[SchoolNurseBSN]

I am at an urban middle school of 1100 students. I am the only nurse - no assistant. The last two weeks have tried my patience. The parents are so uninvolved - it is scary ! I feel as if what I do is in vain. They want me to act as the primary care physician. This is hard to do when I only have band-aids and a thermometer. This is what I have seen lately:

1. Kid who came to see me on Tuesday for an injury that happened (at home) on Friday - pebble imbedded deeply in hand.

2. Student who came in on Thursday with a badly cut finger (needed stitches). Did he go? Of course not - but the parent sends him to me everday to bandage him up.

3. 12 year old who just had an abortion. I suspect the stepfather of impregnating her - of course mom doesn't feel the same. Let CPS sort it out.

4. Student with a suspicious rash for three weeks who would not go to the Dr. When mom showed up - her rash was worse than his. We have lots of free medical / dental resources - there is really no excuse!

I could go on and on and on. I guess I need someone to tell me I am making a difference. It just feels as if I am walking in quicksand. I can help...but I need the parents to meet me halfway.

[firefightingRN]

Wow - that's a lot of students to manage on your own. We all pray for the day to come when the ratio of 750:1 becomes law. Is your administration supportive of you? If you were to end the community clinic services of treating old injuries and managing issues that are not being appropriately maganed at home would they support you? I tend to play the hard line - so I would have told the parent of the child getting daily dressing changes that i need some sort of physician's order to perform such an intervention. Student with the rash - excluded until medically cleared - no if's and's or but's. And the abortion child - right on the money - CPS (though CPS could probably be called in for any one of these children. )
You are doing a good job. Heck, you have a lot more patience with those parents than I would.

[can.scl.ns]

I hear you! same goes for me here, regarding how we're finding how parents are so uninvolved. Good luck and know that you are making a difference in the lives of these children. They can count on you, perhaps they cannot count on their parents. Thank goodness you're there to help them! Keep up the great job!

[linzz]

SchoolNurseBSN, you are making a difference even though you are not being given much appreciation. Those kids would be lost without you. My children's school does not have a nurse as only some schools here in Ontario, Canada get a nurse and I really wish there was a nurse. I have a child who has asthma and I would feel so much better if there was someone there who know how to handle it until I get there. Rant over.

[bergren]

So glad you are there for the kids. "We have lots of free medical / dental resources - there is really no excuse!"

What are the barriers to those resources? Are they the clinic sites ( short hours, long waits or poor treatment or fear of immigration) or is it the families themselves (no money, three jobs, substance abuse, no transportation, etc)

[glolilly]

I agree, you are making a difference with those children. Unfortunately time constraints have some parents with little time to take off from work or they have transportation problems and so on. I myself dealt with similar situations and felt overwhelmed and alone with these kids. It seemed the parent was far off and not to mention the counselors and community resources. It seemed it wasn't enough of them to help each individual student. And each individual student had multiple problems/issues. I had to tell myself that I could do so much as one person. Some drained me and some I felt too drained to press on further with it. But doing our little share does counts. One plants the seed, one waters, another tends to the plant, another removes the weeds and the life cycle continues past you and I. Its not that you don't care but just as you have an assignment of patients to care for- you try to help them all as you can during your shift and the next shift comes and takes over. So you must let the next shift take over the student and the parent. You must not overstress yourself because you will meet similar students over and over. Let the frustration go and live a healthier life. That was the only way that I survived in the hospital so many years-20.

[TXNurseBSN]

Originally Posted by bergren

So glad you are there for the kids. "We have lots of free medical / dental resources - there is really no excuse!"

What are the barriers to those resources? Are they the clinic sites ( short hours, long waits or poor treatment or fear of immigration) or is it the families themselves (no money, three jobs, substance abuse, no transportation, etc)

Yes - there is some immigration issues there. However, many times I notice these same families driving brand new SUV's, getting their nails done weekly, having i-pods and expensive cell phones. To me it is more about mixed up priorities.