Parent Pick-Up of Sick Kiddo

[SchoolNurseK, BSN, RN]

How long do you give parents to pick-up their sick kiddo? I am going on one hour with a student with terrible diarrhea. I've called Mom and Dad. Mom said she would be an hour and a half. No. Dad told me 40 minutes. No.

[SchoolNurseK, BSN, RN]

One hour and 15 minutes. Gah!!! And when I provided the parent our policy, he told me he is doing the best he can but he is a working parent. I reminded him that I too am a working parent. ?

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

I will say that the majority of the time I've had to have a parent pick up a kid, they've done it within an hour.

I stayed late once with a kid with a fever (and left that kid in charge of the admin on duty when it hit 4:30 and the parent was "on the way" at 2.)

I think most people are not taking advantage (whatever that means) of me. I just hate seeing the kid in misery when there's nothing I can do....

[SchoolNurseK, BSN, RN]

1 minute ago, ruby_jane said:

I think most people are not taking advantage (whatever that means) of me. I just hate seeing the kid in misery when there's nothing I can do....

I do understand that some parents are coming from very far away or sometimes there are circumstances that necessitate me keeping the child in the clinic longer, but I feel like this family was just not making it a priority. I know the parent was coming from 15 minutes away...I think that is what irritates me the most.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

4 minutes ago, SchoolNurseK said:

I do understand that some parents are coming from very far away or sometimes there are circumstances that necessitate me keeping the child in the clinic longer, but I feel like this family was just not making it a priority. I know the parent was coming from 15 minutes away...I think that is what irritates me the most.

Vent away here!!! I am here for your vent. Competing priorities...

[CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN]

Usually if I'm calling for pickup, I will ask them, "And when can I expect you so that I can notify our front office?" They usually give me a time. Most parents make it in under an hour. If they tell me an hour or longer until someone can be here, I usually use the line, "Is there someone that can be here sooner?" I have had a couple parents abuse the clinic, but I had to learn how to get my no-nonsense message across to them.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

It really depends on the parent. I have some that are here within 5 minutes and others that will say, "I'm on my way" and never show up until dismissal. I've had some that can't even be reached.

[CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN]

1 minute ago, lifelearningrn said:

I've had some that can't even be reached.

I always find it frustrating that they won't answer the number from the school. But I ask the kid for their cellphone and they answer that.

[tining, BSN, RN]

I don't feel that an hour is that long - for non-emergent. I live 7 miles from my school and it takes me 30-45 minutes to get here. I can't expect someone that is not in the neighborhood to get here quicker.

[EnoughWithTheIce]

I have one that was dropped off at 10:00 this morning - comes straight to see me. School starts at 8:45. Kid says he had diarrhea at home, mom says he did not. Kid doesn't look too ill so hard to say who I believe. Had him rest a bit, observed him - no problem so sent to class.

Kid not gone for long, comes back "I threw up in the bathroom."

I called mom back and said, "look, we are just going to play this game all day long of him getting sent back and forth anyway. Why don't you pick up and observe at home." She agreed, but of course it is going to take her 1-1.5 hours to get here. I only have 2 cots.

[Mavnurse17, BSN, RN]

19 minutes ago, CanIcallmymom said:

I always find it frustrating that they won't answer the number from the school. But I ask the kid for their cellphone and they answer that.

We're at an advantage here, working with the older kiddos. Most of the time when I'm sending a kid home I have them make the call from their phone and then I'll hop on the line and talk to the parent. 15 minutes of trying to find a phone number that will answer from my office phone, but parent will pick up immediately for the child's number ?

[CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN]

7 minutes ago, Mavnurse17 said:

We're at an advantage here, working with the older kiddos. Most of the time when I'm sending a kid home I have them make the call from their phone and then I'll hop on the line and talk to the parent. 15 minutes of trying to find a phone number that will answer from my office phone, but parent will pick up immediately for the child's number ?

Yes, I do this more often than not nowadays.