I sent a kindergartner home yesterday who's lungs sounded like bagpipes with how much she was wheezing. It took 3 hours for someone to actually answer the phone and get her.
Today she comes into my office with her uncle's inhaler. When I asked if they went to the doctor, she said, "no mom said to just use this whenever I cough". Thankfully she had no idea how to use it and that's why she brought it to me. Lungs still sound awful, cough is still awful.
I call mom again who gets mad at ME for refusing to give her daughter the inhaler and kept repeating "She needs it to breathe, what don't you understand about that?!".
Finally I explained that I have a standing order for a neb that I can use if her cough continues, and mom mentions how they did a breathing treatment this morning. When I asked her if the student has seen the doctor recently, mom tell me no, it is actually for her but figured little one needed it too...
I started to say that her daughter really needs to see a doctor and get her own medication because she may have asthma and need more intense treatment but then she hung up on me and turned off her phone.
And as an aside, they aren't avoiding the doctor for financial reasons. It's just laziness and that is my biggest weakness. I have a really hard time tolerating laziness.