i have a very sick 5 year old kiddo in my office...he's running a temp of 102 and chilling like crazy. i have two numbers on his info sheet...no answer at the home number (left a msg to pls call) and the other has been disconnected...what to do now???
usually in these situations i have more than one working number or they call me back fairly quickly...his bus will leave in just over an hour, i guess i will have to put him on the bus if i haven't heard anything, but he's feeling so crummy. my heart goes out to him! he's attempting to take a nap on the cot right now. i wish someone would hurry and call me back!
Specializes in Med Office, Home Health, School Nurse.
I just went and spoke to his teacher, he isn't here today. I called his home number and I'm pretty sure someone answered and then hung up without saying anything because it disconnected before the answering machine picked up. His teacher said that she has had trouble getting a hold of them before and has requested numbers several times. She said they keep getting disconnected and they never give new numbers.
A fever of 102 with chills for a 5 year old child who clinically feeling very ill. Too scary to put that child on a school bus. That is a situation where I would ask the principal to drive the child home and if no one there, go on to the ER. A 30 minute ride, what if the fever escalates and the child seizes? Not fair to the child, the bus driver and not fair to the other children.
I agree Martha. I would not put such kiddo on the bus. I would get my principal involved at this point. I would also be putting some ice packs on kid to try to bring that fever down!
Every situation and school district is different. In my district, staff members are not allowed to take children home. We do not have an SRO officer to go to the home either. So, I am not sure how this situation would be handled. Guess I need to find out now, just in case I am put in the same situation.
Specializes in Med Office, Home Health, School Nurse.
In our district, we are not allowed to take kids home. The principal wasn't available that afternoon. My ONLY option was to put him on the bus.
I am an LPN, I'm in Tennessee. We are not required to have an RN on duty at the school. Many of our school nurses are RNs, but we have several LPNs as well.
Do you have an RN supervisor or an RN in one of the other schools you can call to help make these decisions? School nursing can be so much harder than acute care, when you are unsure, there is not another nurse at the nurses' station to ask questions or get another opinion. Plus, talk to your principal about who you should have gone to if they were not in the building. There is a chain of command to use in the principal's absence and everyone in the building needs to know what that is. Some principals would have wanted to be called on their cell phone for these kinds of decisions.
Specializes in School Nursing, Ambulatory Care, etc..
Jess,
Sorry for the lateness of my reply, I'm just getting back today.
Anyway, I absolutley would not have put that child on the bus. If there was no answer at home, I would have assumed that there was not a responsible adult at home to care for him. Definately would have involved my chain of command (my boss, principle, etc) and (probably) a visiting teacher would have gone to the house.
With that being said, you did what your district policy said you should do. I'm sure you documented the pone number(s) and time(s) you called as well.
Don't forget to give us an update on the kiddo. Hope you have a fabby week! :)
I have put a student with a low grade fever on the bus before if I could not get ahold of anyone. I send a note detailing the child's symptoms, what I did, and the numbers I called. I also send a new emergency card and state in my note that the parent must complete it with current, working numbers. I do try to get someone to drive by the house before I go this route, and usually someone can go but sometimes they cannot, or no one is home.
If the student was at 102 when he came into my office and was stable at 102 at dismissal time, I may have sent him on the bus, I'm not sure...it is truly a tough call. If the temp had gone down by that time, I would most likely have put him on the bus. If it had gone up even a tiny bit, I would have kept him. We have an organization that will pick up kids who are left at school and keep them until parents are reached. I have never used them but in that case I would have either done that or maybe ER, especially if the fever got very high.
It is a really hard call to make. I think the OP did the best she could in the situation.
A five year old might not be much help, but I have asked other students did they know their neighbors' names or phone numbers, or perhaps one of their parents' friends' names. If they know at least a last name, I can attempt to look it up. I have called these neighbors/friends, and without giving them any information about the child, requested that they check if the parent is home and have them call the school and ask for me. I also have checked to see if the child has siblings within the school system, placed a call to that school and have them check with the sibling to see if they know how to reach the parent. I used to have a car associated with my job, but was not authorized/insured to transport students with it---I used it to get to six different schools. I have left the child under the watch of the principal/administrative assistant, (who would have watched the child had I not been at that school) gone to the home and found the parent there---told them they needed to come get their kid. Frequently the principal, secretary, or classroom teacher knows perhaps where the parent works or who might know where the parent is. I always followed through in writing that we needed current contact numbers for the parents as well as another emergency number in case the parent is unavailable. These were all non-urgent situations, just kids that needed to get home. If the principal is not available, we have a teacher that is in charge of such situations, or an administrator that has been left in charge. Depending on the overall appearance of the child, I would let them know what is going on, of course if it was an emergency, I would just call 911.
LACA, BSN, LPN, RN
371 Posts
I just went and spoke to his teacher, he isn't here today. I called his home number and I'm pretty sure someone answered and then hung up without saying anything because it disconnected before the answering machine picked up. His teacher said that she has had trouble getting a hold of them before and has requested numbers several times. She said they keep getting disconnected and they never give new numbers.