RN babysiting gig gone south

Nurses General Nursing

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This recently happened to my cousin and I dont think she was wrong but she is as mad as hell at the situation.

She's a May 09 grad RN who hasnt been able to get a job yet so she babysits for extra cash. she was asked to help babysit for this family with 3kids (8,12 and 15)whose parents were going to be out of the country for two weeks. She met the parents a day before they left the country, she was availalbe but had a class 4pm on Tuesdays. They said it was ok and would get 15yr to come back home early so that she could stay with the youngest while my cousin went to class. On the Tuesday, she picked the 8yr old from school, fed him and helped with homework. The oldest was supposed to be home at 3.20 so my cousin could leave b/c her class was 40mins away. well she didnt show at 3.25 and my cousin put the 8yr old in front of the tv and left for her class. She kept calling to check on the kid on her way to class and the 15yr showed at 3.35, so she was relieved.

While in class she got a nasty text message from the parents who were displeased because she left their kid alone for TEN whole minutes. When she finally spoke to them and explained what happened, she got an earful from them and they basically made her feel incompetent and useless. They said they couldnt trust her BUT they didnt tell her to leave b/c she was their only option. she continued the gig and told me that everytime they called for their kids, they made her feel like she was a monster looking after their precious ones". Nothing she did after that was right.

Maybe because she's family but I dont think should have been chastised like that. I just want to know what folks think about the situation. also is she putting her license at risk by babysiting? can she be reported to the board for this?

And she got paid a whopping $225 per week i.e $32 per day for an RN, Unbelievable!!!!:crying2:

Specializes in Army Medic.

When your cousin took on the job she accepted responsibility for the welfare of those two children.

Leaving one of them alone was unacceptable, and the parents have every right to be ****** off about it.

Whether or not they're good parents is another subject entirely. That was very irresponsible of your cousin, period. You don't leave a defenseless 8 year old in front of a TV and just hope everything will pan out in their favor so you can go to class.

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In MY OPINION, two things are stressed out in this story. First, you never leave an eight-year-old child alone and unsupervised-----ever. Second, for all the liability that baby-sitting entails (your cousin could have been reported to the BON for whatever reason the couple could have thought of-----whether or not it’s true, it will be investigated upon and the BON could suspend or revoke her license, or if something bad happened to the kid and law enforcement did indict her-----she could have lost her license too, and because of that record, could have lost the chance to work as an RN in a facility, could have lost some significant wages, and could have spent so much on lawyers fees----- to name only a few), do not accept a baby-sitting job that pays $32 per day-----never-----it’s so not worth it!

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You should never EVER leave a child unattended. This is basic life skills 101. And a RN to boot. I don't quite get it. I am sorry to say that I don't know how much I would trust a RN taking care of patients who can up and leave a 8 year old so they are not late 10 MINUTES. I was a social worker before and wow the excuses we heard. Always something and it ironically was ALWAYS for... you guessed it "ONLY TEN MINUTES" 10 minutes my as*. Its never only 10 minutes either. Just sounds "acceptable". I don't believe the integrity of this story.

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Very, very, very irresponsible. If I were the parents I would have come home immediately. Anyone who would leave an 8 year old alone should not be trusted with children. Of course I would not have left my kids with a stranger willing to sit for $32 a day so I guess both were in the wrong in my opinion. The babysitter made a terrible judgement call and should really put some thought into that. Nursing requires a lot of prioritizing and critical thought and this was a very poor example of both.

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the babysitter is darned lucky it was only 10 minutes.

still, she had no way of knowing that when she left for class.

i disrespect both the parents and the sitter.

leslie

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
I definitely think she should have stayed with the kid. I think it's one thing for a parent to leave their own child home alone for a couple minutes while they run an errand, but it's a totally different story when it's not your kid and when you don't know when supervision (the 15 year old) will be home.

I think its exactly the same. An 8 yr old was left alone, thats not very appropriate regardless of who did it.

The OPs cousin had class but she also had a more (IMHO) important responsibility and that was the welfare of a child. She chose poorly.

I have a legitimate question though for anyone that can answer. Why and how would her nursing license be brought to threat (if the parents had called)? She was hired as a normal babysitter. Your license can be revoked for bad baby sitting?

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I think its exactly the same. An 8 yr old was left alone, thats not very appropriate regardless of who did it.

The OPs cousin had class but she also had a more (IMHO) important responsibility and that was the welfare of a child. She chose poorly.

I have a legitimate question though for anyone that can answer. Why and how would her nursing license be brought to threat (if the parents had called)? She was hired as a normal babysitter. Your license can be revoked for bad baby sitting?

"Child endangerment" or whatever it is called in that state, is a chargeable crime. Being a crime against a person, charges or conviction, could cause problems for the nursing license. Just about any crime against persons, property, or allegations of moral turpitude can cause problems for the license.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I have a little file cabinet in my mind. In it are stories of moms who "just walked down to the store for a sec", left their toddler with a daycare provider in a new city without researching her background because she was "licensed" and must be OK, etc. Those moms only have memories of their kids, now. The horror of it keeps me very vigilant.

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You should never EVER leave a child unattended. This is basic life skills 101. And a RN to boot. I don't quite get it. I am sorry to say that I don't know how much I would trust a RN taking care of patients who can up and leave a 8 year old so they are not late 10 MINUTES. I was a social worker before and wow the excuses we heard. Always something and it ironically was ALWAYS for... you guessed it "ONLY TEN MINUTES" 10 minutes my as*. Its never only 10 minutes either. Just sounds "acceptable". I don't believe the integrity of this story.

No need for personal attacks, I said I personally know this person and it is not a fabricated story. She said left for class because she had a test.

Yes I am sure many people have jobs that pay them way above $32 per day but she took it because she needed the money.

I dont have kids so I could only think it was ONLY ten minutes. I didnt want to give her any bad advice so that is why asked for opinions. So please advice on the situation and not attack the person.

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I have a little file cabinet in my mind. In it are stories of moms who "just walked down to the store for a sec", left their toddler with a daycare provider in a new city without researching her background because she was "licensed" and must be OK, etc. Those moms only have memories of their kids, now. The horror of it keeps me very vigilant.

you and me both. Will always be haunted by those. I was a social worker for years. Have to take a sleeping pill to not wake up from nitemares. never EVER leave a child alone. They are VERY smart and know when your gone, they sense it , this I promise.then before you know it- that one time,turns into frequent times... I am not sure what is worse, leaving the kids alone stuff or the refusing to child proof the pool in the backyard parent...

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

It is beyond my comprehension that all 3 adults in this story acted so irresponsibly.

Parents who would leave their children for 2 weeks with a stranger they met only the day before??? I don't care who recommended the babysitter. A recommendation from the Pope himself would not be good enough for me if I didn't have the time to get to know that person very well before leaving my children with her.

A well-educated professional adult who would accept the care of unfamiliar children for 2 weeks without the opportunity to get to know them and their parents first??? And then leave an 8-year old unattended to go to class???

All 3 adults got exactly what they deserved. Poor kids.

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RNnbakes;

Please keep in mind this is a nursing forum. There are many nurses who works in a ped population. Some of these nurses have heard and seen many awful scenarios. I can only assume that some of the responses that you are receiving are not to your liking. But keep in mind you are proposing a question to nurses regarding an extremely vulnerable population and they (nurses) are taught to be strong advocates for those at risk.

That was a poor judgment call to leave a minor unattended. Teach your relative how to learned from this and instruct her on how to utilize critical thinking skills when it comes to children.

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