I do not feel like a nurse

[LovebugLPN]

I am an agency nurse who has been working with a boy at a public school. My company says my only job is to stay with this child only and keep him alive. I have had many problems with the teachers because they expect me to help out with crafts and teaching students. I am smart enough to do this. When I tell them I am only there to keep this child alive they roll their eyes. One teacher said "in the past my aides always helped in the classroom." I explained 1) I am not an aide and 2) If she wanted an aide hire more. I let my company know and they said they would call and talk to school. I knew this would make situation more annoying so told them not to. I am still running into this problem and now the aides really don't like me. The other problem is I have 1 day off during the week and the other nurse runs around doing all the stuff that they ask her to do. When I return I get "so-and-so does all this and why can't you" I don't want to get company involved because I do like my job and don't want to go back to weekends, holidays, evenings, and nights. I like M-F school hours. I don't feel like a nurse anymore. I do not feel like they respect me except when a child is sick or hurt then they come looking for me.

[TexasPediRN]

I left home care for this reason ( I was tired of babysitting!!)

However, I always got involved with activities, therapies, etc - mainly because I like to do it, and otherwise I'd be bored.

Now, I've never gone to school with a child, but have gone on many other outings, appts, etc.

To compromise, you can do the craft with your patient, but not with others. I think that is what should be expected, not for you to help out with the rest of the class.

If you are that miserable though, you could always ask to work with a different patient..

Good luck!

[LovebugLPN]

I do help out my patient but the teacher wants me to help with others and that is beyond reasonable. This child communicates very little and will take off out of the classroom when he feels like it and also eats everything. I have to have him in my site at all times because of this. Because he doesn't do these things very often my job can be very boring but I am still busy with changing depends and suctioning his trach. I just sometimes miss hands on nursing and the respect I got from patients/residents and most families. I love this child and feel very close to him. I don't want to leave and have stuck through some pretty bad crap for him. I can't just leave him like all his nurses in the past have. I just want to be a nurse again sometimes.

[joprasklpn]

Keep putting your foot down and only do what directly involves caring for your patient, you are not employed by the school and should not be assisting other children. I went to school with a client and we were not allowed to do ANYTHING with the other kids. We were told it is a liability issue. Sucks when a kid falls or something and all you can do is smile at them and tell them to go to the teacher, but this is the world we live in now with everyone sue happy. Don't let the aides run over you, just smile and tell them it is not part of your job. What I really had a problem with is the fact that the staff acted like "oh this child has a nurse so we don't have to spend time with them". He was there for an education and deserved just as much attention from teachers as the next kid, but rarely got it.

[LovebugLPN]

Thank you for the advice. I feel like we have the same feelings and experience with this.

[annaedRN, RN]

. I love this child and feel very close to him. I don't want to leave and have stuck through some pretty bad crap for him. I can't just leave him like all his nurses in the past have. I just want to be a nurse again sometimes.

I know exactly how you feel. I was with the same kid for 5 1/2 yrs. When he was in elementary and middle school it was a fight.Finally, I made a compromise that I felt okay with - I did help with writing down test answers, writing assignments when there was no aide available but other than that my time was my time - nursing responsibilities only ..no note taking or flipping pages in a book. I stayed with him while I was going on for my RN. As much as I love him, I knew that it was time to move on. I needed new challenges but I loved the one on one nursing. So I am now a VNA nurse and love every minute of it. I still keep in touch wiuth him...he is graduating from high school this year! And I am going to his graduation!

[horsepoor]

I would be worried about the liability because you are not employed by the school. Talk to the principle and ask their opinion about the liability, they may side with you. Then you can tell the others that he/or she doesnt want to you do those things.

[LovebugLPN]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. It has given me a lot of ways to view this and go about fixing the problem. Thank you again.

[bassmasterangler]

Get hired as an aide and double dip!! get paid for both.

LOL - IM ONLY JOKING!!!!!!

[Toquay]

Perhaps ask the teacher when she visits a loved in the hospital if she passes the food trays, does vital signs and empties bedpans? I bet she would look appalled.

Toq

[Valanda]

I've found that in situations like this the very best thing you can do is get the agency involved. Not only will they inform the school of your job, but they will hopefully remind the nurse who works on your days off of her job description.

Seems to me that the other nurse doing things that are not allowed is making your life more difficult. It is also causing unnecessary liablity for your agency and they need to know about it.

I hate to sound like I support "tattling", but it's taken me years to learn that my first loyalty is to my patient, my second is to my agency, my third is to my co-workers.

I've seen this sort of thing several times in everything from the situation you described, to the nurse who was working on my days off doing laundry for the family or watching all the children in the house for a few minutes while the parents run to the store. Agencies have job descriptions and limitations for a reason, personally I enjoy the agency I work for, and I'd like to see it stay around a long time free from law suits.

[allevi]

My daughter had a nurse with her for years at school. She had a trach and nurse was needed for that reason. Her nurse did help her with her stuff. But she only helped her. I know at times she got frustrated because she felt sometimes teacher ignored my daughter, thinking that she had a helper.

Now that my daughter has no need for nurse after decannulation, the nurse stayed on at the school, but is now working as teacher's aide, she still works with daughter but also works with other kids too.