Why parents! Why?!!

[MrsNurse08]

Good morning,

Mom brought student in late states he had a fever this morning and that he always gets a fever with allergies. Secretary still gives child a late slip. Why do parents bring/send their child to school sick? What is you guys protocol at your school about fevers?

[Amethya]

Our protocol is 100.4, but I lower it to 100, because 8/10 it will rise.

And as well we tell parents if the child is afebrile for more than 24 hours, they have to stay home. Sometimes before they decide to drop the child, they call me in to check his temp, especially if the kid isn't sick but mom felt him "warm", I just check and if it's like 99, then he's golden but I'll check in on him every once in a while.

[SaltineQueen]

Fever with allergies, really?

Our policy is below 100 for 24 hours without meds.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

Our policy is somewhat like this but the district states "it is suggested that you keep your child at home"

Same here, not in our policy to be fever-free or vomit free.

[cooties_are_real]

Our policy is somewhat like this but the district states "it is suggested that you keep your child at home"

Our states that they are to be out 24 hours fever free without medication. Each time they say "I didn't know that" I want to ask if they signed that they read the handbook. One that makes me mad is when I send them home late in the day with fever (over 100.0) and they go ahead and send them the next day saying they didn't know. I know I told them and they seemed to understand what I was saying.

[Purple036, LVN]

I am a sub nurse at a school district. The handbook states "A child must be fever free without a fever reducing agent and have no vomiting or diarrhea for twenty-four hours before returning to school." I tell the parent that over the phone when I call to have the student picked up, tell the parent when they pick up the student and also give them a note stating the protocol. Of course this doesn't mean they will abide but at least you informed them 3 times.

[Supernrse01, BSN]

Students may not attend school until they have been afebrile for 24 hours without the use of antipyretics. I would have called that parent and told them that they needed to come back and take the child home.

This. Exactly this.

[pellykate, ASN]

Good point, Ruby_jane. My personal favorite is "he felt warm, so I thought he had a fever."

Right. I once said to a parapro who brought in a student she just really did not want to deal with that day (temp was in the lower 98's), "She feels warm because she's alive" and laughed so she wouldn't slap me.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Right. I once said to a parapro who brought in a student she just really did not want to deal with that day (temp was in the lower 98's), "She feels warm because she's alive" and laughed so she wouldn't slap me.

BECAUSE SHE'S ALIVE!! I love it. I may steal that and use it.

Exactly Ruby_Jane...I was thinking the exact same thing. I sometimes have to educate parents on what a real fever is smh

OMG so much THIS!!! My good friend is a NICU nurse and has a 5 year-old and a 1 year-old and always calls me for Pediatric advice and questions. She is totally one of those that considers 99 a "fever" for her girls b/c "they usually run 97". I have totally made fun of her for it and reminded her that she is a nurse and should know this, but with her own girls, she insists they have fevers at 99.

[Godsgirl73, MSN, NP]

So...I'm *that* nurse, the one who sends her child to school on ibuprofen so that, at least for the first half of the day, I can work my shift and at least pretend that my child isn't sick enough to need me to stay off work. I'm also working as a pediatric nurse right now, and have 15-years of family/all-ages nursing and NP practice behind me. I have always advised parents to keep their kids at home if they have a fever (more than 38.5C). However, I also know the reality of being a parent who takes too much time off work to care for sick children. It's like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

I returned to nursing this past September after a 5-year lapse. My son got his first illness of the school year exactly 1.5 weeks later. I took 2 days off to care for him, for which my manager was very supportive. Then he got sick with a fever 3 weeks later. So I and my husband each took 2 days off to be with my son that week. My supervisor was good about it; however, she wasn't able to obtain coverage for me for one of the days, which was problematic for the doctor I work for. (I work in a small office where there is only one nurse per doctor.) Since then, my son has had a fever lasting a few days every 3 to 4 weeks. Both myself and the pediatrician I work with feel he likely has a periodic fever syndrome because other than a elevated WBC count, his labs are normal. But honestly, if I took time off every time my son has a fever, for the duration of his fever (3-6 days), I don't think I would still have a job to return to! My husband has definitely been fantastic and taken half of my son's sick days, but the reality is that neither of us can be off work as often as my son has a fever. Unfortunately, we don't have a back up person to take our children when they're sick, or we would definitely choose that option! So I guess what I'm saying is that most parents likely know that they're making a poor choice in sending their child to school with a fever, but sometimes, work dictates how often a parent can miss work. It's a sad reality. I never thought I would be the mom who does this. But right now, I have to be and I know I'm not the only parent in that boat.

[tining, BSN, RN]

PFSA with MD documentation is ok at school; had a student with this, he will grow out it.

To OP - sounds like you need to speak with your front office too. They should have told you about this student and let you speak with mom.

[Nurse2Kids]

what is PFsa? I'm sorry.