Ashizzle

Here's my update: I did ask the health director for help and she said she would talk to Becky. Here's what we have: My health office will now be getting siderails for all of our beds in the health office! Really. The director insisted that there's nothing we can do, and we must accommodate her or she could "sue us." When Becky feels like she's going to have a seizure I ask her to sit on the floor and I put pillows on the floor next to her so if she falls over, her head is protected. This has kept her safe during the seizures she's had in my office. Apparently she doesn't like that and took advantage of the talk time with the director to complain. I'm at a loss for words.

Oh I agree with you 110%. Her students have told me all the crazy stories she tells them after missing work for a few days. She embellishes a lot and adds on aspects that didn't really happen.

I'm a school nurse and I'm going crazy! I feel as if some kind of mass hysteria has settled over this school, and it's not the kids. It's the staff! I'd like to hear some thoughts about one of my current situations. One staff member (we'll call her Becky), was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and does not have it under control at all. My issue is, school has only been in session for a few months and during that time, I've responded to Becky's office roughly ten times. Most of the time, Becky describes an aura and nothing happens. Sometimes she asks me to check her vital signs. What is that going to do? Generally when Becky has these episodes she'll report to me that she neglected to eat breakfast and lunch. She basically lives off of energy drinks and pop. It eventually came out that she is taking all of her meds PRN, even her long-term medications that take weeks to a month to take effect/ reach therapeutic levels. She ONLY takes her medication when she feels like she's going to have a seizure. I very politely explained to her that the medications needed time to take effect and that wasn't going to work, then it happened: she had a full blown seizure at school. ...then it happened again, and again. I definitely don't want to be insensitive. I care about all of our staff and students; I want her to be safe. In this instance, I don't feel like she's holding up her part of the bargain. The district is very flexible and supportive, which I think is wonderful, but at what point shouldn't this person take some accountability? This is a grown adult being noncompliant in a situation that has serious consequences. Students are constantly on edge, and I'm constantly having to leave my office to run to the aid of this teacher. I'm glad to help, but I can't help but feel like these situations would be completely avoidable if she would just eat breakfast and take her medicine like the MD ordered.