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I just had a student that said "I have a headache. [Teacher] said you would give me an aspirin and call my mom"

Um, no. Sorry, afebrile child. It is less than an hour until dismissal, you have no doctor's orders here, and I'm not comfortable giving anyone under age 20 aspirin. Lay down for 10, then it's back to class. And tell [teacher] that I can do my job without his/her input.

Cell phones are the bane of my existence. I am in middle school and they text parents for EVERY. LITTLE. THING. Parents show up and front office is calling me looking for them. Or, parents are calling me wanting me to track down and assess. Most of the time, it is for nothing excludable. I had one this morning that was out of breath from conditioning in athletics - sweaty, flushed faced, normal respiratory asssment. All she needed was to cool down and hydrate. She had not been here 5 minutes when mom showed to take her home because sweetie pie had been texting her. If you can't handle basketball practice - maybe you should join chess club instead!

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I got a kid a few days ago with the sole flapping on her shoe, sent down so I could fix it. Hellloooo...do I look like Gepetto?? I gave her a roll of duct tape and sent her back to class. And the end of the day thing...yesterday alone I got two headaches and a kid that jammed his thumb the night before, all at the the same time from the same teacher, twenty minutes before dismissal. :-/

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Specializes in School nursing.
Cell phones are the bane of my existence. I am in middle school and they text parents for EVERY. LITTLE. THING. Parents show up and front office is calling me looking for them. Or, parents are calling me wanting me to track down and assess. Most of the time, it is for nothing excludable. I had one this morning that was out of breath from conditioning in athletics - sweaty, flushed faced, normal respiratory asssment. All she needed was to cool down and hydrate. She had not been here 5 minutes when mom showed to take her home because sweetie pie had been texting her. If you can't handle basketball practice - maybe you should join chess club instead!

I'm lucky. Parents must sign out kids in the main office and if they call down to me because a parent is there to pick up a "sick" kid and the child is not with me or has not been seen by me, it is clear the kid used a cell phone. That is a no-no in my school and the dean takes charge from there, which is awesome.

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Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.
Does that mean we can use a foot-pedal suturing machine? ;)

Oh, good idea!! "Hey kid....stick your face right under this sewing machine!" lol

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Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.
So much word on the sending kids down five minutes before the final bell for something like a "headache." Seriously, if you lived without Tylenol all day, you will live 5 more minutes. :banghead:

And while I do actually know how to sew thanks to theater costuming experience, I do not stock a sewing kit in my office (Nor do I share my sewing skills with staff). My kids are older - you have a rip in your pants and get send my way, I will hand you a roll of duck tape, talk you through taping the rip from the other side so you can complete your school day. You will fix it yourself in my restroom. Has worked every time.

OH, duct tape!! Never thought of that! Great idea!

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Specializes in School Nursing, Telemetry.

There have been SO MANY instances of kids at the middle school calling their parents for any little thing without coming to see me. One kiddo took it upon herself to call her mom and say that she saw the nurse, when in fact, I had not. She ended up with all day detention for lying after no one knew where she was because she just left without being signed out. What kills me the most is that I probably would have let her call her mom and go home anyway, because she was having "cramps" and I don't see much of her up in the health room. Honesty is the best policy...

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Specializes in kids.

I frequently remind that while they have the privilege of having phone, they DO NOT have the privilege to dismiss themselves!!!!

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Every day teachers send students down right before the dismissal bell! It's ridiculous. Unless they have a fever or are vomiting, off they go. I still can't figure out why teachers do this! QUOTE

Playing Devils' Advocate here-as a nurse and a mom if my child came home from school and told me he complained to the teacher and she refused to send him to the nurse at any time of the day I would probably be a bit upset.I trust the school nurse's judgement,the teacher is there to "teach",not to assess me kid's headache,cough,fever.

For many of these kids the end of the school day is not the end of the day for them-they are getting on another bus to go to an after-school program,they are not going stright home.I would rather get a call from the nurse at that time ...

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For many of these kids the end of the school day is not the end of the day for them-they are getting on another bus to go to an after-school program,they are not going stright home.I would rather get a call from the nurse at that time ...

Excellent point!

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How interesting that this conversation is here today. I don't necessarily have teachers sending me kids at the end of the day but they do question my clinical judgement which flips me out. I'm in a middle school and I allow kids to call for whatever ailment they have. I rarely have a kid with a fever but when I do its an all hands on deck affair to get them out of there. Other than that, I don't tell you how to teach-you don't tell me how to nurse.

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I am by the rules type person. However, I have had teachers ignore my child when they were sick or when dealing with bullies. My son even got sick in the classroom and the teacher later ranted at him for doing so on purpose. In front of other students. I no longer care that cell phone use is against the rules. My children are under orders to text from the bathroom, and when I do show up, I don't even mention it. Yet, It is not a free pass sort of deal. They have never called me for no reason. And I am not a helicopter Mom. I have just learned that I can not totally trust the schools. Had no problem with the Nurse and was able to work well with her. The school as a whole, So glad my youngest is in the 12 this year.

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Specializes in kids.

Hear you..... but......what would you have done 20 years ago when the kids did not have cell phones? The world did not stop spinning on its axis. And I have to say, it is very frustrating when parents undermine the school. Maybe YOUR child does not abuse it, but 10 others do, thats why we ask the parents to honor the process. Do what you will, but maybe take a minute to think about the bigger picture.

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