First Angry Call

[FreckledCoffeeRN]

So just tell me I'm being silly and shake it off.

Had a sub today and easily got a 20% increase in visits today. Plus lunch time kids are just pouring in. I assess to make sure it's they're not bleeding, or if there's an emergency and send them on their way to get a pass from teacher.

Today had a student, what looked like a scratch on face. She told me it was a scratch, it looked like one. So I clean wound, abx ointment. Instructions not to touch. Bell rings, I get a call from mom. "It's not a scratch, its a bruise, its purple! Didn't you put ice? Don't you call parents? Why wasn't I informed, I live close by I could've gone to check on my baby!"

I'm stunned because I sent a kid home today because he had a sizeable hematoma forming on his head, I called parents, I assessed him till mom got there, etc. And this lady is yelling at me about a scratch that I patched up and sent back to class.

I explained what I saw, I explained that sometimes wounds change over time (it's been 4 hrs), I explained if she rubbed on it there might have been more chance of bruising but from what I saw I treated as I needed to.

Needless to say I'm going to make a note to call for every sniffle she comes in for. Tell me I did ok. I feel crummy.

[nursetlm, ADN]

You did fine. I remember last year, I had a parent who I BEGGED monthly (Sept-April) to bring in his child's needed food allergy action plan/ epipen/ benadryl (anaphlactic.) You know- so I could properly care for his child!! Well, in March- his teacher tells me that said child scraped her leg on the slide (and the experienced teacher cleaned it/ put a bandaid on it) but didn't call home to let dad know. (Imagine that.) Well, he came unglued!! It was ridiculous. Needless to say- I got the needed care plan/ meds the following week.

[kidzcare]

We have ALL dealt with parents like that. They will always exist.

Already this school year I have had two parents go above me to my supervisor and my asst principal. The first time, my AP wanted to take it to the board but my nursing director intervened and reviewed my charting and explained that I did everything correctly- It was a kid who hurt her arm at the busstop before school. Came to me right away. No bruising/swelling/open skin. Full ROM. I gave her ice and told her to let me know how it was feeling later. She never returned. Turns out there was fracture. The other changed the way I chart- it was a kid who said he was getting hives to his face- I asked if he had allergies (no), didn't see any discoloration to his skin where he was indicating, asked him if it's happened before (no). He left my office and immediately texted his mom. She called me less than 5 minutes after he left my office saying that he was having an allergic reaction and it started last night and he just began an antibiotic 2 days before. I tried to explain that he did not give me any of that important information and I recommended that she come get him and call the prescribing physician right away.

[halohg, RN]

I generally will call home with just an FYI if the student will be returning home not the way they were sent. I will call for all injuries involving the head and any abrasions/cuts on the face.

[MHDNURSE]

She is one of those. We have 6th grade drama in my son's class and a mother has inserted herself in it. I told my kids that I will not do that, they need to work it out. Younger parents are overinvolved in their kids lives, totally ridiculous. She is the problem, not you. I know school nurses in my day didn't call for everything and you shouldn't have to either. Honestly, what do these parents do at home, ice everything?

Oh do NOT get me started in the over involvement of parents in the kid's social drama. You should see the passive-aggressive posts I see on Facebook commenting on situations going on at school. I have a son in fifth and a daughter in third...it a'int pretty!

[100kids, BSN, RN]

Some parents are NEVER happy and you will never win with them. It's ok. I like to kill em with kindness and start calling for every little complaint their snowflake has. It becomes comical calling to tell them their precious child got a mosquito bite and then calling again to tell them they have a hangnail and then calling again to let them know they got a paper cut. Some people just don't get it. I had the other side yesterday with a parent who didn't want to pick their child up with a laceration over his eye that required stitches. Seriously? Don't let it get to you!

[kidzcare]

I generally will call home with just an FYI if the student will be returning home not the way they were sent. I will call for all injuries involving the head and any abrasions/cuts on the face.

I kinda follow the same philosophy. I will call and say something along the lines of "Hi, this is T the nurse at school. Your student came in with [XYZ injury]. He/she appears fine and I asked him/her to return in an hour for me to reassess. I will let you know if there are any changes. If you don't hear from me, assume all is well. I wanted to give you a heads up in case he/she is complaining of it later."

I call for facial/head injuries or anything that may look different later. Or (and this is a biggie) if I think the student will blow the story out of proportion by the time they get home. I want my (unexaggerated) version to be the first version the parent hears.

Important to note- from what the OP described, I WOULD NOT have called home for that scratch. Silly parent.

[djh123]

You did fine. Overreactive mom.

[bsyrn, ASN, RN]

You did fine, we all deal with overbearing parents...it's part of the job! When they get to you just remember SUMMERS OFF!!!!! Hugs!!!

[fireflys4]

you hang in there. People can be so rude and inconsiderate My mother was a kindergarten teacher for 37 years. She wasn't one to mince words or sugar coat things,

well anyway,, when kids shoes are too small (feet uncomfortable) they lose ability to focus. Attention span goes down bad behavior goes up etc... When she took their shoes off problems disappeared.

the first time around

She would put their shoes in a bag with a very nice note, explaining the situation and asking them to call her. If they called she would work something out even if she had purchased shoes herself.

If they didn't call back or continued to send child to school in too of small shoes she would keep each pair until they either showed up in bigger shoes or called her back. Some of them called to turn her in but even the principal & school board didn't want to mess with my mom about the shoe thing.

[Kvadovsky16]

Nobody knows this moms experience. My step moms nephew drowned and since then, that whole family said they have become very over protective of their children. Part of nursing is understanding people's behaviour, and not taking things to heart.

[EKUGRAD, BSN, MSN, RN, CNS]

YOU DID O.K. !!

[feelix, RN]

I actually had letters ready by diagnosis. A nosebleed letter, a scratch letter, a fall letter, etc. There was a list of interventions on each letter with check boxes next to them. I would just insert date and child name and check the interventions and send the letter home if it was something routine.

I called only when there was a need to. If I called, the 'parent called' box was checked too. If no response then 'Parent called; No response' or 'Parent called; Message left'