Is it Friday yet?? (a cautionary tale about locked nurse room doors)

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So... the front desk receptionist just unlocked my locked door (with the sign up that says Nurse Office Closed), and brought a student in... while I was pumping (breast pump) at my desk.

The best part... what was the emergency? The kid needed a snack.

During lunch break.

I want to die. I'm just praying he didn't see too much.

That is RIDICULOUS. That is beyond ridiculous. And the fact that it was for a snack during lunch......!!!.

This is exactly the sort of thing that makes me consider returning to the clinic/hospital world sometimes. School staff can be just....puzzling. So sorry this happened to you.

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I have a sign on my door that says "closed for lunch. The nurse will only see students with scheduled medications and medical emergencies." I met with my boss today so I felt it was important to have uninterrupted time.

An administrator unlocks my door (doesn't even knock) and sends a kid in, "his teacher said he's not feeling well."

?

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

I would be so livid. I would probably have fired out a poison pen memo about reading signs, knocking first, not unlocking locked doors, 10th graders are not preschoolers, if they need snacks they need to pack their own, yada yada.

Do these people take special classes in how to be clueless? Apologetic? She would be mowing my lawn for the next year.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I leave the clinic for an emergency in a classroom. There is a note on my LOCKED clinic door that clearly states that the clinic is closed for an emergency, please wait in the front office or guidance until the nurse returns. I open my now open clinic door?? and find a parent in the clinic rummaging all over my desk to leave me a note that she was leaving me medication for her child. Our security assistant had opened the door for her and let her in because she complained she was going to be late for an appointment. I saw red! Firstoff, the medication was a controlled substance and should not have been left on my desk unattended and uncounted. When I got a hold of that security assistant, I ripped, ripped, ripped him up one for that, then went to the administrator who took care of the rest of the ripping.

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I would have just left for the day! You can't go back to work after that! I always let the secretaries know that I'm going on lunch but I'll be in my office so call if they need anything. Do you feel comfortable enough telling them when you're going to be pumping? I would just let them know "hey I'm going to be pumping in my office so please call if you need to get something from here." I'm so sorry this happened. Hopefully you all can come up with something that works for everybody!

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19 hours ago, beachynurse said:

I leave the clinic for an emergency in a classroom. There is a note on my LOCKED clinic door that clearly states that the clinic is closed for an emergency, please wait in the front office or guidance until the nurse returns. I open my now open clinic door?? and find a parent in the clinic rummaging all over my desk to leave me a note that she was leaving me medication for her child. Our security assistant had opened the door for her and let her in because she complained she was going to be late for an appointment. I saw red! Firstoff, the medication was a controlled substance and should not have been left on my desk unattended and uncounted. When I got a hold of that security assistant, I ripped, ripped, ripped him up one for that, then went to the administrator who took care of the rest of the ripping.

Stuff like what happened to me and what you described happens all too often. the problem is that the staff, being non-medical, tends to think everything medical-related is an emergency. Like a bleeding skinned knee, a basketball bounces and hits a kid in the head, a kid "looks like they have a fever," a kid is super tired... there is no distinction among the staff that these are not emergencies. I gave a presentation at the start of the SY which helped A LOT in terms of decreasing unnecessary office visits, but if a kid or parent makes it *seem* like an emergency, the staff buys in. It's so frustrating.

I once got low-key chewed out by my principal for not being available (I was in an all-staff meeting... with her...) AFTER SCHOOL for a kid who THOUGHT they had a fever. This same front desk lady was apparently looking all over for me (again, there I was in the all-staff meeting. with everyone else...) to take this kid's temp. When I got out of the meeting, she told me, in a panic, that she had a sick kid waiting for me in the conference room. There the kid sits, AFTER SCHOOL, in front of a phone. I was like... did you call her mom? no. did she call her mom? no. You know school is over and the parent can come get her... right? SMH. I literally cannot sometimes....

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Specializes in school nursing.

I would be absolutely infuriated. And I am so stinking mad FOR you. So sorry this happened. I would call a meeting with admin asap.

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2 hours ago, nursex23 said:

I would have just left for the day! You can't go back to work after that! I always let the secretaries know that I'm going on lunch but I'll be in my office so call if they need anything. Do you feel comfortable enough telling them when you're going to be pumping? I would just let them know "hey I'm going to be pumping in my office so please call if you need to get something from here." I'm so sorry this happened. Hopefully you all can come up with something that works for everybody!

The crazy part is that she knows my pumping schedule - 9, 1130, 1400. unless something comes up, but I'm pretty good about sticking to it. And she has never not knocked before. I just don't understand.

The worst part is that I was so worried the admin would turn it around on me - like why was I pumping in my office rather than the pump room, why did I not let her know specifically (I mean, come on, I pump 3x daily, is that really necessary to send an email every time there might be a chance someone could walk in and see my nips LOL), I should have made a special "I am pumping sign," etc. My mind was going wild on how I could get in trouble for that.

Luckily no one has said anything to me yet.

1 hour ago, CanIcallmymom said:

I would be absolutely infuriated. And I am so stinking mad FOR you. So sorry this happened. I would call a meeting with admin asap.

There is a big part of me that wants to throw a fit about it... but I just have this sinking feeling they will turn it around on me (see above reply). So I'm just gonna keep my anger to myself and keep a sweater handy to cover up if anyone barges in again.

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Specializes in school nursing.
1 hour ago, jnemartin said:

The crazy part is that she knows my pumping schedule - 9, 1130, 1400. unless something comes up, but I'm pretty good about sticking to it. And she has never not knocked before. I just don't understand.

The worst part is that I was so worried the admin would turn it around on me - like why was I pumping in my office rather than the pump room, why did I not let her know specifically (I mean, come on, I pump 3x daily, is that really necessary to send an email every time there might be a chance someone could walk in and see my nips LOL), I should have made a special "I am pumping sign," etc. My mind was going wild on how I could get in trouble for that.

Luckily no one has said anything to me yet.

They would be out of line, I wouldn't worry about that at all. It was not your fault in any way, and make sure you stand your ground. You should not have to advertise that you are pumping.

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20 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

I would be so livid. I would probably have fired out a poison pen memo about reading signs, knocking first, not unlocking locked doors, 10th graders are not preschoolers, if they need snacks they need to pack their own, yada yada.

Do these people take special classes in how to be clueless? Apologetic? She would be mowing my lawn for the next year.

"Mowing my lawn for the next year". Priceless!

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Don't most states have a law stating they must provide a private place to pump???

I would turn it right back on them for failing to provide that!!

I would like to know what would happen if a teacher was locked in her classroom during lunch/planning and someone unlocked it and asked her to tutor a student right then. THERE WOULD BE A BIG STINK!

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1 hour ago, EnoughWithTheIce said:

Don't most states have a law stating they must provide a private place to pump???

I would turn it right back on them for failing to provide that!!

I would like to know what would happen if a teacher was locked in her classroom during lunch/planning and someone unlocked it and asked her to tutor a student right then. THERE WOULD BE A BIG STINK!

that's why I was worried they would turn it around on me... we do have a pumping room here. but obviously it's much more convenient for me to sit at my desk and pump (and better for them because I continue to answer emails and do other work).

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