A student was sent to me with a pass that said "congestion" The student is a 5th grader that is well known to me. He strolls into the clinic smiling and laughing with another student. First impression, he seems fine with a little nasal congestion, temp 98.1. In my judgement, he was fine and I sent him back to class. Fast Forward two days, a teacher comes to me and said she received an email from this student's mother complaining about me. The email said that if her son asks to go to the nurse again that she needs to be called. She went on to say that apparently that nurse is incompetent and I don't want my child sent to her. This email was sent as a group message to all the child's teachers and the administrators. (not me)
As a school nurse, I have come to expect this behavior from a few parents every year but my problem is that this parent is a school nurse at the school down the street. She is a colleague for the same school district. I have covered her school before as she also covers mine when I'm out.
I just don't get it, why didn't she talk to me about this before she complained to everyone I work with?
She knows this job and knows the district guidelines we use to determine if a parent call is warranted. I treat every student the same. Just because a student's parent works in the school district does not mean I give them special treatment. The more I think about it the more angry I become.
I have mentioned this incident to the nursing director and she told me that this nurse is under a lot of stress right now and to let it go. She also said that if this was a valid complaint against me that she would have been notified about it from the school administrators.
We all have stress in our lives and everyone deals with it differently but I feel this is a personal attack on my nursing skills and judgement. Am I justified in feeling this way? I feel like this is something that I need to address with her on a personal basis. The more I think about it, the madder I become. What do you guys think.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Community Health, School Health.
I would be *******! Seriously. I think the thing that makes it so bad is not only did she throw you under the bus, but she is a colleague so she KNOWS what you deal with on a day to day basis. I absolutely loathe confrontation, but in this case, I would put on my big girl panties and force myself to have a discussion directly with her. Are you comfortable picking up the phone and calling her? And I would ask her if it had been any one of her students at her school with the exact same complaint and issues, what would she have done differently?! Good luck. Sorry you are dealing with this!
I would be curious as to what happened to the child's symptoms that caused the individual to criticize your initial assessment. Did they end up in the hospital with life-threatening pneumonia or something worse? Just being facetious. Something is going on with her that she decided to pounce on you. I agree with the advice to approach her after you have had a chance to cool down a little.
I was kind of hoping that the offensive school nurse was on here and we could have a School Nurses of the Internet show. Not quite Housewives of the Rich Ghettos, but still.
I agree with the first half of your statement, but not the second. This co-worker went nuclear; being super sweet is not the right response. You're only a rug if you let people walk on you...
My thought was being extra nice may make this other nurse feel like she was an absolute ****** for what she did.
Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.
My thought was being extra nice may make this other nurse feel like she was an absolute ****** for what she did.
And that could be a good route, but I would suggest as what everyone else has is go talk to her and see what's up and what can be solved for this situation. If she doesn't respond well, then that's when you can be passive aggressive towards her, but not in an obvious way.
And that could be a good route, but I would suggest as what everyone else has is go talk to her and see what's up and what can be solved for this situation. If she doesn't respond well, then that's when you can be passive aggressive towards her, but not in an obvious way.
I would most definitely talk with her about this! Yanked my chain just reading this! How inappropriate! Sending an email to teachers and administration about your incompetency is not cool at all! But if this woman can be that evil i would not talk to her without your nursing supervisor present or it may become a she said battle. Protect yourself!
Absolutely. Direct and polite are not mutually exclusive.
Better to say "I understand you didn't like how I handled XYZ. Would you tell me more about it?" than to come out of the gates swinging saying "WTH (other nurse)?! Why didn't you just talk to me directly???"
I try incorporate the phrase "I will treat you with respect and I would appreciate the same" when I have these conversations.
Does this other school nurse feel threatened by you for some reason? Are you more experienced? More attractive? I have known nurses who tried to make themselves look better by picking on other nurses. Many times, it seems that jealousy is the motive. I once worked with a very pretty, bubbly RN who obviously felt threatened when a new, younger, very attractive RN was hired to work on the same unit, but a different shift. The new nurse had a history of chemical dependency and having her license suspended. The nurse who had been there longer made sure everyone knew about the new RN's past and made every effort to highlight her mistakes and shortcomings. Jealousy makes women do ugly things. It's possible the other nurse feels threatened by you.
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
When someone throws around a word like "incompetent", IMO it goes beyond just questioning your judgment in this given situation. I would be doing a slow boil in your spot.
Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.
I was kind of hoping that the offensive school nurse was on here and we could have a School Nurses of the Internet show. Not quite Housewives of the Rich Ghettos, but still.
I eagerly await the post that starts with, "My precious son had a 98.1 temperature, which is MUCH HIGHER than his baseline of 97.0, and he was OFFENDED that he didn't get to go home for his sniffles..."
MHDNURSE
701 Posts
I would be *******! Seriously. I think the thing that makes it so bad is not only did she throw you under the bus, but she is a colleague so she KNOWS what you deal with on a day to day basis. I absolutely loathe confrontation, but in this case, I would put on my big girl panties and force myself to have a discussion directly with her. Are you comfortable picking up the phone and calling her? And I would ask her if it had been any one of her students at her school with the exact same complaint and issues, what would she have done differently?! Good luck. Sorry you are dealing with this!