Pencil poke question.

Published

I know this seems silly but it's been bugging me. I had a kid come in and said he got poked in the thigh by a pencil. His overall demeanor was happy, he was with a friend and they were laughing. He had on tight jeans that he couldn't roll up so I had him go wash area with soap and water in the bathroom and he was given a band-aid. We are not allowed to assess any part of the body that is covered by clothing.

He was walking fine, no blood or anything on his clothing. It all just seemed so minor. I didn't call parents bc of this seeming like a minor thing. The kid gave no indication that someone hurt him, he just told me he got poked by a pencil.

Fast forward to yesterday, mom calls principal upset that she wasn't notified. She said he had to be taken to the hospital for it and to be looked at.

I just feel really bad and like I should have done more but wondered what others would have done.

I guess it's more of a vent than anything, I just feel like you can't win some days with this job. I really do love my job and feel like I do a good job to make sure everyone is taken care of but the silliness can be overwhelming.

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Parents will complain if you call. They will complain if you don't call. In this case I would have called only since I didn't see it. I would have let parent know kid wasn't upset and seemed fine but they needed to check it when child got home. That would give them the option to come to school and look at it. And who knows if the child actually went to the hospital.

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Some parents are just horses asses (my apologies to horses). Plain and simple. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

You followed protocol and your assessment of the kid's demeanor.

Sorry you had to go through this situation. Eventually we all do.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

Listen to Gma, forget about it.

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Thank you guys, that makes me feel better. I always try my best to call when needed but some days are crazy and I'd be there all night if I called every parent.

I suppose everything is a learning experience though!

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Do not feel one bit bad about it. Make sure you document EVERYTHING!! You will never be able to please all those parents. Just remember call that mom for every little hang nail. I do this with some of my high schoolers!

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Specializes in School Nurse.

I always tell them "it is not lead, it is graphite - wash with soap and water it will be fine" Sometimes it does become ugly, but probably because they did not remove bandaid/clean the area well enough.

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She said he had to be taken to the hospital for it and to be looked at.

Yeah, I call BS. I'd love to see confirmation that they even went. I actually had a parent here call and yell at me because "my daughter could get lead poisoning!" from a pencil poke. I had to let her know that pencils are made with graphite and have been for decades. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

When I do notify a parent, if the puncture is on an arm or some other place where the mark will remain permanently, I like to tell them their kid just got their first tattoo.

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Specializes in kids.
When I do notify a parent, if the puncture is on an arm or some other place where the mark will remain permanently, I like to tell them their kid just got their first tattoo.

Bwahahah!

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.

Had this happen last year, was ready for mom to be upset. I had to pull the point out of his palm, she just said OK and that was that. Others would have wanted the other kids parent's number to do an intervention. Assume all parents are the latter and it gives you a smile when you get the former.

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