Hey, does anyone else get a little sloppy sometimes re: complaints of frequent flyers? I find myself going on auto-pilot more and more when being faced with my 99th "I feel like I'm gonna throw up." (Conveniently timed for math class of course)
Sometimes I worry about minimizing the complaints of these snowflakes too much and missing the real deal if it ever happens. Worse, I'm worried about the laissez-faire attitude slipping over to the other kids who may not come often but present with similar chief complaints.
Ugh! I've been that way with fractures the past few weeks. Everyone thinks they've broken their arm or their ankle all the time. A 6th grader's ankle popped, you know that cracking/popping noise, as she was walking across campus last week and she need an ice pack. C'mon!
Last week a 5th grader was hit in the arm with a kickball and complaining of arm pain (her only sx being pain, no swelling, brusing, etc) and I sent her to lunch with an ice pack (a kickball, seriously?) but her pain was relentless...it turns out she fractured her radius in 2 places! Thankfully, my gut was telling me something just wasn't right and I called mom to have her checked immediately after lunch. But still...I sent her to lunch with a fracture and I feel like it's because I'm always getting these super dramatic fakers 99% of the time.
My boy who cried wolf was my own son (although yes, we do have a lot here in the clinic). He was the type that would come in from playing basketball in 95* temperatures and say, "I have an awful headache, I think it might be a brain tumor." He complained of arm pain for a few days and I gave him the usual ice it and take some ibuprofen since this was a constant for him. Arms, legs, knuckles, etc., etc. After about 3 days I took him to the doctor and yep, you guessed it, broken arm. No swelling or bruising, full ROM. Sigh.
I have been burned...so I really try to take a deep (REALLY DEEP) breath and act as though I have not seen them once all year. It has saved my bacon more than once!
i do get a kick, though when i make a call home and the topic of visit frequency comes up and i'll say "let's see, he/she's been here 10 times so far this year" and i'll be thinking that's not so bad as i click through their events and see that maybe it was a bandaid here and there and i hear one the other end of the phone "are you kidding me? THAT many times!!" Then that child becomes a non visitor for the rest of their time with you...
Now - on the other hand - it seems that the children that rank in the 30's and 40's in visit counts and use the office as their personal Minute clinic - their parents usually say - oh!, i'll talk to them... but do they ever really? I half think that behavior is encouraged at home
My daughter is a frequent flyer at her school, and I've told her numerous times to stop going to the school nurse for a "magic cup of water or a hug" and the nurse has even admitted to me "well I do coddle them a lot so they like me". Sure enough she came walking home off the bus with a second degree ankle sprain, good and swollen bc she didn't go to the nurse bc she was afraid of getting scolded by me (I'm not a school nurse) and her teacher even told her that for a sprain there's nothing they can do. My husband and I say her down last night and explained the boy who cried wolf bc we told her nobody took her seriously bc she was always in the nurses office.
I have FF students that see me almost every day, sometimes 1-2 times day, which means they have anywhere from 80-110+ visits to me. (Most of these students have involved education plans with built in allowed breaks, and most teachers cannot deny them a trip to nurse legally. Which I get, but...well, that is another thread.) It is so hard to not roll my eyes every time they come in. In fact, I bet I have without even thinking about it.
One day, one special little FF was in my office, babbling about a usual headache, fatigue, stomachache, etc and I was trying to catch up on other paperwork. I'm nodding, sorta listening, then the kid says "and it burns." That was different. Sure enough, more questions and student reported painful urination, no other symptoms. Called Mom, who was very hard to convince. But kid turned out to have a UTI.
Of course, that same kid went back to their usual "insert complaint here" and milked that UTI for all it was worth. But I learned a lesson. Still, we can't all have x-ray vision and I'm not perfect. It is still hard to filter out the real from the imaginary when it is typically imaginary 99.5% of the time.
State test day today, and my student came in the day before too. So I say to her - are you nervous about the test - yes, smile, grin. Well I'll take your temperature and if it is fine - back to the test.
101.5.
On the other side after calling mom to have her picked up, mom calls the office back and asks if she really needs to get her - throws hands in the air, rolls eyes, but my office staff is great and immediately said of course she has to be picked up if the nurse calls.
I have frequent flyer in my office who twisted her ankle so badly she can't walk. Mom has told her to not go into my office for anything. I am having mom pick her up just to cover my own butt!
I have frequent flyer in my office who twisted her ankle so badly she can't walk. Mom has told her to not go into my office for anything. I am having mom pick her up just to cover my own butt!
Back when I worked Peds, one of my coworkers was talking about how her daughter would trot out the Drama Llama whenever she had to eat peas. Crying, gagging, hurling, the full show. Mom, being an experienced Peds nurse just snorted and told the kid to knock it off and eat her peas.
Turns out the kid is violently allergic. To peas. As my coworker said, "Who in the world is allergic to frickin' PEAS??"
To quote Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It's always something." Just when you think you've seen it all, some little booger snot will throw you a curve ball.
I just have to ask... why would you force a kid who so obviously HATES (even if it wasn't an allergy) peas to eat them?? Maybe I'm bias because I HATE peas (the thought makes me want to gag too)..
I guess I am just not in favor of forcing a child to eat any one certain food if the hate it.
NanaPoo
762 Posts
Ugh! I've been that way with fractures the past few weeks. Everyone thinks they've broken their arm or their ankle all the time. A 6th grader's ankle popped, you know that cracking/popping noise, as she was walking across campus last week and she need an ice pack. C'mon!
Last week a 5th grader was hit in the arm with a kickball and complaining of arm pain (her only sx being pain, no swelling, brusing, etc) and I sent her to lunch with an ice pack (a kickball, seriously?) but her pain was relentless...it turns out she fractured her radius in 2 places! Thankfully, my gut was telling me something just wasn't right and I called mom to have her checked immediately after lunch. But still...I sent her to lunch with a fracture and I feel like it's because I'm always getting these super dramatic fakers 99% of the time.
14 more school days...