Penn State students now have someone to call for medical advice 24 hours a day.

University Health Services (UHS) is offering an advice nurse who can help students with questions about non-life-threatening symptoms.

The purpose of the advice nurse is to help students determine what kind of care they need; whether they need an immediate or delayed doctor's visit to emergency hospital care, said Ellen Nagy, UHS marketing manager.

In the past, the advice nurse was available to help students only during office hours. At Ritenour Building office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on other weekdays. The office is also open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

"If you call when UHS is closed, you will get a set of options [on the phone], and one of those is to talk to the advice nurse," Nagy said.

Nagy said this new service will fill a void for students. The UHS management team came up with the idea because of student demands for advice after office hours.

Several years ago UHS used to be open all night because it was an infirmary, Nagy said.

Connie Cavalier, UHS nurse manager, said UHS often found students did not know what to do when faced with a medical problem.

"We wanted to save students ER services if they didn't need them," she said.

UHS has been looking into a 24-hour service for a few years, Cavalier said. International students may especially benefit from this service, she added.

"Often [international students] don't know how our healthcare system works," Cavalier said.

The advice nurse can help them know what to do, she said.

Emily Corcoran (freshman-communications) said the new service was a good idea.

"You don't have to call 911 and interrupt them when it isn't an emergency," Corcoran said. "You can get help from someone who knows what they're talking about rather than from word-of-mouth from friends."

Sherri Morisco (freshman-communications) said the service should be helpful for students uncertain of their sickness.

"We don't always know what [the medical problem] is," Morisco said. "A trip to Ritenour is sometimes out of the question because it costs $19 for them just to see you."

Calling an advice nurse can help students determine what to do before they pay, she added.

The advice nurse can be reached at 814-863-4463.