Rumors and privacy . . . .

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Second day of school and already the frustrating stuff starts.

I got an email from one of the elementary school secretaries (she's great!) who told me a mom called to tell her that two kids who belong to someone else at school have scabies!! :eek: (mock horror). She identified the kids and mom.

My thought was to call that woman (which I did) and tell her if she is concerned she needs to call that mother and ask about it herself. Further, even if I knew, I can't talk to her about any private issues with students as that would be a violation (I didn't go into detail about HIPAA & FERPA). I did give her a general education about scabies though (no big freaking deal) and that calmed her down.

I was in another town 25 miles away and the principal of that elementary school insisted that I drive to her school and pull the girls out of class and check them for scabies. I told her that it takes skin-to-skin contact, that I don't want to reward rumor-mongers, that it sounded like the girls had already been medicated for it per the gossipy lady.

I attempted to get a hold of the mom of these girls but the home phone was disconnected and the cell phone went to voice mail.

So nope - no dice with the principal. I drove back and went to the two classrooms and just asked each girl individually to come outside with me for a sec. Both admitted that they had had scabies but it was last May and they had been medicated. There was NO sign of scabies. I didn't make a big deal out of it but I felt awful.

I did end up talking to mom finally tonight. She told me the whole story, which agreed with the daughter who said this happened last May. She's a bit peeved that someone can call the school and gossip about her girls. She was ok with me checking them but I really think this has more to do with I know her and she trusts me.

What do you guys think? If a parent calls to tattle about a medical condition, do you run and appease this crazy behavior? Or just try to ferret out the truth first?

Thanks!

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

My instinct would be to respond to Mrs. Busybody by letting her know that you (as the school official or nurse) are unable to accept reports of illness or infectious conditions by anyone other than the student, parent/guardian or their healthcare provider.

If she has a genuine concern of an untreated infectious condition, the health department is the place for her to go, as they have the authority to investigate such claims, while we do not. I highly doubt she would bother to give them a call.

Happy Fall!

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

Run as fast and as far as you can from stuff like that. It's a slippery and dangerous slope on which you have no professional defense if you are questioned as to "why" you are asking "XYZ." I think Jolie summed it up nicely.

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Thanks Jolie. I appreciate your words.

This probably boils down to more of an issue between that principal. She and I have had an ongoing "thing" about her telling me how to do my medical job. I was warned about this attitude, in general, when I first became a school nurse. That I would come across it many times and it is one of the more frustrating parts of the job.

I re-read my post this morning and I sound pretty peeved which seems over-the-top for once incident but she's been dogging my heels for 4 years. ;)

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Thanks OldDude - actually I am going to leave at the end of the 5 years they give you to get your School Nurse Credential. That's next November. Or if they find another nurse before then.

Many bureaucratic reasons but also I can't afford to spend $12,000 for a credential. Plus, I'm 57. I like my other job as a hospice nurse.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I was fortunate in that out of 4 schools, I only had one such principal. Probably no coincidence that she was very young & insecure in her own role. I, on the other hand, was much older, ******, and not about to act without scientific rationale or legal backing. (As an aside, I found those standards virtually non-existent in the field of education.)

As luck would have it, there were a number of concerns in that building regarding communicable conditions, including an outbreak of vaccine preventable disease in unvaccinated students, an immune compromised student, and finally, head lice. Each time, I advised the principal based upon health department recommendations, emphasizing that if she followed our plan we would back her 100% & answer parental concerns. If not, she was on her own,

By ghe time the head lice came up, she decided that she knew better than we did, and issued an unnecessary wide spread alert. Bad of me to say, but I took great pleasure in watching her dig her way out of that mess.

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Thanks for the good laugh Jolie - don't even get me started on head lice concerns when I first started. Fortunately, someone just like you was my mentor back then.

Just thinking about some mom in my community calling the school to say MY son had some communicable disease really makes me angry. Fortunately, I think the mom I talked with trusted me and didn't get upset.

The other mom pretty routinely calls to tattle on students. When we let her do this, she wins.

Thanks.

edited to add . . .this principal is in her 40's and been here for awhile. She is just very power-hungry and MUST be made aware of everything that goes on at HER school. She has challenged me many times. . . .I just deleted some stuff I'm going to send you via pm.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Public Health Nurse.

I have had 2 situations where a parent has called to report a student with lice. The students, both times, were friends with their child and the calls happened after sleep overs. I checked both times and they were confirmed cases. I didn't tell the students who referred them to me, I never do even if it's a teacher. One student didn't know what lice was. She thought it was really bad dandruff. The other, I'm really glad I checked that student because it lead to a CPS report and a really great outcome for that student.

I forgot one more, a School Nurse from a nearby school suggested I check a student at my school for lice because their siblings went to her school and they all had it and it was pretty bad. I checked the student and that happened to be the first time I ever saw multiple live lice moving around in there.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

A few years ago I had a parent tell me she couldn't buy lice shampoo because the pharmacist told her it was all sold out to parents of kids at my school. That kinda lit me up and I confronted the pharmacist with the intent of dropping the hammer on her, professionally speaking of course......she completely denied it. Regardless, it kinda fits into this thread of hearsay stuff, it was a reminder to me that if I didn't hear it with my own ears or see it with my own eyes I shouldn't go poking at that bear.

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Really? That happened to me, too! We must work at the same school :sarcastic:

mc3:cat:

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(quote) thanks OldDude - actually I am going to leave at the end of the 5 years they give you to get your School Nurse Credential. That's next November. Or if they find another nurse before then.

Many bureaucratic reasons but also I can't afford to spend $12,000 for a credential. Plus, I'm 57. I like my other job as a hospice nurse. (end quote)

Spidey's Mom, I will miss you in this forum...you always make me chuckle.....will see you in the Hospice Nursing forum!

mc3

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Well, I'm not leaving for a year. :) And I still frequent the ER and L&D threads even though I do don't those jobs anymore. It gets in your blood.

Most of the time I'm simply whining here about that certain principal who tries to tell me to how to do my job anyway . . . . can't believe you'll miss that. :facepalm:

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