Can I vent a little?

[Avill, BSN, RN]

Hey all! I hope the beginning of the school year is as smooth as possible for all of you! This is the first full week of school and I already need to vent.

So, I'm a HS nurse and I don't know the freshman coming in or most of the kids unless they take meds from me or need a direct nursing service.

Today I got called in because a student felt dizzy and couldn't walk, per student (then his mom confirmed) he had a major head/brain injury a year ago. So the mom is worried and kind of defensive when she got to the school.

I do a neuro assessment and she does one. Well they are different. ugh. I feel like a failure and it's only been 5 days! I sometimes feel like I'm loosing my skills as a school nurse, so ugh. But I have a 5 month old at home and well, this job is nice with a little one.

Anyway, she checked his pupils and mentioned his pupils are not equal, which I did not notice guys!! It was so very slight, they were both reactive and that is why I noticed.

Parent left on a good note but I feel like I want to crawl under a rock....just a little one because I'll get over it. lol.

Bleh.

[OldDude]

Forget about it!! You're only getting the part of the story she wants you to have. Have the kid's pupils always been exactly the same? Has anyone even compared his pupil size prior to some bump on the head?? My #2 son's pupils are so mis-matched you can see it from 3 feet away without a light; always have been. He's 20 years old. You contacted her and she came to school and she will take him to the doctor or not...probably not. Move on.

[kummerspeck]

Do not sweat this. Parents have a real forgetful streak when it comes to letting school nurses know if their child had an injury outside the school setting. I've had several say on the phone with me "Oh, well, he got a concussion a few weeks ago" and none of this was reported to the school nurse. You work with what you have.

[KKEGS, MSN, RN]

I agree with Old Dude. My daughter also has different sized pupils. You did just fine, I'm sure. You got this! Don't sell yourself short!

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Do not sweat this. Parents have a real forgetful streak when it comes to letting school nurses know if their child had an injury outside the school setting. I've had several say on the phone with me "Oh, well, he got a concussion a few weeks ago" and none of this was reported to the school nurse. You work with what you have.

...until something goes South, and then you're magically supposed to have known about what problem they didn't see fit to tell you about.

[Avill, BSN, RN]

Thanks guys!!