No, I'm Not a Beauty Shop!

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I should probably preface this post with some facts.......It was 3pm, I had just about EVERY frequent flyer in my office, I hadn't eaten my lunch yet and I just sat down to eat when in walks one of my frequent flyers with an earring in her hand. She is in 1st grade and says ,"yeah I can't get my earring back in". So I reach in my drawer and pul out an envelope for her to put her earring in and she says ,"no! I want it back in my ear". No please, no manners....so I say no, hunny,i'm a nurse not a beauty shop. Put it in the envelope, your mom can put it in when you get home. I had a kindergarten child in my office with the para for that room and the para looked at me like OMG. So I said to her, "I'm sorry but I will take them out for gym because it is a safety issue and the gym teacher doesn't have time to deal with it but putting them back in? That is NOT a nursing reponsibility and shame on the teacher who sent her to me!" Why do I have to put her earrings back in? Isn't the teacher capable? We have a no earrings in PE policy so my feeling is that if the student cant put in their own earrings then they shouldn't wear them on gym days. Now of course I feel bad......

So true. Earring insertion is accessorizing and NOT hygiene.

"OK, well, I have to speak up for teachers here. They are EDUCATORS. They are busy EDUCATING. Personal hygiene...SCHOOL NURSE.

They are just as busy as we are... " I agree, they are busy! However, my state mandates teachers get a 30 minute DUTY-FREE lunch. Most of us are lucky to get 30 minutes the entire school year. Now, isn't every staff member responsible for the students they serve? Or, does this fall only to the nurse? if teachers are responsible for educating, why do they send kids out of the classroom so much for things that can be handled at the classroom level? Doesn't all of that missed class time impede the educational process?

Specializes in critical care, Med-Surg.

Earrings that are not replaced can cause the piercing to close, necessitating a re-piercing.

New piercings can become infected, easily. To me, this is personal hygiene. Unlike make up, or clothing or "accessorizing" . It involves a disruption in skin integrity, and potential for infection.

Patient teaching is a cornerstone of nrsg practice. I would therefore teach the child how important it is to keep earrings in place, until healing is complete. I am guessing this would take a solid yr. for children.

I would inspect ear for s/s of infection, disinfect earring, and reinsert. All the while teaching student/pt. how to do this for herself.

I am not a school nurse, or a teacher. These are just my opinions about the matter.

By teaching her and assessing her ears you are now taking on responsibility and liability. If a child came in with ear pain at a pierced site, of course you would assess and treat if necessary. But, by setting yourself up as the jewelry fixer, you will be doing that all day. Not to mention giving frequent flyers a new excuse to come to the office. Plus you will have healthy kids sitting next to sick kids while you are triaging, making them more likely to get sick. Plus, they will be missing time from class. I am curious to know how many nurses who think this should be a service school nurses should provide have actually done school nursing. You have no time to eat, drink or use the bathroom as it is when you are just operating within the boundaries of your job description.

Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.
By teaching her and assessing her ears you are now taking on responsibility and liability. If a child came in with ear pain at a pierced site, of course you would assess and treat if necessary. But, by setting yourself up as the jewelry fixer, you will be doing that all day. Not to mention giving frequent flyers a new excuse to come to the office. Plus you will have healthy kids sitting next to sick kids while you are triaging, making them more likely to get sick. Plus, they will be missing time from class. I am curious to know how many nurses who think this should be a service school nurses should provide have actually done school nursing. You have no time to eat, drink or use the bathroom as it is when you are just operating within the boundaries of your job description.

This! A zillion times...

I agree with the OP - and sending the earring home in an envelope might send mom a good message that her child was too young to get earrings.;)

I think the teacher should have done the same thing.

Parents are making choices about their kiddos that are questionable in my opinion. Not that I can tell them how to raise their kids but to me, getting your ears pierced is an exciting and fun thing to do with an adolescent girl. Seems like we are taking away a lot of the things that make being a teenager fun.

As a school nurse for two elementary schools and two high schools plus seven other campuses, I don't spend much time at each school and my office is at the D.O.

I admit to helping out in the cafeteria and classroom when I come to one school to do insulin with a 1st grader who has an insulin pump. It was a way for the kids to get to know me and trust me. Now they run up to me in public saying "Nurse Spidey's Mom!" and give me a hug.

Boundaries are important - I'm a hospice nurse as well. We have to do a boundaries inservice once a year to keep us on track. It is very easy to cross boundaries to help people.

The OP never stated the piercing was new! Not new, not infected, no need for a nurse! I have had teachers send me pre- k and kindergarten kids to undo their belt buckle so they can use the restroom. A few had accidents before they even got to me? If we do not draw a line, we will get everything dumped on us! Not enough hours in our day!

Amen!

It is the parent's responsibility to make sure those ear piercings are well-taken care of and infection-free. I would never expect the school nurse to monitor and take care of that on my children. If they were for some reason in severe pain that impeded their school day, then yes, I would expect her to at least have a look at it and let me know, but I don't think it's her "responsibility". I have had students come into my clinic with infected piercings asking for me to remove them. I won't do it, but I'll send a note home or call the parent letting them know it is infected and should be taken care of when they get home. I will clean it a little and put some ointment on it, but that's it. Far too often we are asked to take care of issues that could have and should have been taken care of at home. I've put earrings back in place and it wasn't a big deal. Primarily because they always seem to come from a class that has a male teacher and I understand that he may not know how to do those types of things. I don't have specialized training in zipper un-sticking or knotted shoelaces either. Not sure why they can't do those either, but that's a different topic. Whoever said the nurse's office is used as a "dumping ground" was dead on. I think putting it in an envelope and sending it home was perfectly appropriate.

Specializes in critical care, Med-Surg.

Sorry, guess I'm just from med-surg, where EVERYTHING is your responsibility.

I'm amused by the timing of this post: yesterday a girl asked me to put her earring back in for her :). First time for that. She saw me in the hallway and asked on her way to lunch (i.e. the teacher did not send her). I gloved and put it back in.

20 seconds and I was back to my not-being-able-to-get-a-lunch-break....

I'm amused by the timing of this post: yesterday a girl asked me to put her earring back in for her :). First time for that. She saw me in the hallway and asked on her way to lunch (i.e. the teacher did not send her). I gloved and put it back in.

20 seconds and I was back to my not-being-able-to-get-a-lunch-break....

I haven't had it happen yet .. . . we shall see. :nailbiting:

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