A Letter to My High School Students

[Avill, BSN, RN]

Dear students,

Please take note that a runny nose and a sore throat will not be enough to get sent home. Tough luck, you are not a baby, you are a young adult, and you will soon find out that as an adult feeling yucky, is just not enough. So please, stop whining, take the cough drop and go back to class.

Secondly, please don't come see me 30-45 minutes before the bell rings, because honestly, you really CAN suck it up.

Oh and I also have a hint for you, if you are absent a lot I am already less tolerant of your sickness, but if I have never seen your face and you have not been absent I will have more compassion.

Thank you and hope to not see you soon.

Sincerely,

Your school nurse

(P.S. Don't try to use a visit to my office as an excuse, because it really doesn't work)

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

but if I have never seen your face and you have not been absent I will have more compassion.

I let a kid go home with an upset stomach last year for this reason alone.

[kidzcare]

I let a kid go home with an upset stomach last year for this reason alone.

Sometimes when student I've never seen before comes in looking miserable, I will call and say pretty much that "Hi, Little Jimmy is in here with a stomach ache and not looking so hot. He is not one to complain, so I know it must be really bothering him... "

[guest83140]

I am seeing double visits in the HS compared to last year. We have half new teachers. 4-5 come back twice through a different period, we have 7. Thank God I don't have C. Drops it would be worse, they have to gargle. Running out of pads already. They're so spoiled, this bunch. I had teachers read similar letter from nurse at start of school, didn't help. I told teachers not to send them within first and last hour of school and they still do. The teachers are so scared.

[Kerber]

I am at middle school I noticed like today there was couple sub teachers in 1 and 2 hour lots of kids were coming in. This is my first year how do you stop all these stomachaces headaches when they don't look distressed or have any other sx ? I had one girl come by saying she has sore legs from running night before. What am I suppose to do with that?? Or kids say they don't eat breakfast and their stomach hurts. I am at a title 1 school where 90% are free lunch.

[DEgalRN]

I am at middle school I noticed like today there was couple sub teachers in 1 and 2 hour lots of kids were coming in. This is my first year how do you stop all these stomachaces headaches when they don't look distressed or have any other sx ? I had one girl come by saying she has sore legs from running night before. What am I suppose to do with that?? Or kids say they don't eat breakfast and their stomach hurts. I am at a title 1 school where 90% are free lunch.

Depending on the actual distress I get from my kids , I'll ask the lunch room for a piece of fruit for the hungry kids (though, if they got to school on time and choose not to eat breakfast, I usually make they wait until lunch to understand that even minor actions have consequences!). They usually have a few left over from the morning. Do you have that option?

[100kids, BSN, RN]

If kids are hungry I feed them. I ask the staff for food donations throughout the year and use them for forgotten snacks, lunch or didn't eat. I know some of these kids don't have a lot of resources at home and if I feed them something they are able to be more productive in class and learn. There are a few kids I take right from the bus and feed almost every day just to give them a good start to the day because I know breakfast is often not offered at home. Are your free lunch students eligible for free breakfast? I know some schools do that. We have no cafeteria food service so it's me or no one so I make it happen if I can. My students are younger so it's less about their choices and more about their parents and home situation.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

If kids are hungry I feed them. I ask the staff for food donations throughout the year and use them for forgotten snacks, lunch or didn't eat. I know some of these kids don't have a lot of resources at home and if I feed them something they are able to be more productive in class and learn. There are a few kids I take right from the bus and feed almost every day just to give them a good start to the day because I know breakfast is often not offered at home. Are your free lunch students eligible for free breakfast? I know some schools do that. We have no cafeteria food service so it's me or no one so I make it happen if I can. My students are younger so it's less about their choices and more about their parents and home situation.

We have free breakfast at my school but many kids just won't eat it. It is usually cereal or a bagel or muffin.

If a kid is more then 15 minutes late, breakfast is put away, so they are hungry. I stock crackers and juice in my office to get them through until lunch if needed. But, kids also know I have it, won't get breakfast just so they can come to my office. (Staff know I stock crackers and juice so when I kid says I didn't breakfast or lunch, they send them straight to me.)

It is a blessing and a curse. Some kids that get lunch here also hate/refuse to eat lunch. We're trying to make options both healthy and stuff kids will eat (have to per state guideliness), but kids still want chicken nuggets or Subway. I've tried some school lunches myself; most are decent, but you can't make a kid eat something they won't eat.

[SnugglePuggle, MSN, RN]

My first year here I stocked my clinic with Nutrigrain bars and granola bars for hungry kids, out of my own pocket. Big mistake. Once word good out I became a regular stop for many students. Now I stock instant flavored oatmeal. It is cheap, relatively healthy and filling. I heat up water with an electric kettle, mix in a Styrofoam cup and send them on their way. Breakfast traffic is greatly reduced.