Parent Pick-Up of Sick Kiddo

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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.

Specializes in Geriatric Home Health, High School Nurse.
1 minute ago, 2BS Nurse said:

Just sanitize that phone first!!! ?

Ack!!! Yes!!! If a parent wants to talk to me, I usually tell them to hang up and I will call the parent on my phone! ?

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Specializes in school nursing.
1 hour ago, 2BS Nurse said:

Just sanitize that phone first!!! ?

I make them put it on speaker! haha

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I put them on speaker. No way I am letting a kids phone touch me.

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4 hours ago, AutumnDraidean said:

I strongly dislike the "Straight off the Bus" visits. No, go have breakfast and settle into class, then we'll talk. In winter country with them all bundled up and riding in a heated bus they probably are overheated and motion sick and if I did take their temps it be in the 99 range.

I agree! I usually tell them to eat breakfast first, then check in with their teacher. The teacher can decide whether they need to see me or not.

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This is such a conundrum, isn't it? I can see both sides.
As a nurse, and also as a parent of a child with an autoimmune condition, I really feel that parents a) shouldn't be sending their sick kids to school, and b) should pick them up in a timely manner if they become ill while at school.

However, as nurse who works in a practice where there is often only one medical professional present - me - I completely understand that sometimes a parent simply can't pick their child up within what many would likely consider a reasonable time frame. I rarely get a chance to check my phone during the workday, so more often than not when I finally realize I've gotten the dreaded sick call, half an hour or even an hour has passed between when my phone received the call and when I actually noticed the message. I will always call the school as soon as I'm aware of it. But I can't just send patients away without seeing them, especially since I work in a specialist's office that has a very lengthy wait list. So sometimes my child just has to wait until I can either finish seeing all of my patients, or I'm lucky enough to be able to reschedule some of them.

Sometimes my husband can pick up the kids, but if he can't, we don't have anyone else to spell us off. I cringe when this happens. We don't have a school nurse, so when a child at the school is sick, they are placed in the "sick room" and a staff member will check on them periodically. It inconveniences everyone, and puts the child at risk. It's definitely not the best situation to put anyone in.

I suspect there isn't an easy answer to this. Certainly there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. But I can appreciate the frustration this must cause you!!!

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On 2/20/2020 at 9:20 AM, SchoolNurseK said:

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.

How long do you think it should have taken?

If a parent is at work, how long should it take? What if the parent is a nurse or other worker who can't just leave, a worker who has to be properly relieved, count controlled substances, and report off?

What if you had to leave your clinic full of kids who really do need attention - injuries, other reasons that really do necessitate you being there? How long should it take you to get across town to your sick child?

It's one thing if you are expected to tend the child after the end of the school day.

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Specializes in School health, Maternal-Newborn.

For me, how long is acceptable is connected to how sick the child is, where the parent is, if they have to make "arrangements" to leave work. It's also going to depend on how hard it is to get in touch in the first place.

I've had to send sick children home to the sitter on the afternoon bus. I get it. It just seems to me that if your job has you that shackled you really should find a back up plan for your sick children. I know it can be hard, but sick happens and it's never convenient.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I'm naïve to the world of school nursing, so forgive me, but is it actually a general expectation that parents always be able to pick up their kids in a relatively short amount of time? That seems unrealistic, and I guess I'm not really sure then of what the purpose is of having a nurse at the school.

My wife is a teacher, and I'm pretty sure a large proportion of the parents at her school don't have the ability to just up and leave their job, if they did there's a very real chance they'll just get fired as a result since FMLA doesn't cover many if not most of the illnesses that would cause a child to need to miss school.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Had a crazy situation like this recently. I was at a meeting and couldn't leave. The clinic nurse got a call that her son had diarrhea, needed her to come now. Her hubby was traveling for work--rare event. His parents live out of state. Her (clinic nurse) parents, out of state on vacation, and they usually would be available. She can't call neighbors, as the ones that she knows are elderly and don't drive, others, she doesn't know or have phone #s. None of my clinic's other nurses were available to come, and we couldn't get a replacement from another clinic. My clinic nurse can't leave as she's the only nurse in the building. School nurse cussed her and threatened to call APS. It was one day that I felt like I failed as a manager. Want to add, this kid hasn't been sick in the six years that his mom has worked here, and the nurse's parents hadn't left the state since before her son was born. It was a perfect storm, but that school nurse was a real jerk to act like she did

ETA--her brother is a custodian at the school where her son is. He offered to take him, the school refused to let him off to get her son home

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Specializes in Community health.
6 hours ago, Hoosier_RN said:

School nurse cussed her and threatened to call APS.

That school nurse’s behavior is inexcusable. It wouldn’t be acceptable under any circumstances of course— but particularly because they have never had this situation with the mom before. It’s not a case of a family who can NEVER be reached and NEVER has the correct phone numbers on file and always refuses to come pick up their kid. I am so sorry that happened; that poor mom.

I never understand the comments that “people should have a backup” as though it’s a solution to everything. I do have backups. But they might go to a movie and turn their phone off; to a church service; hiking out of cell range; or just otherwise living their lives. I do not have anyone in my life who sits in their home, phone in hand, waiting for the once-every-five-years moment when my child needs to be picked up from school.

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Specializes in Geriatric Home Health, High School Nurse.
On 2/22/2020 at 10:28 AM, Kooky Korky said:

How long do you think it should have taken?

If a parent is at work, how long should it take? What if the parent is a nurse or other worker who can't just leave, a worker who has to be properly relieved, count controlled substances, and report off?

What if you had to leave your clinic full of kids who really do need attention - injuries, other reasons that really do necessitate you being there? How long should it take you to get across town to your sick child?

It's one thing if you are expected to tend the child after the end of the school day.

I totally understand that situations arise and I absolutely can show some empathy in those occasions. Like I said, I too am a working parent and I completely understand how difficult it is to drop everything when someone calls. I was mostly venting because I have had this issue with this family before and I was sitting here with a kid that was having explosive diarrhea and couldn't get off the toilet. They didn't seem to take the situation seriously, which frustrated me.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

I know that I wholeheartedly respect the plight of the working parent. I generally ask students when I call home who the better parent to call is. Maybe it's hard to get dad because he's a teacher. Maybe mom is a dentist who won't be answering their phone while they are seeing a patient. I totally understand that people can not always drop what they are doing to pick up their children immediately after a sick call... but the times that I get annoyed are:

1. no answer. There are 5 phone numbers available for 2 parents and I can't reach anyone. Then I go down the list and call the "emergency people" who don't answer either. Even better when the student tells me "He/ she doesn't pick up calls from the school number."

2. Unable to leave a message. "This number has a mailbox that isn't set up." This phrase earns a huge eye roll. And then i start to wonder HOW i'd get ahold of someone if this was a true EMS worthy emergency (this concern falls under "no answer" as well)

3. Grossly underestimating the time. If you tell me it's going to take an hour, that's fine. We have a plan, if the student is too sick to wait in class, they can get some work and wait here or can close their eyes for a bit. If you tell me 15 minutes and it takes you an hour and a half, I reserve the right to get annoyed. If you tell me 15 min and then hit a snag - just call me. It will help with the endless asking of "when is my mom getting here?"

I don't send home that easily. My goal is to keep the student in school. All I ask is a little cooperation and communication when I do call.

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