Parents STILL Sending Sick Kids to School

Updated:   Published

This is so frustrating. It's like we never experienced the pandemic. Parents still drop off sick kids (who pass the temp screening) with coughs, sore throats, headaches, sinus congestion, etc...   And of course, they're nearly impossible to reach. 

I really thought that they'd 'get it' at this point.. but apparently not. 

End Soapbox Rant

Specializes in school nurse.
5 minutes ago, Lbarba84 said:

My district is only sending kids home with temps or vomiting other than that they could be hacking a lung and have all the symptoms and they can stay in school, however I had a kid tell me today she threw up last night and her parents had to work and thats why she was at school....this might end up causing more covid  quicker in our district...we shall see

Wow. So the district is completely disregarding the CDC...?

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the districts stance on it is we cannot say for sure or its our place to diagnose a student.  it could be a range of things allergies, flu, a cold, etc. It's up to the parents to test the child and report to school if they have come into contact with someone and are quarantining at  home or inform us that they have tested postive otherwise we don't do anything.  only protocol we have in place is temp checks for staff & students, and if we do get a confirmed postive anyone who was within 6 ft or less of a student or staff in 24 hr period will stay home two weeks.  so far were on our third week of full time in person instruction and have had 1 that I am aware of, there could be others but possibly the district hasn't informed anyone yet.

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.
26 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

I think from reading previous posts that you're in MA. A while back, a town in MetroWest passed an ordinance to fine people that lied on the attestations. I'm not sure if something like that has any legal teeth, but the fact that it would even be needed...?

Whoa. I'm in the Western region and thankfully my county's numbers are wicked low and families seem to be taking it seriously. I fear that this is due to good weather and as we see the holidays approaching and the temp dropping, we're going to be in for it... It just means a lot of follow up phone calls home when they call LD in sick without a mention of symptoms... 

 

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Specializes in school nurse.
3 minutes ago, Lbarba84 said:

the districts stance on it is we cannot say for sure or its our place to diagnose a student.  it could be a range of things allergies, flu, a cold, etc.

Sure, we don't diagnose. That's why our students are sent home until they ARE diagnosed.

1 minute ago, k1p1ssk said:

Whoa. I'm in the Western region and thankfully my county's numbers are wicked low and families seem to be taking it seriously. I fear that this is due to good weather and as we see the holidays approaching and the temp dropping, we're going to be in for it... It just means a lot of follow up phone calls home when they call LD in sick without a mention of symptoms... 

 

Move over, "Storm Chasers" reality show, here comes "Symptom Chasers"...

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Specializes in School nursing.
35 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

I think from reading previous posts that you're in MA. A while back, a town in MetroWest passed an ordinance to fine people that lied on the attestations. I'm not sure if something like that has any legal teeth, but the fact that it would even be needed...?

Interesting! Yes, I'm in MA. I hate that it has come down to that in places. I'm had no issues there, thankfully. The staff has to complete the screener as well and has been very honest and calling me directly with issues. (Means I'm triaging starting at 6 AM, but luckily my boss has also let adjust my hours accordingly when possible as well.)

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I wish we could send home for more than 2 symptoms but I guess thats the districts wishes and protocols I just hope it doesnt come back to bite us when we start getting more positives within our district ill keep you guys in the loop, luckily our area is very rural and are numbers are pretty low so hopefully it stays that way

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Specializes in SCRN.

Hi, this might be unpopular opinion, but try and look at this from the parent perspective. The kid has to go to school so the parent can work. Since the main check is fever, kids with cough, runny nose but no fever is OK to send according to the parent.

Were kids sick before COVID? Yes!

Will they be sick with something OTHER than COVID? Yes!

A little compassion goes a long way.

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Specializes in School nursing.
11 minutes ago, RN-to- BSN said:

Hi, this might be unpopular opinion, but try and look at this from the parent perspective. The kid has to go to school so the parent can work. Since the main check is fever, kids with cough, runny nose but no fever is OK to send according to the parent.

Were kids sick before COVID? Yes!

Will they be sick with something OTHER than COVID? Yes!

A little compassion goes a long way.

Of course. I'm the first to say that school was never a no-risk illness zone. There are plenty of other illnesses that kids get that aren't COVID. But COVID has many different symptoms that can be other things. And a student can get both strep and COVID - I hope they don't, of course, but even pediatricians are sending out for COVID tests for strep symptoms just to be sure. 

But as a nurse, I'm sure you also understand that we have to be extra cautious here. My list is not just those three things - I look at sore throat and loss of taste and smell (that I'm seeing a lot of).  If a parent gets a COVID checklist of symptoms and knowingly sends in their child that has several of them, yep, they are getting a call to come and pick-up their child and what is needed before that child can return to school. We don't have medical experts at our fingertips to consult with, so we work with what we have. 

Also some folks here have parents sending in students that they know were exposed to COVID. I'm sorry, you can't do that. I don't care that they have no symptoms and you need to work. They need to quarantine. 

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Specializes in School Nursing; Nursing Education.
On 11/9/2020 at 7:50 PM, laflaca said:

 at this point I've gone full stalker on these cases.  I call repeatedly, I text, I email, I call every emergency person on the list....if you're going to put this risk on our staff and kids, I'm not going to make it easy for you.

Yes ma'am!! I love it. I couldn't agree more. If you're not concerned for our health and well-being then I am not concerned about annoying you. Sorry pal. 

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Specializes in School Nurse.
3 hours ago, RN-to- BSN said:

Since the main check is fever, kids with cough, runny nose but no fever is OK to send according to the parent.

Fever is not the strongest indicator of the virus. I have students with very minor symptoms (headache, sore throat, stomachache) with no fever who are testing positive. So knowingly sending a student to school who has two or more of the symptoms listed as a possible Covid symptom is putting other students and staff at risk. 

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1 hour ago, RN-to- BSN said:

Hi, this might be unpopular opinion, but try and look at this from the parent perspective. The kid has to go to school so the parent can work. Since the main check is fever, kids with cough, runny nose but no fever is OK to send according to the parent.

Were kids sick before COVID? Yes!

Will they be sick with something OTHER than COVID? Yes!

A little compassion goes a long way.

I understand this point of view, but I can't get on board with it.  Say a student with "just" cough and runny nose actually has the virus and ended up spreading it to their medically vulnerable teacher and/or classmate.  "Well, sorry I sent Johnny to school, I had to work!" isn't going to go over well... 

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1 hour ago, RN-to- BSN said:

Hi, this might be unpopular opinion, but try and look at this from the parent perspective. The kid has to go to school so the parent can work. Since the main check is fever, kids with cough, runny nose but no fever is OK to send according to the parent.

Were kids sick before COVID? Yes!

Will they be sick with something OTHER than COVID? Yes!

A little compassion goes a long way.

It's definitely an extremely trying time for a majority of people.  Having to take off work and lose those hours of pay--possibly even lose your job--because of what could potentially be a normal childhood illness is incredibly difficult.  But the fact is that if we don't keep the "maybe COVID" kids out of school until deemed safe to return then we're looking at the whole school being shut down again and no opportunity for anyone to send their kid to school.  

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