If you feel sick the nurse will call me and you can go home

[MHDNURSE]

Seriously???? How can I even float the idea of staying to a 6 year-old who was told this by her mom upon arriving at school today? The kid is FINE. A little flushed, afebrile, nothing found on exam, just wants to go home. Really frustrates me and makes it hard to do my job when parents tell them this.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Gee, don't give them any crazy ideas, ok?������

I know, right? Surprised some snowflake lawyer parent of a snowflake didn't figure this out yet.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

A thought that just came to me in this snowflake age, at what point does not calling the parent constitute holding against their will?

Best post ever!!! MrNurse(x2), ADN

[8130]

Do you all work in public schools? My kids go to private school and they value the parents as the primary decision makers. They play a supportive role but always defer to the parent on matters such as these. In the absence of a chronic truancy situation, honoring parental preferences and maintaining sincere compassion for the student will serve everyone the best.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Do you all work in public schools? My kids go to private school and they value the parents as the primary decision makers. They play a supportive role but always defer to the parent on matters such as these. In the absence of a chronic truancy situation, honoring parental preferences and maintaining sincere compassion for the student will serve everyone the best.

I work at a very small private. The politics of parents paying is huge, but my administrators are very clear on what is and isn't excused. They were lax before I started here, attendance was an afterthought, done by whomever was volunteering in the office. I took on attendance and we have tightened significantly. There are numerous parents (mostly those here pre-tightening) who take their kids out multiple times a year for vacations (not educational- Great Wolf Lodge, Disney World) and are appalled we only accept one vacation as excused. There is a real world out there and, at least now, employers demand you be there more than you aren't and we are not helping by ignoring that fact. I was only semi- tongue in cheek when making the kidnapping statement. We have an influx of younger parents and their view on the world is so much different than the older parents this school has dealt with.

[8130]

Mr Nurse I can definitely empathize with your standpoint. Some of that sounds like abuse of the system. We've never pulled our kids out for non illnesses. The big thing we appreciate is being able to send our kids to school feeling sick with the agreement that if they decline during the day and truly feel miserable that they can go to the nurse to talk about laying down or going home. It's also piece of mind for the parent who sends the child on those "iffy" days. Even in the absence of vomiting and fever. Trust me if I had a chronic malingerer, as the parent, the child would have to be pretty sick to get picked up í ½í¸Š

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

I don't really mind those students who are mature enough to be told that, but don't tell your 5 yr old who has already been to the nurse 30 times in 40 days (parent aware) that he can come home if he doesn't feel well. I don't want an infectious student in class, but I also know that the last URI that went through was 10 days of feeling rough with a few days of high fever. They were going to be absent, so my goal was to reduce the number of days out, reinforce hand washing and keeping their germs to themselves. My view here is that keeping bottoms in seats is my first responsibility, education means attendance, so I normally don't send them home and communicate with parents through the day. I am real with the student and parent that they will be unexcused if they choose to leave when they don't meet criteria and work can not be made up, as per my administrators.

[MHDNURSE]

I work at a very small private. The politics of parents paying is huge, but my administrators are very clear on what is and isn't excused. They were lax before I started here, attendance was an afterthought, done by whomever was volunteering in the office. I took on attendance and we have tightened significantly. There are numerous parents (mostly those here pre-tightening) who take their kids out multiple times a year for vacations (not educational- Great Wolf Lodge, Disney World) and are appalled we only accept one vacation as excused. There is a real world out there and, at least now, employers demand you be there more than you aren't and we are not helping by ignoring that fact. I was only semi- tongue in cheek when making the kidnapping statement. We have an influx of younger parents and their view on the world is so much different than the older parents this school has dealt with.

I live in an affluent town and there are so many classmates to my kids who get pulled out of school numerous times a year for family vacations. While I understand the cost of travel at times other than the standard February and April vacations is significantly less, most of these families can afford to travel during peak times. We know three families who pull their kids out for two weeks per year to do a week at Disney and a week skiiing in the Spring. So these kids are missing 10 days of school, not including any days missed for illness. My neighbor across the street has a daughter in my daughter's class (third grade) who has already missed a MONTH of school. Most of the days she was pulled for random trips, but her mother is also one who lets her stay home for any little sniffle and "mental health days". What 9 year-old needs mental health days that often, if at all? I am dying to ask her what the school says about it but I know it isn't my business.

The population I work with is completely different from where I live. Most are at or below poverty level, most parents work 2 or 3 jobs, are on government assistance, etc. We take school attendance VERY seriously here because our kids are at a much higher risk of not finishing high school. When we have a parent suggest to their 5 or 6 year-old that they can come home if they don't feel well, I get annoyed because for most of my students, the mere suggestion of coming home is enough to make them say they don't feel well. I also then have to deal with the parents to get upset because they can't leave work or they will get fired. I'm like you are the one who told him he could come home and now you can't come pick him up?!

So I applaud you and those of us who take a look at school attendance and take it seriously. I realize the parents of course have the final say, but when it is obviously a kid who isn;t ill, it irks me to no end. I feel like so many of the parents at least in my town where my kids go to school put athletics and recreation before academics, and then complain when their kid isn't doing well in school, as if it is because the teacher isn't teaching well or something.

Anyway, I have clearly strayed WAY off topic but you definitely hit a nerve when you mentioned the family vacations and stuff and wanted to share my own experience with that.

[BeckyESRN]

And then you have the parents who write the "If my little darling isn't feeling well at any point today, please call this number and someone will be right there to pick up the little darling" so, 40 minutes into the day- surprise, surprise, someone NEEDS to go home even though they show no signs of illness. But here they are with written instructions to call, so I call. Mom comes, looks at child, touches her forehead and says "You don't look sick and you don't feel fevered, why did I have to come get you?" Because, Mom, you literally wrote her a permission slip to skip school today.

[shark_nurse14, BSN, RN]

My line to the little ones is always "Your job is to be in school and learn. My job is to make sure you are healthy enough and only go home if you are really really sick. I think you're okay, but do you feel like you can go back to class and make it to the end of the day and do your job?" 99% of the time, they take this as an important task and end up staying all day.

If they are really persistent I let them sit in the office for a little, and when they are off their guard I ask them what they want to do when they go home...if they say play outside, or play video games, I say "OH! You must be feeling SO much better! Let's get you back to class!" They never know how to argue with me after that.

[BunnyBunnyBSNRN, ASN, BSN]

Had one today. I called mom - the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi Mom! I have your child here in the clinic. They don't have a fever, belly is soft, able to jump up and down, not ill appearing but pretty resistant to going back to class. In fact, they said you said if they didn't feel well, to call and you would come pick up.

Mom: I know. He needs to stay in school. I don't know why she's there. Let me talk to him.

*****after child talks to mom****

Me: so what's the plan?

Mom: I told her to suck it up and go back to class and if he's feeling bad in a while I'll come pick her up.

***convo with kid***

Kid: What did she say?

Me: Same thing she said to you. You need to go back to class.

Kid: She also said if I feel bad later, to call and she'll come get me.

Anybody want to guess how long the kid was gong before he came back?

Oh, and when mom and I finally gave up (the 4th time he showed up), and mom said she was on her way. It took her an hour to get here because, "I was at Kroger and then we went to lunch".

15 real days/11 school days till break!!!!

[Shellaaay10x]

Ugh I hate that! When a child comes into my office saying they feel sick, I usually ask if their parents know and what they said. Some of them come in, totally fine and the first thing they say is "I'm not feeling good can I call my parents?" I usual assess them first and I say "let me check you out first before we bother your parents". If they seem totally capable of staying in school, I give them a little lecture about being at school and how important it is. Then I ask "what are you going to do if you go home?" If they say play video games or go to someone's house, I tell them they cannot. If I send them home then they have to rest all day because they were too sick to not be at school, and I will tell their parents as well. Then they usually change their mind and stay. LOL!

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

If mom sent you to school, she wants you to be here. I will not sent you home without a good reason. Usually, that parent tells the kid "If the nurse thinks you need to go home, I'll pick you up". I explain to my kiddos that they don't have a reason to go home, they're going back to class.