Special Needs Student Left Alone in School Nurse Office

Flare, ASN, BSN · Mar 29, 2011

That's astounding to me. That poor child must have been terrified to wake up alone in a dark office.

On a side note that must be one heck of an office if you could forget about a student in there. (or one very out of it nurse)

caregiver1977 · Mar 29, 2011

Another reason why I wouldn't trust the public school system to keep my child safe if he/she had a deadly peanut allergy or need Diastat administered regularly. Too many kids; too many mistakes.

Heidi the nurse, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2011

I'm thinking there is more to this story. As was mentioned in the article, someone should have noticed that no one had signed the girl out. It just doesn't sound right.

And BTW, patient1977, your peanut allergic or diastat dependent child probably wouldn't even be accepted by a private school - they are not under an obligation to provide a "Free and Appropriate Public Education" like public school are mandated to by federal law. We take our medically fragile children very seriously.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2011

This was an after school program, and apparently the kids went home on a "late bus", so there was no one signing the child out. Not saying that they still shouldn't have noticed, but it would be easier to miss one child when you have a group of kids boarding the bus versus your sign out sheet missing a signature. Still not right, but it sounds plausible to me.

Ultimately, I think the brunt of the responsibility has to be with the nurse who left the child unattended. I don't even like going to lunch when there is a child resting in my office!

caregiver1977 · Mar 29, 2011

I'm thinking there is more to this story. As was mentioned in the article, someone should have noticed that no one had signed the girl out. It just doesn't sound right.
And BTW, patient1977, your peanut allergic or diastat dependent child probably wouldn't even be accepted by a private school - they are not under an obligation to provide a "Free and Appropriate Public Education" like public school are mandated to by federal law. We take our medically fragile children very seriously.

Oh, no Heidi the Nurse, I appreciate the public schools, but I think some children's medical problems are beyond what the public school could handle. Schools are staffed by education professionals, not medical ones. If I had such a child with a deadly peanut allergy, diastat dependent, or some such serious issue I would probably either homeschool or try to find a school that could handle a child with serious medical needs.

I agree that the first person that should have noticed this student was the nurse.

Heidi the nurse, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2011

Private schools are not run by medical professionals. I don't understand the logic. Home school is always an option, but parents have the right to send their children to school if they desire. As a nurse, I consider myself a medical professional. In my state diastat can only be given by a nurse, so if a child needs it, they are in a school that is staffed by a medical professional. Same with diabetics. "Deadly" peanut allergies - the parents are within their right to ask to have the child at a school with a nurse. If I was a parent of a child that actually had had an anaphylatic reaction in the past you would be I would make sure they were in a school with a nurse. So many of the "deadly" peanut allergies aren't - research has shown this. A skin test might tell a doctor that the child has IgG to peanuts, but it will not tell how severe the reaction will be, if there is even one at all. I have a student who can eat peanuts in candy, but is "allergic" to peanut butter. Have heard of another that is "allergic" to peanuts, but regularly eat peanut butter sandwiches. I'm not saying that peanut allergies don't exist, but I am starting to think doctors are writing epi-pen orders to CYA.

I still think there is more to this story.

caregiver1977 · Mar 30, 2011

Private schools are not run by medical professionals. I don't understand the logic. Home school is always an option, but parents have the right to send their children to school if they desire. As a nurse, I consider myself a medical professional. In my state diastat can only be given by a nurse, so if a child needs it, they are in a school that is staffed by a medical professional. Same with diabetics. "Deadly" peanut allergies - the parents are within their right to ask to have the child at a school with a nurse. If I was a parent of a child that actually had had an anaphylatic reaction in the past you would be I would make sure they were in a school with a nurse. So many of the "deadly" peanut allergies aren't - research has shown this. A skin test might tell a doctor that the child has IgG to peanuts, but it will not tell how severe the reaction will be, if there is even one at all. I have a student who can eat peanuts in candy, but is "allergic" to peanut butter. Have heard of another that is "allergic" to peanuts, but regularly eat peanut butter sandwiches. I'm not saying that peanut allergies don't exist, but I am starting to think doctors are writing epi-pen orders to CYA.
I still think there is more to this story.

I am not talking about the regular, run-of-the-mill private school. In my area there are at least two schools that are for special needs children, and they are private. I don't think I even mentioned a private school anyway. I am NOT one of these parents who blanket all private schools wonderful and all public schools bad. I have been in the public school classroom with special needs children and the kids that were hearing impaired, in wheelchairs, or had to take time out to test their blood sugar were handled fine.

I think all children deserve a public school education, but sometimes a child's SAFETY overrides rights. There are all kinds of rights and laws, but I as a parent must decide what is safe for my particular child.

When I spoke of Diastat, I know of parents that are lobbying for TEACHERS to be able to administer that drug. I personally don't think that is safe. It is good that in your area nurses are the ones who administer it. But what if you are handling another emergency when a child needs it? Maybe I wrap myself in too many what ifs...

When I was referring to the deadly peanut allergy I was referring to the case of the 6 year old girl in Florida where the parents want her classmates to wash their hands after every meal and wash out their mouths. It's the parents who say her allergy is deadly. Frankly, many of those kids NEED more washing. According to them she can't be around peanuts, can't have anyone touch her who has eaten peanuts, if you eat peanuts you can't breathe on her. I am saying that if she is that sensitive then her system is too sensitive for the public school system, good school nurse at the school or not.

I have a background in print journalism, so yes, there is usually more to a news story than what is presented to the public.

LACA, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

I must have misread the article or something, because I don't see where it says anything about her being a sub nurse...she's a retired nurse working for the city district and she's part time, but I don't see anything about her being a sub...did I miss it??

Heidi the nurse, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

I agree that if a child is that sensitive (and some researchers don't believe it is possible, as the protein in peanuts that cause allerrgy might be too big to aresolize (sp?)) the parent should do the right thing by the cihild, but sometimes they don't.

I am in a pretty suburban area - the nearest fire station is about 10 blocks away. If I was involved in an emergency when I child had a sezivure and needed diastat - it would depend on what it was. We haven't had this happen yet, although have on occasion have had a diabetic in the health room for a regular check when diastat was needed. You just need to proiritize. Our policy is to call 911 anytime diastat is given so I would probably go give the diastat and have the diabetic wait. It only takes a couple minutes. If it was an emergency inthe health room, 911 would have been called anyway - perfect timing. :)

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

I must have misread the article or something, because I don't see where it says anything about her being a sub nurse...she's a retired nurse working for the city district and she's part time, but I don't see anything about her being a sub...did I miss it??

From the article: "The nurse has retired and she's just filling in for a few hours," said Haverhill Superintendent of Schools Jim Scully. "As I said, she is no longer working in that program and the rest of the details about her employment we're working on right now."

I assummed "filling in" to mean sub. I also saw a discussion of it on another school nursing site that referred to her as a sub in the headline, then linked to this article. (It was an email...School Health Alert...that I get weekly that referred to her as a sub).

LACA, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

From the article: "The nurse has retired and she's just filling in for a few hours," said Haverhill Superintendent of Schools Jim Scully. "As I said, she is no longer working in that program and the rest of the details about her employment we're working on right now."
I assummed "filling in" to mean sub. I also saw a discussion of it on another school nursing site that referred to her as a sub in the headline, then linked to this article. (It was an email...School Health Alert...that I get weekly that referred to her as a sub).

Aha! I missed the "filling in" part...thanks for clearing that up!