I can't call all parents!!!

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2017

I feel your pain. I'm willing to fall in the sword if a parent of a 'ran into the wall' kid gets mad I didn't call.. be Izs not all clinic visits constitute a call. If it's a true injury I'll call, if i'm assess. kid after a fight, i'll call. Imaginary injuries from running into walls, not so much.

peacockblue · Sep 23, 2017

You can't call with every "injury". That is why they hire a nurse. You are there to assess if it is a real injury. Especially with the younger ones. If I called with every "we bumped heads" I'd be calling well after the kid was home for the evening. I definitely call with anything that leaves a mark.

mc3, ASN, RN · Sep 23, 2017

I think of it this way.....If I see 40 kids/today and 30 were minor booboos and I called on each, that would be 30 calls at a minimum. 30 calls x 3 minutes/call = 90 minutes or 1.5 hrs, just making phone calls! Never mind, the parents that have 2 or 3 different phone numbers you have to call. Nobody is saying any serious injury, or head bumps or anything that leaves a mark shouldn't be brought to parents attention, but geesh!! Is that how they want you spending your time?

:no:

SaltineQueen · Sep 24, 2017

You can't possibly call for every injury. If a kid is hurt as a result of a fight, I let the principal call & if the parent wants me afterwards I'll talk to them. I call for most all head bonks (I'm K-3) and face/mouth injuries. Scraped knees, pinched fingers, other minor things, nope.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Sep 25, 2017

i tend to call for things that will leave a mark or need follow up or for "those parents"

AdobeRN · Sep 25, 2017

i tend to call for things that will leave a mark or need follow up or for "those parents"

You will learn real quick which kids have "those parents" - LOL.

Amethya · Sep 25, 2017

Yup... I do. I rather call on a child that got slightly hurt than get a angry phone call and/or angry parent coming to me to confront me about her child because I didn't notice they were hurt/sick.

I don't for every assessment, but for the things that need to be called, I do.

I have gotten a lot of parents last year who were angry because I didn't notify them when their child came in with a headache and later the child had a fever. So I rather skip all that mess and just call them when they come about anything. Easier on me, CYA!

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2017

Some of our elementary nurses have a form (in duplicate - they keep one in the file and the kid takes one home) - they are checkbox items for minor visits. Would that help?

Farawyn · Sep 25, 2017

Just wondering if y'all call parents of kiddos who've had an injury, such as ran into a pole, punched by another kid. My admin wants me to call every parent of an injured student. What I think of as an injury and what my admin thinks of an injury is way different. I would be on the phone all day with parents if it was up to her!! It's only my first year, just a little frustrated!!

Yes, I call for this.

JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN · Sep 25, 2017

In the beginning, I called for EVERYTHING. It was my own paranoia/newbie nerves. Once I got to know the students and the parents better (and saw REAL emergencies first hand) I became much more confident in knowing what warranted a call, a note, etc. That being said, there were a few times when a parent would call the next day wondering why they weren't contacted to which I would reply "The illness/injury/papercut/homesickness wasn't severe enough at the time to warrant me interrupting your day. I typically call home for _____________. If I called every time a child came to my office, I would be on the phone all day! In the future, I would be happy to call each time a child comes down to see me and I will be sure to notate this on the chart for substitutes to see."

That worked great 99.9% of the time. Some parents are impossible to please, no question.

Ran into a pole? That's a head injury and that always got a call home from me. Punch from another child? If they were okay, I would ask the administrator who was dealing with the discipline to please let the parent know that their child was seen by the nurse and no injury was noted. They were more interested in what sort of trouble the perp was getting into in cases like that anyway.

If you admin wants you to call for every single visit, you need to let them know that your professional judgment is why the school hired you as a nurse to begin with. Provide a list of parameters for what would warrant a call home and assure them that you are using clinical assessment skills to ensure the safety and wellbeing of each child.

OyWithThePoodles, RN · Sep 25, 2017

I haven't read through the comments so sorry if it's been said.

If a kid has been in a fight, I make the teacher call. I let them know the extent of the injuries and tell them if the parent wants to speak to me, they can. But I make them call.

If it is an injury to the head, I usually always call, unless it is something so ridiculous and I know the kid is fine (they tell me they are fine and didn't want to come up but the teacher made them).

Other injuries, if it is something I think could turn into a doctors visit, I will call (ankle sprain, fell on wrist, etc.). My admins want parents notified on most injuries as well as an accident report completed. Which is crazy, but I get it, CYA. So I will email parents for small things.