Enough already.... no, really

T-Bird78 · Nov 30, 2012

My son was playing dodgeball at recess and instead of catching the ball square, it hit his pinky. He asked the teacher if he could go to the nurse because it hurt, teacher asked if he could bend it which he could but barely, and teacher said no. When he got home 3 hours later it was purple and swollen 3 times its normal size and zero ROM. He came in the front door complaining of his finger hurting and I looked at it and took him straight to urgent care. It was X-rayed and determined to be dislocated. The doc reset it (not pleasant) and splinted it. I was FURIOUS with the teacher for not allowing him to go. I told him the next time to ask a second time, and if she still says no--go anyway and she can deal with me. Strangely enough, I got a phone call from the teacher that evening letting me know he's doing great in class. I asked her about the incident and she said if he had asked again she would have let him go and they're supposed to be cautious about who gets sent to the nurses office. Is that right? Are teachers being discouraged from allowing kids to see the nurse? Granted, if he had gone to the nurse when it happened, all she could have done is ice it--and call me, if for no other reason than to bring him something for pain or take him to the doc if I deemed necessary. I know teachers do a lot, but I never realized they also had their nursing license and could triage injuries!

SchoolRNAmy · Nov 30, 2012

I would much rather check injuries like that, so that I can call the parents. It's the days that are filled with students who are clearly just trying to get out of class. It's also very trying when my health room is inundated because a teacher just doesn't want to deal with someone or something. *sigh* Just one of those days...

Looking forward to the weekend.... catch up on some rest. :up:

kissafish4 · Nov 30, 2012

When people worry about math, the brain feels the pain

This will explain those math headaches :)

kissafish4 · Nov 30, 2012

My daughter broke her arm in school in second grade. The school nurse actually sent her back to class. My 8 year old self splinted her arm all day and when I picked her up I knew immediately it was broken and took her to the hospital. Sure enough the doctor spent 4 seconds in the room with us and said it was broken even before the xray was completed. We all make mistakes and when it's you child it does tend to grate on you. My daughter is 18 now but even she remembers the agony she was in all day waiting for relief from a broken bone.

mc3, ASN, RN · Dec 1, 2012

Sigh....No, teachers are not diagnosing. They are trying to run a classroom and hear umpteen stories every day about headaches, stomachaches, every part of the body aches. How old is your child? What did the finger look like initially? Was he running around and acting fine afterwards? Why didn't he complain again? Did she not see it was purple and swollen in those three hours? Did you ask her? All sorts of things influence a teacher's decision to send someone to the nurse, and I really doubt she was trying to cause your child undue pain.

I'm not a teacher but I feel bad for them. They do the very best they can. I couldn't do that job for all the tea in China. They are responsible for much, much more that what parents see. I am a school nurse, and I am not defending her decision - at all - but understand there are two sides to every story.

mc3

mustlovepoodles, RN · Dec 2, 2012

Actually, I think calling you was the absolute RIGHT thing to do! Especially when there was a big knot on his head.And most especially because the school secretary likely has no medical expertise! With all the new info about concussions out there, I am very careful about head injuries. My policy is to call parents for any head injury or facial injury that leaves a mark or results in bleeding. I like to give parents to option of coming to school to take a look, if they want to. I'm sure a few parents have thought I was over-reacting, but most of them are grateful for the call. The last thing I want is to have a kid walk through the door at home looking different than he did when he left this morning and the parents have no warning about the injury. That would anger most parents, I believe. I always remember, these are not my kids. What i would do for my own kids might be different, but I have to maintain a stricter standard of care for other people's kids.

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Dec 3, 2012

Sigh....No, teachers are not diagnosing. They are trying to run a classroom and hear umpteen stories every day about headaches, stomachaches, every part of the body aches. How old is your child? What did the finger look like initially? Was he running around and acting fine afterwards? Why didn't he complain again? Did she not see it was purple and swollen in those three hours? Did you ask her? All sorts of things influence a teacher's decision to send someone to the nurse, and I really doubt she was trying to cause your child undue pain.
I'm not a teacher but I feel bad for them. They do the very best they can. I couldn't do that job for all the tea in China. They are responsible for much, much more that what parents see. I am a school nurse, and I am not defending her decision - at all - but understand there are two sides to every story.
mc3

Could not have said it better myself!

brillohead, ADN, RN · Dec 4, 2012

On the other hand, I think the secretary at the school might think I'm nuts. She called one day to tell me my son had fallen and there was a big knot on his head. I was like....okay? do I need to come pick him up? She was like....well, we just like to let people know so they can come check if they want to. I'm like...so...he's awake? His ears aren't bleeding? I ended up going and picking him up even though I knew it wasn't necessary just bc I felt like they thought I was a bad mother or something since I wasn't worried about it! There was a time when I would've taken him to the doctor (and I have) but that was my pre-nursing days.

My kid knows I'm inclined to tell him to "rub some dirt on it" anymore, and that was my attitude BEFORE nursing school! He'll probably have to be comatose before he gets medical treatment by the time I graduate!

mustlovepoodles, RN · Dec 4, 2012

My kid knows I'm inclined to tell him to "rub some dirt on it" anymore, and that was my attitude BEFORE nursing school! He'll probably have to be comatose before he gets medical treatment by the time I graduate!

LOL I'm the same way. I was raised by my mother, a hard working night shift LPN. We understood that we better not wake her up unless it was a *true* emergency. Because if it wasn't their would be serious consequences. I used to tell my kids, when I was working nights, "Don't wake me up unless my hair is on fire or they drop a hydrogen bomb in the backyard."

Seriously, I missed strep throat in one kid for about a week. Another one got a buckle fracture after skating without wrist guards--almost missed that one. Another fractured her kneecap--took me about 4 hours to figure that one out. And the first time my youngest had a seizure I thought he was messing with me and i YELLED AT HIM to knock it off(!) :confused: Yeah. not my finest moments.

brillohead, ADN, RN · Dec 4, 2012

LOL I'm the same way. I was raised by my mother, a hard working night shift LPN. We understood that we better not wake her up unless it was a *true* emergency. Because if it wasn't their would be serious consequences. I used to tell my kids, when I was working nights, "Don't wake me up unless my hair is on fire or they drop a hydrogen bomb in the backyard."
Seriously, I missed strep throat in one kid for about a week. Another one got a buckle fracture after skating without wrist guards--almost missed that one. Another fractured her kneecap--took me about 4 hours to figure that one out. And the first time my youngest had a seizure I thought he was messing with me and i YELLED AT HIM to knock it off(!) Yeah. not my finest moments.

I'm in good company then... took my kid to the pediatrician for this weird rash all over his torso. He had told me ONCE a few days previous that his throat hurt, but it was first thing in the morning and he has a tendency towards spring and fall allergies (mouth breathing / postnasal drip while sleeping), so I told him to drink something and see if it got better. He never said anything else and was eating/drinking/playing just fine, and I didn't think about it again (until we were at the doc's office and the nurse looked at his torso and said, "strep?" and I did that "DOH!" face... felt like the worst mom ever!).

Same scenario another day -- mentioned sore throat in the morning, played all day long, then at 9pm asked if he could sleepover at a friend's house. Asked him if his throat still hurt, he said, "kinda" so I told him to bring me a flashlight. Took one look and said, "OMG! What the ????? Go put some shoes on, we're going to the ER!" (We don't have an urgent care clinic in town, and that boy needed abx STAT... it was all kinds of green and purple and red and oozy gook in there! And no, I did not let him go to the sleepover!)

Then there was the time in kindergarten when a neighbor kid cut my kid's scalp open with a rock, sliced a good flap just above his hairline over his left eye. He probably needed stitches, but I knew they'd do a hack-job on his hair at the ER, and school pictures were that week.... I figure if I got the bleeding to stop and he didn't get an infection, no harm / no foul, right? RIGHT????

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Dec 5, 2012

and I lost the mother of year award when I gave mine son liquid benadryl the 2nd night post op tonsillectomy!!!! oops... :madface:

I thought it was tylenol....bad mommy!