Going to school with patient

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Any wonderful or horrible experiences going to school with a patient? I have alternated between pedi private duty and hospice since 1983 but have never gone to school with any of my pedi patients.

Have been with this three year old for 8 months and mom is pushing to get him started in special ed at local school. Not sure why but I feel less than enthusiastic ?

Any insider tips on what it's like?

They are only setting you up for failure if your supervisors take what they say over you. If you are that uncomfortable in getting along with these people on a day to day basis perhaps you should find a different venue. You could just as easily be working on a case in the home with other nurses who happen to act like witches. Are you going to let their behavior run you off from your paycheck? Keep your boundaries and do your job with a little give and take here and there. You should be fine.

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Specializes in Current PDN. RN for 5 years..

@caliotter3

Sound advice... time to set those boundaries in stone. Document (personal file) everything, and do as I need to!

You're right, took me a little to calm down. Best thing I felt was get another's perspective. As we all know our can be skewed one way or another from time to time.

TL;DR: Thank you. I will take all the advice you handed my way. Thanks again!

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16 hours ago, Notmyscreenname said:

Question: What if the teacher asks you to help with something? Like playing (Insert Game Here) with groups of children. Then you find out its actually measuring if they can do a certain task or not. I'm not a teacher, I am a nurse. I always try to make my immediate surroundings 100% comfortable (like getting along with the other adults) however I truly think these 'women' (more like children!) are setting me up for failure... What's your take?

You could always do it and then when they ask you questions pertaining to if they can do something just say you don’t know. Half the time I would participate just to have something to do but it’s not on you to know if they know how to do certain tasks and yes after working in the classroom with the aids and the teacher I ended up disliking them because they just use the nurse as an excuse to not deal with that student and they act like chickens with their heads cut off and don’t understand priorities with the other students

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Since starting this thread I have actually begun going to pre-k in a special deaf education program with my 3 old patient. Loved the advice to keep some stuff at school. They are very kind about giving me some room for supplies. Rolling suitcase I purchased does the rest and navigates well in hallway.

The teacher is deaf and the aide signs and hears so we muddle through and really communicate very well.

PT wears a backpack with feeding pump and teacher and aide know that if he starts scanning the room for me it is because he hears the pump beeping. They think it is adorable.

The first day I let them know that I would be handling all of his incontinence care,feeding pump ,meds and any nursing interventions that were needed but try to do so in a way that would not disrupt other students and also keep him engaged as much as possible. I would NOT intervene with teaching/ redirecting over classroom issues so as not to undermine the bonding he needed with teacher and aide.

It has worked out very well so far and I do enjoy the mornings out of the house.

Why would the teacher think you were trying to keep the pt out of school?

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Specializes in Current PDN. RN for 5 years..

@Nursee1234

The pt likes to hang around me and does visit me frequently, I've told her to go back to class, and i can only say so much because discipline isn't my area.. Its not my job really. So I try to redirect her back to class and look for the teachers to help in that area because i have told her 10 times once and it doesn't matter... idk maybe she is over school or something, bored?

Don't get me wrong, I do love my job! I love my patient! Its just the balancing act with the adults. lol. Who would have thought adults are more challenging than children? lol

I'm over it, I go. I do my job, I document! Done lol

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Amen to the challenging adults. It has taken a year on this case to set the boundaries with mom.

I guess I have a good situation being in a pre K class with only 8 kids and an aide and good teacher. If all the demons are having a wil day I will sometimes step in to discipline with my kiddo. Just simple things like signing no or stop that or kneeling behind him if he is wiggling and won't sit still during circle time on the floor. And I only do that if the aide is doing the same with two other kids who are not mine to touch. It's a balancing act.

Not a horrible way to earn a paycheck. Some days are better than others!?

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
On 11/14/2019 at 1:56 PM, Nursee1234 said:

Since starting this thread I have actually begun going to pre-k in a special deaf education program with my 3 old patient. Loved the advice to keep some stuff at school. They are very kind about giving me some room for supplies. Rolling suitcase I purchased does the rest and navigates well in hallway.

The teacher is deaf and the aide signs and hears so we muddle through and really communicate very well.

PT wears a backpack with feeding pump and teacher and aide know that if he starts scanning the room for me it is because he hears the pump beeping. They think it is adorable.

The first day I let them know that I would be handling all of his incontinence care,feeding pump ,meds and any nursing interventions that were needed but try to do so in a way that would not disrupt other students and also keep him engaged as much as possible. I would NOT intervene with teaching/ redirecting over classroom issues so as not to undermine the bonding he needed with teacher and aide.

It has worked out very well so far and I do enjoy the mornings out of the house.

Kudos to you! The school nurse appreciates your presence in the classroom (at least, I would if I were that school nurse)!!

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