Totally out of the loop...aargh!

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I am so aggravated! I had 2 students who get daily meds go on an all day field trip today, and I had no idea they were even gone until they did not show up for meds! Both had meds due around noon that did not get given until 2 because of this. I am furious that the teachers did not see fit to let me know, especially when they KNOW these kids get meds everyday. I had to call both parents and explain that the meds were given late because I did not know about the field trip, which makes me look bad, makes the teachers look bad, and makes the school look bad.

I emailed my principal and explained and asked what can we do to keep this from happening again, and his response was "they should have told you". Um, yeah. I know that. They didn't. Again, WHAT CAN WE DO TO KEEP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?????? I asked about reviving the calendar that sits blank in the main office, he said oh, that is all online now. Okkkkkay, that is the first I have heard of it. I asked where can I find it and he was surprised that I did not know????? How on earth would I know this if no one TELLS ME! Aaaaaargh!

June 4th, please hurry. I have tied a knot at the end of my rope and I am holding on for dear life!

[bergren]

What do others do short of sending a mass email out once a week / once a month, "are you planning any field trips?"

[safarirn]

If there really is an active and current online calendar, I would start looking at that frequently. On top of that I would send a friendly reminder to all teachers to notify you by email of any upcoming field trips. I'd send that email out at the beginning of each semester.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I have yet to find anyone who knows anything about this mystery online calendar, lol! None of the teachers or office staff I talked to had any idea what I was talking about!

I will definitely be sending out more frequent reminders. I think I will also check in with my secretary who does the bus scheduling. It is not her responsibility to inform me, it is the teacher's, but she and I have a good relationship so she won't mind me inquiring about any upcoming field trips.

It just gets me that if I failed to inform a teacher of something important, such as a medical diagnosis or restrictions, they would rake me over the coals (with full support from admin, I am sure). But when it is the reverse, the principal just kinda blows it off. "Oh, they should've told you". Grrr.

[missfixit]

Do your teachers have to submit paper work to the office prior to the field trip? At my school, the teachers have to have the principal's signature to approve all field trips. On that form there is a signature line for the nurse. The trip is not suppose to be approved without a nurses signature. I check certain info on the sheet, sign it and turn it into the principal.

When the form is turned in to me, I write the trip on my calendar. Works great!

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

At my school the vice-principal sends out the News of the Week in an email. It has all the field trips and teacher information. So far, our teachers have been great about giving me a heads up before taking off with a busload of kids. I think its something that the admins have to buy into. Most admins have no training in any form of healthcare and they don't get that chronic illnesses come to school with children every day. They're looking at the forest and not seeing the trees. My current admins are the greatest! They are very careful to consider our many kids with various chronic illnesses and special needs. I don't have to remind them. They get it.

ETA: I take no credit, I did not train the admins someone else did. And a darn good job, too!

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I love the idea of the nurse needing to sign off on field trips, but I doubt that would fly over here. We used to have a weekly calendar, but whoever was doing it apparently stopped. It just amazes me at this school that people are not all on the same page with things that impact the kids safety. Yikes!

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I agree with bergen. AT the beginning, middle and end of the year I used to send out emails to inform the health room of upcoming field trips. The day before the field trip I would send the teacher a letter to REMIND them to stop by the health room before they leave to pick up all MEDS, and first aide kits and etc.

This pretty much worked for me.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

Teachers are supposed to supply the nurse with a list of students going on trips at least one month ahead of time here. It usually doesn't happen and at the last minute we're stuck struggling to find a nurse if there are meds that need to be admin'd on the trip. We have been fighting for ages to say "no list to the nurse means no trip" but that goes over like a lead balloon here. We recently started includeing a form in the permission slip/ info packet to return to the nurse if there are any medical issues or meds needed. This is slightly effective, but sometime i swaer these trips are dreamed up over night. And it's still really difficult to be handed the stack of forms 10 minutes before they leave or not at all.

[kidsnurse1969]

I had a similar experience last week. I got a phone call from the county health department asking if any of our kids that were on the field trip to the zoo the day before had any GI symptoms. I said that we didn't have any kids at the zoo yesterday only to find out later that we did. I felt foolish when I had to call the county health department back to let her know the real story.

I have recently sent out an e-mail asking teachers to keep me informed of field trips so that I can arrange meds and provide a first kits. Most of the teachers cooperated.

You would think that the teacher would want the kiddos to get their meds (especially for ADHD). It would make their trip more peaceful.

[SchoolNurseBSN]

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Since when is the health and safety of school children only the nurse's reponsibility? Unfortunately, no matter how many times you try to tell these people, they will not change their ways UNTIL something happens like an interrpted field trip to the emergency room. Duh, the kid has asthma / allergies, it is spring, and he is walking all day being exposed to pollen and animal dander at the zoo. Hmmmmm, if you would have talked to the nurse she could have gave you that handy dandy inhaler and saved you lots of time!

[Keepstanding, ASN, RN]

this is one of my biggest pet peeves. since when is the health and safety of school children only the nurse's reponsibility? unfortunately, no matter how many times you try to tell these people, they will not change their ways until something happens like an interrpted field trip to the emergency room. duh, the kid has asthma / allergies, it is spring, and he is walking all day being exposed to pollen and animal dander at the zoo. hmmmmm, if you would have talked to the nurse she could have gave you that handy dandy inhaler and saved you lots of time!

i couldn't agree with you more ! thank you !

praiser :redbeathe