Faking dizziness

Flare, ASN, BSN · Mar 9, 2015

is this your child?

Wave Watcher · Mar 10, 2015

If the child really is faking it then the parent needs to step in and act appropriately. At some point, I would recommend the child go and be evaluated (due to increased amount of accidents) for balance issues, neuro issues, mental issues...... :-) Make the parents put in some effort of correcting the child's behavior. If it involves time or money they usually fix it real quick.

And yes, the nurse does have a liability. I send home any child that c/o dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, persistent headache, mood changes or anything unusual after a possible head injury. I don't have the time to keep a vigilant eye on the student in my clinic. It does become a safety issue for the child. We have a head injury protocol that we go by and dizziness is a symptom we send home for.

100kids, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2015

As the nurse you have to send him home but really this is a problem that needs to be addressed at home rather than at school. If it was my son we would be having a serious sit down chat.

mycsm · Mar 11, 2015

send out. Explain to parent the circumstances in which he was c/o dizziness again. eventually it might stop..OR a diagnosis will be made.

does it only happen after gym/recess before a class he hates?

vikivail26 · Mar 11, 2015

The teacher should make him sit out of recess from now on. I am assuming it is not PE and playtime should be earned.

MollyJ · Mar 18, 2015

is this your child?

Arlorenz, can't help but notice that this is your first post and Flare's question is pertinent and by no means an indictment of you, your parenting or your child.

I would be inclined to work with a parent like you and have the child go forward in the day and perhaps monitor him more frequently (neuro checks every hour or two) and ask the teacher to report to me if he's having any problems focusing etc. If you have proposed this to your school nurse and she is not comfortable with it--I'm somewhat of an old dog--then see if you can get your doctor to sign off on it. He could write a note like, "IF Johnny bumps his head and does not have any obvious trauma or loss of consciousness, let us have him go forward in the day with monitoring." At the end of the day and more frequently if needed, the nurse can report her findings to you.

Our state, like many others has responded to the spectre of concussions in children participating in sports and that has influenced my practice. But I would say that as a parent and a school nurse if I thought I was seeing a pattern here, I would want to intervene on it.