What do you do?

[OKNurse2be]

I have a question for the mom's out there.... what do you do when you are in nursing school and one of your kids end up sick (Fever + +)? How do you handle it in regards to school. Do you skip class and stay home with the kid? Do you ship em off to babysitter?

I have 3 kids, and so one of my concerns is how to handle it when they get sick because kids DO get sick, and I usually end up sick too with whatever they had. Up until now, all I had to do was email the professor and take the day off to nurse em, but nursing school is more important to me than pre-reqs. They are also stricter than English professors, in general. Another concern is in regards to clinicals, because if my kids get sick and I get sick, then how is that going to affect clinicals because the last thing I want to do is be contagious around people that don't need anything else bogging em down.

My mother takes care of my kids for me when I am in school, but I feel like it's too much to ask her to do EVERYTHING..... I am probably just fretting over nothing, but still......

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

Do your kids do to a daycare provider, or to your mother?

You'll have to evaluate on a case/by/case basis. If it's a lecture class, and I haven't missed too many, and I don't have a test, and I know I can get the notes from another student, then I wouldn't have a problem staying home for one day with my child.

But if it's a clinical, and I know I'm only allowed to miss one for the entire semester (or I fail- rules at my school), or if I have a test, then I would leave the child with my mom until I can get out of class. My mom took care of me plenty of times when I was sick, so I know she could handle taking care of my sick child too.

But if your kids go to a regular daycare, then that's a different story. They likely won't allow your child to stay at daycare if they are throwing up or have a fever.

Do you have a husband or partner who also cares for your kids? On some days, it might make more sense for him/her to take the day off and stay with your children. You might have clinicals scheduled for weekends, so if your significant other works M-F, they will be available to watch the kids while you're at clinical on the weekends.

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

This was a huge concern for me as well especially since my oldest started kindagarten this year. A few things I've done is we all take a multi-vitamin, wash hands a lot, and I do try to avoid places were they are gonna pick stuff up a lot, not always possible but I try. I do not ship off my sick kids, I don't feel thats fair to them or the babysitter or other kids they might be around but mine are watched by a family member but I still don't take them there either. Believe it or not I've missed very little school because of this, I suppose I've been lucky. In a year and half of nursing school I think I've missed 2/3 lectures and no clinicals. As far as me being sick I just chug through that and go. I also have a husband that works odd hours and days so if one of our children are sick and he's home then I will leave them with him of course. My idea as far as clinical cause thats the most thing I wouldn't want to miss would be as a last resort I would possibly have him call of as a worst case. Its always nerve-wracking because what I have found is my kids will always be sick right before a huge exam so I get the pleasure of staying up all night but oh well, my grades don't seem to suffer :) I know many might have differing opinions but to me I am always a mom and wife first and that will always be my very first priority :)

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

We were told from the very beginning there were no absences allowed from clinical and only a couple per year from lecture. To miss otherwise would be to recieve zeros in the grade book and quickly flunk out. You will want to be very well versed in your school's policy on absenteeism. Most are extremely strict, kids or no kids. And missing because you yourself are sick? Don't even think about it. Backwards, but you will still have to show up.

Research friends and family willing to be plan A, B and C in the case of a sick kid. See if there is sick child daycare in your town as well. It is expensive, but will save you undue angst.

Good luck.