Loose teeth letter - thought I'd share...

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Specializes in Hopice and School Nurse.

I know you all know my pain! I get way too many students in my office for stupid stuff (loose teeth, bug bites, invisible injuries, etc) and so far I've come up with a letter for loose teeth. There are so many reasons to not send healthy kids to the nurse's office for no reason. It is really helpful to have the administration on board with keeping kids in class to promote learning time. BTW, I haven't seen a kid in my office for a loose tooth since. Next I will tackle bug bites (Really? Stop scratching!) and the kid who comes into the office 15 minutes before the end of school with a 2 week old abrasion that happened at home and you can't even see anymore. Come on teachers, get a grip!

Dear Teachers and Staff,

I have had several students come to the nurse's office since school started with loose teeth. I cannot do anything about loose teeth and it is a natural process that happens approximately 20 times in every child's young life. Students are missing valuable learning time to come to the nurse's office (often accompanied by another student who is also losing valuable learning time) to tell me about a loose tooth. Play-time, lunch, exercise, music and art are also valuable to student's learning. And most importantly, student's who visit the nurse's office are exposed to viruses and bacteria that cause illness.

Unless they are bleeding from the mouth, please do not send students to the nurse's office with loose teeth. I am happy to provide teachers with containers for lost teeth for those happy moments when the teeth actually do fall out.

School Nurse

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Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.

Sending a kid to the nurse for a loose tooth? That's seriously the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

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Specializes in Hopice and School Nurse.
Sending a kid to the nurse for a loose tooth? That's seriously the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

I seriously had 3 kids in one day with loose teeth! Only one actually lost that tooth before school was out - and came back even though I gave her the cute little treasure chest to put it in when she came in the first time. She wanted to show me before she put it in the box. Really? This was a 5th grader.

One especially frustrating playground aide asked me what to do if a kid had a loose tooth at recess. I'm like - "Uh, nothing." DUH!

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Specializes in hospice.

oh my, that would be my son, lol. he thinks he needs to go to the nurse for every little thing and I find yellow nurse reports in his backpack all the time. He gets it from his Daddy, who goes around the house moaning if he has a HA or any little thing,lol. Thanks for putting up with our little ones!!!

I finally told him one day to shut up and quit whining and he said " I hope your not that cold to your patients" I responded with "No, they are really sick"

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This seems to set kids up early for today's epidemic of people who run to the nearest ER for the first signs of a stuffed nose, hangnail, stubbed toe etc......... such a bad lesson to teach them. What's the nurse supposed to do, yank it out for you with pliers? :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Pediatrics and Med Surf Float.

school nurse for a loose tooth? seriously? My first grade teacher took care of teeth, loose, almost out and bleeding too!

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Specializes in Hopice and School Nurse.
This seems to set kids up early for today's epidemic of people who run to the nearest ER for the first signs of a stuffed nose, hangnail, stubbed toe etc......... such a bad lesson to teach them. What's the nurse supposed to do, yank it out for you with pliers? :rolleyes:

The one 5th grader asked me to call her dentist. Right, I'll get right on that...

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When my daughter was a 3rd grader she fell at PE and "hurt" her arm. The school nurse wasn't on duty for another hour so instead of calling me at home they had her sit in the nurses office for an hour for her to come in. The Nurse determined that her arm was fine and sent her back to class. She did call my home phone (not my cell or any other emergency contact number) and left a message saying that she had fallen at school, c/o arm pain, she had assessed it and determined she was fine to go back to class. I didn't get the message for another 3 hours when I returned home and I immediately went to the school to check on her. I walked into her classroom and my 8 year old was self splinting her arm. I looked at the nurse and told her that for some reason my 8 year old daughter knows there's a serious problem with her arm why didn't she? I was so upset. I took her to the doctor and before he even x-rayed it he said "Oh yeah that's broken." My poor daughter sat in school for 4 hours with a broken arm and had I not shown up at her school to check on her after receiving the message she would have been there all day risking further damage. I lost my faith in the assessment skills of school nurses that day. :(

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
When my daughter was a 3rd grader she fell at PE and "hurt" her arm. The school nurse wasn't on duty for another hour so instead of calling me at home they had her sit in the nurses office for an hour for her to come in. The Nurse determined that her arm was fine and sent her back to class. She did call my home phone (not my cell or any other emergency contact number) and left a message saying that she had fallen at school, c/o arm pain, she had assessed it and determined she was fine to go back to class. I didn't get the message for another 3 hours when I returned home and I immediately went to the school to check on her. I walked into her classroom and my 8 year old was self splinting her arm. I looked at the nurse and told her that for some reason my 8 year old daughter knows there's a serious problem with her arm why didn't she? I was so upset. I took her to the doctor and before he even x-rayed it he said "Oh yeah that's broken." My poor daughter sat in school for 4 hours with a broken arm and had I not shown up at her school to check on her after receiving the message she would have been there all day risking further damage. I lost my faith in the assessment skills of school nurses that day. :(

I am very sorry about your daughter, but this probably does not belong in a venting thread started by a school nurse. I'm not sure about your specialty, but I'm very sure that you wouldn't want your vent stepped on by someone who is irate because they feel they -- or a family member -- were mistreated by someone of your specialty.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

My son would be the type to go running to the nurse for a loose tooth, but that's the ASD in him--he tends to react intensely to some things. Yet I have to drag him kicking and screaming to the dentist...I tell him that unless there's blood or the tooth was knocked/pulled out not to worry.

Not familiar with how school nursing works so if my suggestion isn't appropriate, just disregard it :) But for your letter, I'd add a note indicating that students experiencing anything (bumps, injuries, falls, etc.) that may have resulted in a loosened tooth should be checked by you, just to CYA. You never know: if you tell the staff "no loose teeth" they may take it too literally (especially if there's no blood) and not send someone they should have.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.
When my daughter was a 3rd grader she fell at PE and "hurt" her arm. The school nurse wasn't on duty for another hour so instead of calling me at home they had her sit in the nurses office for an hour for her to come in. The Nurse determined that her arm was fine and sent her back to class. She did call my home phone (not my cell or any other emergency contact number) and left a message saying that she had fallen at school, c/o arm pain, she had assessed it and determined she was fine to go back to class. I didn't get the message for another 3 hours when I returned home and I immediately went to the school to check on her. I walked into her classroom and my 8 year old was self splinting her arm. I looked at the nurse and told her that for some reason my 8 year old daughter knows there's a serious problem with her arm why didn't she? I was so upset. I took her to the doctor and before he even x-rayed it he said "Oh yeah that's broken." My poor daughter sat in school for 4 hours with a broken arm and had I not shown up at her school to check on her after receiving the message she would have been there all day risking further damage. I lost my faith in the assessment skills of school nurses that day. :(

I'm sorry you lost your faith in the the assessment skill of school nurses, by no means do I condone that nurses' actions however I stand by my fellow school nurses. Sometimes as nurses period we may miss something, this makes us human. Often, injuries don't become visible for a few hours post injury. Is it possible there was not sign of visible injury at the time of the nurses' assessment? Yes, it is possible.

I'm hoping it was a learning experience for the nurse, and I hope you don't really think all of us school nurses are bad. School nurses face challenges every day and we often play a big role in the lives of our students. We are their advocates, their voice, and do what we can to make sure they are taken care of both physically and emotionally. Don't judge us all by one nurse. Hope your daughter is feeling better.

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Of course I don't feel all school nurses are bad. They're human just like the rest of us including myself. I'm just saying there may be more to all those "complaints" than meets the eye. Don't dismiss them just because it seems as innocuous as a loose tooth because there may be more to the story.

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