Dealing with parents with attitudes when it comes to policy

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Specializes in School Nurse.

This has been a rough week for me dealing with parents who cop an attitude....

My school has a 3 night school trip coming up with 100 students participating. This means that I have to obtain Medication Permits for all daily medications that students take at home in addition to the medications that the parents wants the student to have available to them "just in case", such as ibuprofen. I sent letters home 1 month in advance and set a deadline for turning in Permits and medications, 1 week in advance. Here we are 2 days away from the trip and I am still getting Permits. Generally not a problem except when the physician fills the Permit out incorrectly and I cannot except it. I got a Permit today with 6 medications listed (I made it very clear - One permit per med) , no dosage or frequency. I got another one that simply said "Allergy Pill". Really!?! I explain the the parent that the forms must be filled out correctly, as there can be no gray zone when administering medications. And I get "but it is just for yadda, yadda, yadda and it's over-the-counter". I has a parent stare me down when I explain that Suzie-Q cannot keep her Adderall in her purse. Hum.....

I also have Permits with no meds - Some parents just want to drop them off at 9pm Friday night when the bus leaves. Unacceptable. As the school nurse I need to approve all medications to be administered, sort medications by bus, compile Medication Logs, etc. This takes some time people!!!

Do you all have similar parental resistance when trying to enforce School Medication Laws and Policies? How you you deal?

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Whoa. I'm a new school nurse and I have a 3 day trip coming up the end of January.

I'd better get in gear!

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Specializes in hospice.

Disqualify them from the field trip then. When it hurts, they'll pay attention. Sucks for the kids, but unfortunately kids get screwed by their parents all the time.

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Specializes in School nursing.

Ugh. Yes. To try and avoid this this year, I sent home a field trip medication form with my start-of-school paperwork to cover general field trips for the school year. No sure if it helped.

For me - no form, no med. Doesn't mean student can't go on the trip if they have turned in all other forms, it just means no meds, especially given I am delegating medication administration to a specific teacher on the trip to begin with.

(And we do not do PRN OTC med - like ibuprofen, acetaminophen - on school trips. I do not expect teachers to dose that. Only prescribed daily medication; daily allergy OTC okay with doctor's sign-off.)

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

We have an overnight trip and during the parent meeting and written clearly on all the paperwork, we have a hard deadline for the medical paperwork and for all the medications to be dropped off. There are no exceptions. Then on the morning of the trip, the students are all ushered into the cafeteria to have all of their bags searched. (not just for medications, but for other things they are not allowed to bring on the trip).

If a parent does not get the medication in on time, then the medication does not go. I have made special exceptions for parents that have had exceptional circumstances, but they have been very rare (like a child being put on antibiotics days before the trip and this medication missing the hard deadline or a parent that was trying to get a refill of a medication and the pharmacy was out until after my deadline - these things are out of the parents control, so i feel like i should be lenient.) But if it's a matter of a child that may not get an advil that they probably won't need anyhow, then too bad.

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We also have an overnight trip for 5th graders - usually the 3rd week in October. We hold a parent meeting at the beginning of September. During that meeting all the camp details are reviewed including medication administration policy - I attend the meeting in case of questions. The parents are sent an email on the power point to review, given hard paper copies and a note sent home a couple of weeks before the event - all of these forms of communication clearly state the medication policy, what we can give and what we can not give. Even with all of this info being sent out I still get the "it's over the counter, I don't need a prescription" or "my kid takes this every day, why do I need a prescription" etc etc.

During medication/luggage drop off (night before we leave) I have a laminated copy of the medication policy at my table and if I get medication without the proper documentation I just point to the policy and say I am sorry. My principal is there with us during drop off so if I get a parent that wants to argue about it I just pull him into the conversation.

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With any policy that a parent argues with me, I make sure I can show them someting in writing and say firml "I understand your frustration. However, I can lose my job and nursing license if I do not enforce this policy. These policies are set forth for the safety of your child as well as others." Most parents are usually pretty understanding after that.

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Specializes in School Nurse.
With any policy that a parent argues with me, I make sure I can show them someting in writing and say firml "I understand your frustration. However, I can lose my job and nursing license if I do not enforce this policy. These policies are set forth for the safety of your child as well as others." Most parents are usually pretty understanding after that.

Great wordage! I think next year I will include the policy along with the Med Permit and instructions!

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I will not accept any med the day of the trip, I will not accept any med without the proper paperwork, and I make it clear..I will call you to make the trip 2 -3 hrs away if in case your child gets sick, needs a med (RX or PRN)...and that is it. It took me about two years of chasing parents, calling pharmacies to fill, calling md's to get orders and then suddenly it dawned on me.......I DIDNT GIVE BIRTH TO ALL THESE KIDS..THEY HAVE PARENTS AND I AM NOT IT.

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Specializes in School Nurse.
I will not accept any med the day of the trip, I will not accept any med without the proper paperwork, and I make it clear..I will call you to make the trip 2 -3 hrs away if in case your child gets sick, needs a med (RX or PRN)...and that is it. It took me about two years of chasing parents, calling pharmacies to fill, calling md's to get orders and then suddenly it dawned on me.......I DIDNT GIVE BIRTH TO ALL THESE KIDS..THEY HAVE PARENTS AND I AM NOT IT.

Yep, I got meds the day of the trip. This is my first year at this school and I am still learning. Next year I will be more comfortable laying down the law!

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

I'm glad there are no overnight trips in elementary school.

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Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.

One of our schools had a 3 day trip and an asthmatic did not have his inhaler the morning all the kids (elementary age) were loading up on the bus to leave. The nurse called parents and questioned why he didn't have inhaler for overnight trip. Parent stated that little Johnny did not need his inhaler. Nurse called physician and asked if little Johnny wheezes a lot needed his inhaler.....the physician said YES and do not let him get on the bus without it! The nurse relayed the information to the Mom and administration telling them that unless he had his inhaler he did not need to go on field trip. Well, the administration ignored the nurses/physician recommendation for student safety and let him on the bus anyway. As far as I know the child did not have an asthma attack while away but this is the type of district I am working for. I have probably 50 more stories similar or worse than this one.

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