Excused or Unexcused absence

[littleINlpn]

It may differ from state to state but I was told from another nurse that if a student goes home ill from school they are counted excused. Do any of you count them excused also? I had a mother upset because we have a 24 hour policy (no vomit, fever, etc) and she thinks that should be counted excused too.

*Edit: Our front office says that it should not be counted excused for the following day because the student should have some days allowed to miss. And if they miss more than 1 day they should see a dr. (This student misses quite a bit of days not related to sickness)

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

I don't know your situation, but I don't know a single school/district who would take legal action after 10 days of absence. In our state, you can't do anything other than send a letter unless the student exceeds 15 absences in a term. In fact, you have to file with DCF for truancy and then usually, DCF in conjunction with the district and the family, find out why the student is truant and take action accordingly. In my district at least, it rarely goes to court as the districts do their due diligence to address it directly with the family first, and generally only go the legal route (DCF, etc.) if there is no demonstrated change in the situation. 

[Nurse Trini]

We accept any parent statement that the student is ill as excused.    Any student sent home for health-related issues is also treated as excused even if the parent doesn't call in.    

The only real crackdown we got (because it was being abused) is physical education excuses.    Those we now require a provider's note on.

[nursekoll, BSN, RN]

Heather Rice said:

There is a 10 day limit for absence before legal action is taken against the parent. The 2 day rule and 10 day limit places parents in a controversial position. At day 8 my sick child WILL go to school and unless it's an emergency I will refuse to take my child home. Which is an absence counted against the parent. So if you do the right thing keep your kid home 2 days call off they are counted toward the 10 days. If you get a Dr note it's counted toward the 10 days. If the nurse calls and has you pick them up you child is counted absent toward the 10 days. Let's be real in the old days when kids hung out spreading their plagues over school breaks isn't happening today due to obsession with phones kids are isolated. So, the sickness is so much more abundant when they return. So at 8th to 9th day I no longer care about the health of others and even if my child has ebola guess what. They go to school and stay in the nurses office. She is a qualified medical professional and can babysit them in their flu, cold, stomache flu etc.   I will sign permission for fever reducers and diahrea meds. The law can not place a limit and contribute to that limit then place a consequence if the parent refuses to come get the child. I would file litigation immediately the second they call the police or cps for refusing to come get my child. 

And this is what makes the school nurse job so difficult! I'm guessing you aren't a school nurse or haven't/won't be one very long. This case it's an administration/school policy issue, please don't put it on the school nurse. We are NOT babysitters!!  Sending a sick kid to school is awful parenting, selfish, and borderline neglectful! Shame on you!!

[cowboysandangels, BSN]

That is crazy! You cannot punish a student for abiding to policy.  No kiddo should return until 24 hours after vomiting.  We are trying to keep the illnesses to a minimal, not spread the wealth! 

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

cowboysandangels said:

That is crazy! You cannot punish a student for abiding to policy.  No kiddo should return until 24 hours after vomiting.  We are trying to keep the illnesses to a minimal, not spread the wealth! 

Seriously - the parents who are mad about having to keep their kid home are just not thinking about the fact that their kid got sick likely because someone else decided to send their sick kid back too soon. 

I also love it when teachers like to play contact tracer and if more than one kid has the same symptoms in their room they want us to send everyone home for every little thing. "You know, both Johnny and Abigail have been out... and now Sammy has a little cough and Michael looks off. Maybe you should call home?" I wish so badly I could say "Maybe you should have the children to wash their hands more? And maybe you should sanitize your surfaces more?" 

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Heather Rice said:

There is a 10 day limit for absence before legal action is taken against the parent. The 2 day rule and 10 day limit places parents in a controversial position. At day 8 my sick child WILL go to school and unless it's an emergency I will refuse to take my child home. Which is an absence counted against the parent. So if you do the right thing keep your kid home 2 days call off they are counted toward the 10 days. If you get a Dr note it's counted toward the 10 days. If the nurse calls and has you pick them up you child is counted absent toward the 10 days. Let's be real in the old days when kids hung out spreading their plagues over school breaks isn't happening today due to obsession with phones kids are isolated. So, the sickness is so much more abundant when they return. So at 8th to 9th day I no longer care about the health of others and even if my child has ebola guess what. They go to school and stay in the nurses office. She is a qualified medical professional and can babysit them in their flu, cold, stomache flu etc.   I will sign permission for fever reducers and diahrea meds. The law can not place a limit and contribute to that limit then place a consequence if the parent refuses to come get the child. I would file litigation immediately the second they call the police or cps for refusing to come get my child. 

Woah

nursekoll said:

And this is what makes the school nurse job so difficult! I'm guessing you aren't a school nurse or haven't/won't be one very long. This case it's an administration/school policy issue, please don't put it on the school nurse. We are NOT babysitters!!  Sending a sick kid to school is awful parenting, selfish, and borderline neglectful! Shame on you!!

All of this

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

Jolie said:

If a child is sent home, and then must miss the next day due to a district infection control policy, then both days should be excused.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like the administrative office wishes to punish this child for excessive non-health related absences. If that is the case, then they need to apply district-wide absence policies, not make up rules for this child only.

I have never heard of requiring a medical excuse for a single day absence, and to do so for a select student only sounds discriminatory. It is expensive, burdensome, and doesn't address excessive non-medical absenteeism in any way.

If I send a student home with possible conjunctivitis, I do ask for a note to ensure that the student is seen and is clear to return to school. This reduces the risk of students passing on the infection to others. 

I respectfully disagree that requesting notes for a single day absence is discriminatory, I do it for certain infectious illnesses that I know parents won't have their child seen and send them back to school the next day just as sick, if not sicker..

[seedanurse]

beachynurse said:

If I send a student home with possible conjunctivitis, I do ask for a note to ensure that the student is seen and is clear to return to school. This reduces the risk of students passing on the infection to others. 

I respectfully disagree that requesting notes for a single day absence is discriminatory, I do it for certain infectious illnesses that I know parents won't have their child seen and send them back to school the next day just as sick, if not sicker..

I did not post the message you replied to, but the way I read it is that if you only require medical notes for certain kids (those that are absent a lot) for a specific set of symptoms, it is discriminatory. 

If your district has consistent expectations for possible diagnosis, such as pink eye, that apply to all students, no matter their attendance history, it would not be discriminatory. 

I never tell parents their student needs a medical note to return, unless our district or health dept require it. I believe it burdens our higher-need families the most (taking time off work, transportation, medical expenses, plus so many things self-resolve) but I do ask them to keep their student home until "X" symptom has resolved or they are cleared by a doctor.  

We don't even send kids home for suspected pink eye....