Parents keep medicating their febrile kids in the morning

turtlesRcool · Feb 28, 2018

The last hospital I worked at actually had a "sick care/day care" program for the employees kids. It was nice - they accepted children up to age 18 - I think they charged $7-8/hour, you could drop your kid off while you worked. Great option for those parents not able to miss anymore work or those that had to come in for a few hours until coverage could be found. They had little cots and secluded areas to keep the kids separated- it was staffed with LVN/RN's and a few nurse techs.

That would be amazeballs!!!! I almost never take sick days for myself. If I call in, you can bet it's because of a sick kid.

And it really sucks to miss work when my kid is not actually sick. Like kid ate too much greasy food at Five Guys the night before, puked overnight, was fine in the morning, but I'm the schmuck who follows the rules and keeps the kid home until vomit-free for 24 hours.

I would much prefer to keep my PTO where it belongs - on the beach!

rn4kiddos · Feb 28, 2018

The parents in my school seem to believe if they give their child tylenol/motirn and their fever goes down - they are no longer sick. I have made so many calls for a child not feeling well who has told me they took red medicine this morning - only to call the parents who say "she was fine when she left for school" and then of course their response is they are over an hour away and can't get to school to pick them up , nope no one else is available either. I have learned to respond " I would hate to have to call an ambulance - see if you can find someone to pick her up" - within minutes someone is their to pick up. works like a charm

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2018

A teacher came in to tell me that two days in a row a child was picked up by mom right after lunch. She asked the child if she knew why her mom was coming to pick her up and the child says "because mom says my fever comes back after lunch!" Yep, mom was medicating her, sending her to school, and picking her up after 4-5 hours. Worst part? Mom is a pediatrician.

tining, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2018

3.this.morning.

done.

Guests · Feb 28, 2018

Sounds like there's a real need for a 'nothing serious but just a little sick' daycare center for kids whose parents can't always take off work easily, e.g. nurses sometimes. You could have separate rooms with comfy recliner cots, tvs, movies, video games, and lots of popsicles and Gatorade and stuff. They can bring their own lunch, blankets, meds, humidifiers, etc. It could be staffed by nurses. You could have strict rules about no high fevers, excessive vomiting, lethargy, no severe illness, just common cold, flu, etc.
'Just a Little Sick Kid' Day Care Center...hmmm.

It already exists and they franchise them. Used to be called Rainbow kids, now leaf spring :

The Get Well Place | LeafSpring School

Would be nice if they had them nationwide but looks like VA, NC, Tx currently

grammy1 · Feb 28, 2018

I have learned to respond " I would hate to have to call an ambulance - see if you can find someone to pick her up" - within minutes someone is their to pick up. works like a charm

I tell our parents that I'll call one of the social workers to see if they can drive LD home, or what their suggestion might be. That usually gets them here quickly. I think they associate SW with CPS.

Dempster · Mar 1, 2018

oh, but i put on my sweetest voice when i give that lecture. If i were in the South i think i'd say "Bless your heart" to punctuate it.

The ultimate "F U" down South. I'm from the Carolinas and that's a devious way to tell people how stupid they are (if not from South). They just think you are a Southern Belle, lol!

I completely get the sending kids to school sick ordeal from both perspectives. My oldest has had to do "credit recovery" for four years to go on to the next grade despite A average in AP and Duel Credit classes. He has problems though and has to see his NP monthly. Sure you get a note, but that doesn't cover the last week of hell or what the side effects of his med change will be this time.

My youngest has GI issues w a history of Pancreatic Insuf. Was treated for Crohn's, but IDK. It could be a bowel tick. Tics and Tourette Syndrome (tics run in the family, but only myself and cousin have Tourette's (not bad at all right now). Between being ashamed and depressed because of his teachers telling him to stop disturbing the class (not as nice as that though), plus his seizure med that zombied him and made us late, he missed school. The youngest with bowel disorder goes to the bathroom 3-5 times on a good day. The most I've counted was 19.

AND- all that doesn't count viruses or strep and what-not. Two kids with straight As and one with all As and 1 B. I'm not taking my kids to the doc office to pick up germs to piggy back their cold. I know what's wrong. It doesn't take a medical professional to know that there is jack for it. I just keep treating them like I was, pay a co-pay, and add up to three boys onto a overbooked provider.

Kids should go to school and not have home school suggested because of chronic, but serious, disorders that more than take up sick days. If they were only running a low-grade late at night and early in the morning, I'm guilty. So guilty. I'm sorry. Sometimes it simply an autoimmune flare with fever. It's like being between a rock and a hard place. It's a public school and getting people to understand the situation is frustrating. All but one (burned out) school nurse understood. "It's the law," they say, even though they are all honor roll, debate club, environmental club, are politically active-seriously, Library Quiz Team, Mock Court, music lessons on good days, Gifted and Talented Academics and the Gifted and Talented Art Program. There is more! It already sounds like I'm bragging about my boys; I am. They aren't perfect, but make the grades, extracurriculars, and community service. A lot of kids need to be at school to keep up, get away from home, and have at least one decent meal, but some kids are outliers. They don't need Credit Recovery, summer school, or arrest threats for their parents. IDK, teachers that don't mock a kid with Tourette's, give kids with known bowel disease (7 formed stools in all of his 12 years), or people that don't force the teen with a severe stammer that developed over 2 days after a mood stabilizer. Either he thought my son was faking it (painfully and embarrassingly) and he wanted to humiliate him, or this science teacher doesn't understand that our most important organ is the one we know the least about. In that case, or even if he was faking (not normal anyways) he wanted to humiliate him by causing even more attention to the palsy-like symptoms and extreme stammer. My son went to school like that so that he wouldn't get into trouble.

Ugh, anyways, God bless their hearts.

Dempster · Mar 1, 2018

Medical professionals are the worst, especially the worst patients. Plus we try not to, but we diagnose our kids and may even write them an antibiotic if needed. The more letters behind your name- the greater the God Complex.

RNpathoteacher · Mar 1, 2018

I hate parents like that! My husband teaches and he hates seeing sick kids being sent to school sick!

Amethya · Mar 1, 2018

I get these and I explain parents that they need to keep them at home, when they are picking them up, in person, in front of the secretary just in case they drop off the kid, and I have to call, and they argue, I wasn't told this! Um... the secretary heard you, plus you on camera.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2018

The ultimate "F U" down South. I'm from the Carolinas and that's a devious way to tell people how stupid they are (if not from South). They just think you are a Southern Belle, lol!
I completely get the sending kids to school sick ordeal from both perspectives. My oldest has had to do "credit recovery" for four years to go on to the next grade despite A average in AP and Duel Credit classes. He has problems though and has to see his NP monthly. Sure you get a note, but that doesn't cover the last week of hell or what the side effects of his med change will be this time.
My youngest has GI issues w a history of Pancreatic Insuf. Was treated for Crohn's, but IDK. It could be a bowel tick. Tics and Tourette Syndrome (tics run in the family, but only myself and cousin have Tourette's (not bad at all right now). Between being ashamed and depressed because of his teachers telling him to stop disturbing the class (not as nice as that though), plus his seizure med that zombied him and made us late, he missed school. The youngest with bowel disorder goes to the bathroom 3-5 times on a good day. The most I've counted was 19.
AND- all that doesn't count viruses or strep and what-not. Two kids with straight As and one with all As and 1 B. I'm not taking my kids to the doc office to pick up germs to piggy back their cold. I know what's wrong. It doesn't take a medical professional to know that there is jack for it. I just keep treating them like I was, pay a co-pay, and add up to three boys onto a overbooked provider.
Kids should go to school and not have home school suggested because of chronic, but serious, disorders that more than take up sick days. If they were only running a low-grade late at night and early in the morning, I'm guilty. So guilty. I'm sorry. Sometimes it simply an autoimmune flare with fever. It's like being between a rock and a hard place. It's a public school and getting people to understand the situation is frustrating. All but one (burned out) school nurse understood. "It's the law," they say, even though they are all honor roll, debate club, environmental club, are politically active-seriously, Library Quiz Team, Mock Court, music lessons on good days, Gifted and Talented Academics and the Gifted and Talented Art Program. There is more! It already sounds like I'm bragging about my boys; I am. They aren't perfect, but make the grades, extracurriculars, and community service. A lot of kids need to be at school to keep up, get away from home, and have at least one decent meal, but some kids are outliers. They don't need Credit Recovery, summer school, or arrest threats for their parents. IDK, teachers that don't mock a kid with Tourette's, give kids with known bowel disease (7 formed stools in all of his 12 years), or people that don't force the teen with a severe stammer that developed over 2 days after a mood stabilizer. Either he thought my son was faking it (painfully and embarrassingly) and he wanted to humiliate him, or this science teacher doesn't understand that our most important organ is the one we know the least about. In that case, or even if he was faking (not normal anyways) he wanted to humiliate him by causing even more attention to the palsy-like symptoms and extreme stammer. My son went to school like that so that he wouldn't get into trouble.
Ugh, anyways, God bless their hearts.

See, in your situation, I would love this info and work with you. I have with many students like your students. I have one student that vomits chronically due to medication. It isn't a virus. The student vomits in my office, rest a bit, goes back to class. If it gets too out of hand, that's when I call home. But I talk with that student's parent regularly. We walk a fine together on whether or not it's a day a student should be in school or not.

And for a case like that, a 504 plan would go a LONG way. A letter from the doctor could be submitted with a plan for the fact that a larger number of absences may occur. In my state in a public school, a student who missed more than 14 school days due to a chronic medical condition can receive 4 hours of free tutoring outside of school, including a proctor to help a student make up missed tests outside of regular class time. It requires one piece of paperwork completed by the student's doctor. I have helped a few students with this. Is this an option with your child's school?

GdBSN, RN · Mar 1, 2018

See, in your situation, I would love this info and work with you. I have with many students like your students. I have one student that vomits chronically due to medication. It isn't a virus. The student vomits in my office, rest a bit, goes back to class. If it gets too out of hand, that's when I call home. But I talk with that student's parent regularly. We walk a fine together on whether or not it's a day a student should be in school or not.
And for a case like that, a 504 plan would go a LONG way. A letter from the doctor could be submitted with a plan for the fact that a larger number of absences may occur. In my state in a public school, a student who missed more than 14 school days due to a chronic medical condition can receive 4 hours of free tutoring outside of school, including a proctor to help a student make up missed tests outside of regular class time. It requires one piece of paperwork completed by the student's doctor. I have helped a few students with this. Is this an option with your child's school?

^^^ This ^^^ Orders can be written by a physician, with the diagnosis and accommodations that can be provided for the student. (ie...does not need to sent home unless fever >xxx, if student experiences x then do y) I have many chronically ill students that have homebound services written into their accommodations for days that they are unable to attend class. These absences are not counted against them as long as they meet with the homebound teacher that day and complete their assignments. For days they are at school and have exacerbations, I am in contact with parents. Most of the time, they need a little rest and feel better to return to class. I do not send students home who are experiencing symptoms RT their chronic condition, unless they are unable to stay in the classroom.

Dempster if these situations are happening to your students, you should document each situation and bring it to the attention of the administration. No student should suffer from bullying and humiliation.