Paranoid teacher

[rbytsdy]

Ugh... I am at a loss right now.

I have a special ed teacher who is in her 2nd trimester of pregnancy. She is convinced that she is having a high risk pregnancy though nothing she is telling me suggests high risk. I think it took her a while to get pregnant and she is a bundle of nerves. I am a per diem perinatal educator at the local hospital so I've been trying to reassure her that everything her doctor tells her indicates positive news.

I completely understand her desire to protect her baby. However, she is paranoid about all the students now. I have to do daily temp checks on most of her class. If they are out one day, I have to "assess" them before they are allowed to walk though the door. It's really wearing me down. I get that nobody wants illness in their classroom. But it's an elementary school. I can guarantee you will see vomit, fevers, and lice every year. We have had quite a few kids with Fifth disease and she is really upset about that. Again - I understand the concern but I can't figure out a kid has Fifth's until the rash appears and they are not longer contagious.

I actually suggested she speak to her OB about getting out on disability early. I think she needs it for her emotional well being.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

How long has she been a teacher? Fifths is something she has been exposed to already, I'm sure! She is being over-the-top expecting you to check all the kids for fever just about daily. She is an elementary teacher, germs go with the job!

Perhaps you should tell her not to leave the house for the rest of her pregnancy, after all, a Zika infected mosquito might bite her! (sorry, I'm being mean now)..

Really, I agree that maybe early leave might be the only thing to give her peace of mind. (I do remember being a bit paranoid during my first pregnancy, but luckily, I was not a teacher. I drove my hubby crazy with the hand sanitizer and Lysol though.

I do feel sympathy, but it's affecting not only her but her job and yours as well..

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i'm gonna step out of my school nurse cloak and put on my mom jeans for a minute - a rare move for me, i know. If my kid came home and told me she was getting daily temp checks, despite being asymptomatic simply because her teacher is pregnant, i'd go down to the school and raise Cain. And I am not the momma bear sort.

[OldDude]

i'm gonna step out of my school nurse cloak and put on my mom jeans for a minute - a rare move for me, i know. If my kid came home and told me she was getting daily temp checks, despite being asymptomatic simply because her teacher is pregnant, i'd go down to the school and raise Cain. And I am not the momma bear sort.

Climbing back onto the saddle from spring break. I second this. Don't stick your neck out here rby, this could come back to bite you on many levels.

[abc123RN]

Can you imagine what this teacher is going to be like once this child she is carrying starts school!?! Daycare?!?

[Farawyn]

Climbing back onto the saddle from spring break. I second this. Don't stick your neck out here rby, this could come back to bite you on many levels.

*flying tackle hug, knocking you off the saddle*

Yay!!!

:)

[Farawyn]

i'm gonna step out of my school nurse cloak and put on my mom jeans for a minute - a rare move for me, i know. If my kid came home and told me she was getting daily temp checks, despite being asymptomatic simply because her teacher is pregnant, i'd go down to the school and raise Cain. And I am not the momma bear sort.

Agree.

She can't do this every day. She's an adult. She needs to respect your job and develop boundaries.

[GdBSN, RN]

i'm gonna step out of my school nurse cloak and put on my mom jeans for a minute - a rare move for me, i know. If my kid came home and told me she was getting daily temp checks, despite being asymptomatic simply because her teacher is pregnant, i'd go down to the school and raise Cain. And I am not the momma bear sort.

Agree. When I read the OP, that is exactly what came to mind. As my supervisor once told me, "we don't go into the classroom looking for sick kids. There has to be a legitimate reason for the student to be sent to the clinic." She also stated that doing classroom checks can fall under a HIPPA violation, and she used to be a lawyer.

[DEgalRN]

Perinatal anxiety is a very real thing, and I believe it is higher in women who've experienced IF issues. Maybe in your perinatal educator hat mention that sometimes medication for anxiety can be taken during pregnancy under the guidance of her OB.

But, yeah, she needs to chill with expecting you to do checks on kids who aren't showing signs of illness. If needed, I'd get your administration on board with that since there can be repercussions to her expectations.

[SchoolNurseTXstyle]

I do understand the teacher's concern. However, the nature of her job requires her to be around germy kids. You, as the nurse have no way of guaranteeing that she will not pick up something from one of her students. She needs to look inward and decide how to protect herself. She can stop working or be extra diligent about handwashing and such.

I would put my foot down for sure! I am not screening kids with no complaints. Not enough hours in my day as well as being unnecessary and not fair to the students.

I went through 2 pregnancies while being a school nurse and had perfectly healthy babies and trust me I was exposed way more than that teacher......

[Farawyn]

I do understand the teacher's concern. However, the nature of her job requires her to be around germy kids. You, as the nurse have no way of guaranteeing that she will not pick up something from one of her students. She needs to look inward and decide how to protect herself. She can stop working or be extra diligent about handwashing and such.

I would put my foot down for sure! I am not screening kids with no complaints. Not enough hours in my day as well as being unnecessary and not fair to the students.

I went through 2 pregnancies while being a school nurse and had perfectly healthy babies and trust me I was exposed way more than that teacher......

I went through 2 in a hospital setting. Imagine this teacher going into an isolation room?

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Maybe you can ask her to get the documentation that she is in fact a high risk pregnancy and what expectations should reasonably met by her employer? Do her students need to be screened as is happening? Writing it all all out so they can reassure her, from the medical side, that she is ok to be in school? May open a bigger can of worms than you already have.