a crisis center, get help with domestic violence, keep them safe until we find a safe plan for them if they're a victim of assault. So urgent care is also very useful for that.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that leads me into my next question. When it comes to physical or sexual assault or all kinds of forms of abuse, what should a woman do if this happens to her? You mentioned she can go to the urgent care.
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: So for women, it's very important that they are seen and evaluated and treated by a healthcare professional, as soon as possible after the incident occurs. The top priority here in these scenarios is that the patient is safe and creating a safe environment for her, and we can help with that. And while within our care, we would also treat any physical problems that may be happening such as like wound care.
Of course, we can create a safe plan, which whatever resources need to happen. The patient may want us to call the police. They may want or need safe housing. All of that, we have resources for to help provide them with, to care for them physically, emotionally, and their housing needs. And most other aspects of a safe plan, we can at least initiate
Caitlin Whyte: Well, Sherry, we covered a lot in a short amount of time, but are there any other takeaways that you would like to leave our audience with?
Sherry Pearson, CRNP: For women, you know, their care is definitely at times specialized and their health concerns in an urgent care situation can be treat quickly. And the quicker you have your situation or symptoms evaluated, the more likely you are to have a speedy recovery. And also the game there is to prevent progression of illnesses to a more severe state and a more severe state can result in hospitalization. So the earlier you're evaluated, often the better the outcome. And we know that it can be challenging for women to recognize what's urgent and what's emergent and to be expected, especially if you've never experienced something, before you have a first time ever symptom.
So my advice is that it is better to be evaluated and be told that you're okay than to not be evaluated at all, and then end up in more of a crisis situation. So we would rather you come in and see us than stay home and not, because you're unsure, because reassurement is its own reward if that is all that is given, because that's all that you need. We're always open to women's health and we're all trained and well-equipped for women's health situations, and that's all that I would want to say.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, Sherry, this is such a critical conversation. I'm sure we could talk for hours about it, but that's all the time we have for today. Thank you for joining us and for all the work that you do. This episode is sponsored by University of Maryland Urgent care, offering care for a variety of non-emergency illnesses and injuries. UM Urgent Care focuses on providing a superior patient experience. The caring team at UM Urgent Care ensures that patients receive high quality health care that is convenient and affordable. With multiple locations throughout Maryland, you can find an urgent care center near you or schedule a telemedicine visit today. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. And thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.