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WINTER
brings an increase
in childhood
illnesses such as
colds—and an ear-
ache may appear
with your child’s
sore throat or
other symptoms.
How do you
know when an
earache is cause
for concern? Eric Neverman, DO,
a pediatrics and internal medicine
physician with UnityPoint Clinic,
has some basic guidelines for how to
recognize and treat an ear infection.
Symptoms of an ear infection
The most common symptoms
of an ear infection, or acute oti-
tis media, include pain, fever and
sometimes drainage from the ear.
In young children or children who
are too young to let you know what
hurts, you may notice that your child
will hold, tug or rub their ear.
“An examination by a medical pro-
vider will show whether the middle
ear is infected and how severe the in-
fection might be,” says Dr. Neverman.
Treating an ear infection
He says treatment might include
antibiotics, depending on your
child’s age and the severity of the
infection. To help your child remain
comfortable, acetaminophen and
ibuprofen might be recommended,
depending on the age of your child.
Children should not be given aspirin
for pain or fever.
Dr. Neverman says that a condi-
tion called otitis media with effusion
refers to the presence of fluid behind
the eardrum. This condition isn’t as-
sociated with inflammation and thus
doesn’t require antibiotics; however,
fluid buildup may affect your child’s
hearing and eventually affect speech
and language development. If the
fluid behind the eardrum remains
for more than three months or is as-
sociated with frequent ear infections,
your child may need to be evaluated
by an ear, nose and throat specialist
to see if ear tubes are needed.
Reducing ear infection
Dr. Neverman says it’s important
to remember that there are ways to
reduce your child’s risk for develop-
ing ear infections.
1
Keep your child away from sec-
ondhand smoke.
2
Boost your child’s immune system
by exclusively breastfeeding until he
or she is at least 6 months old.
3
Avoid the common cold by mak-
ing sure members of your family
wash their hands frequently.
4
Keep vaccinations up-to-date,
including the annual flu shot and
those that protect children from the
pathogens that cause ear infections.
If you are concerned that your
child may have an ear infection or
problems with his or her speech and
language, or if you want to update im-
munizations, it’s best to contact your
child’s UnityPoint Clinic provider for
an evaluation. If a follow-up with a
specialist is needed, the hospital’s Spe-
cialty Clinic offers an Ear, Nose, and
Throat Clinic each Monday.
We hear and value
your feedback!
For more than 10 years, we have admin-
istered surveys to assess patient care
at Grundy County Memorial Hospital
(GCMH).
A comment on a recent survey said:
“You need shorter surveys!” This feed-
back prompts the following explanation
of how we use your survey responses.
Whether you received care in our
Emergency Department or in our
Inpatient Department for a day or more,
or visited outpatient services such
as therapy, lab, radiology, surgery or
Specialty Clinic, it is likely that you will
receive a survey in the mail.
GCMH uses national
health care consulting firm
Press Ganey to administer
this survey process. Monthly
reports generate a scorecard
of how our patients perceive
our hospital. This data is also
compared to hundreds of hospitals
around the country, and Press Ganey
annually recognizes hospitals who stand
out among their peers.
At GCMH, managers review the
scorecards and written comments. Our
Patient Experience Teammeets monthly
to examine all of the components of
patient experience and may recom-
mend changes to procedures, new
staff education or different methods of
communication.
For example, a recent survey com-
ment stated that presurgery prep
instructions were unclear. This feedback
provided an opportunity for our Surgery
Department to create new patient edu-
cation materials.
Thank you to each of you who takes
time to let us know about the care
you’ve received by completing a survey.
Your voice matters—please keep those
surveys coming!
Jennifer Havens, RN, MHA
CEO
Grundy County Memorial Hospital
E A R A C H E S
Should I be worried?
Eric Neverman, DO
Pediatrics and
Internal Medicine
UnityPoint Clinic,
Grundy Center
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