No, I'm not sending him on the bus BLEEDING !

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

i just need to vent:

today i had a student come to the hr at the very end of the day as students were being dismissed. he came in because he cut his fingers on a sharp object and he was bleeding to the point where blood was dripping from his hands. this wasnt a 911 call it was just one of those tiny cuts that kept bleeding.

so i immediately had him rinse his hands so that i can see the cut, and after that i applied pressure to both cuts.

i had to apply pressure for atleast 10 minut'm es to get the bleeding to slow down. so the assistant principle barges in the health room and yells at the student, stating" what are you doing here you're going to miss the bus" i told him that he is bleeding and i'm not allowing him to get on the bus with blood dripping from his fingers !

so then the secretary comes in and says " he needs to get on the bus now" ! i told her no, i'm not sending him on the bus bleeding, so what if he misses the bus, his parents will just have to pick him up. she then says " well, i guess you'll have to stay here with him because i'm leaving" at this point i'm furious ! the ap did have the bus wait, but what if i couldn't get the bleeding to slow down, he what of just had to miss the stupid bus. bleeding takes priority over getting on the school bus. i was able to get the bleeding to slow down and i wrapped his finger tightly in gauze. i also called his parents and left a message.

i'm just so sick of staff not caring about these children. its not all about grades, staff leaving on time, and etc. the ap even told me he needs to get on the bus now because he's missed the bus last week. i was like so what ! he's bleeding now and he's not getting on.

geesh....

[Artistyc1]

You did the absolutely correct thing. I can just hear it now: "Your honor, he was bleeding, but I had to put him on the bus, because the AP and secretary said that he can't miss the bus." The judge, to that would say: "let me get this straight- you LET him get on the bus, even though he was dripping with blood"? You would, sadly, STILL be responsible for him, even with the AP and secretary riding you on this. They just don't get it!

PS- my husband is a transportation director for a local district. It is not fair to other students, AND THE DRIVER to have a kid bleeding all over the bus. Too many staff people do not understand that a bus is not an extension of the classroom, and a driver needs to remain vigilant in driving to keep all the kids safe. Having the distraction of bleeding, vomiting, etc, necessitates pulling the bus over to take care of it. Furthermore, the driver is often (and is in this district) responsible to clean their own bus. These are NOT medical people, neither are they custodians. It is just not fair to anyone to do this, particularly the child.