I know many of you don't document teacher assessments and I don't either, but I just want to "confirm" my nursing judgment, if you will, about a teacher I spoke with today.
***ADMINS, NO FACEBOOK PLEASE***
My admin assistant calls me to tell me about teacher asking to go home because they don't feel well, complained about their blood pressure. We have no subs available right now d/t testing, so teach has to stay for now. Admin assistant asks if I would go check the teacher out to make sure they aren't going to pass out or anything (this teacher can be a bit dramatic sometimes)...
Get to the classroom and pull the teacher out and we chit chat about whats going on. Take their BP, systolic is good, diastolic slightly elevated, nothing alarming though. HR and RR WNL. Teach is complaining of a headache. Denies feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or seeing stars, no palpitations, does not feel clammy. Just generally unwell and that its mostly located in their upper body/chest plus the headache. They've already called their doc, no appointments available today. Teacher is still adamant that they feel crummy because of their "elevated BP" and that they have a family history of normal cardiac functions. Teacher requests I listen to their heart to "make sure I don't hear anything". Lungs clear to auscultation, heart sounds normal. Then the teacher goes on to say they're really stressed and tired and that they did not sleep well last night and forgot to put their CPAP mask on (its at this point I do not see the situation as "emergent" but rather, they're just tired and stressed). Instructed teacher to drink some more water and try to tough it out until a sub is available and that I feel they're ok and probably just need some really good rest and to decompress but to call me if new symptoms start (i.e.: racing HR, dizziness, lightheadedness etc. etc.). Teacher smiles, shakes their head, and thanks me as the return to class.
For the most part, I feel confident that they are just beyond tired and have a lot going on. But there's still a little twinge of "what if I missed...." I've made it 2.5 years (knock on wood!!) without a major health emergency on any of my campuses and I don't want today to be "THE day" because I didn't see an inkling of a cardiac event brewing...