Student wants to go home...

Flare, ASN, BSN · Mar 10, 2010

That's usually what i tell them - that I want to go home too. Then i send them on their way... back to class.

mustlovepoodles, RN · Mar 10, 2010

UGh. Don't you hate when teachers do this? "Oh, you don't look like yourself, are you sick? Do you think you need to go home?" Duh. :uhoh3:THe answer will always be YES. My rule is, you must demonstrate your illness and it better be something worth getting out of my chair for. Most of the time the kid is mildy dehydrated--they simply don't drink water at school. I get them all the time, haven't had a drink of water since last night. :confused: No wonder they "don't look like themselves."

If the kid is walking around in the clinic picking up my bandaids, looking at my stuffed toys and asking about my kids' pictures then he's not really sick enough to go home.I require that they drink at least 1 cup of water while they are with me--either they get better or they go ahead and puke. Cuts right to the chase. :devil: Vomiting must be witnessed by an adult, not self-reported (I have a kid who comes at least once a week with c/o vomiting but nobody ever sees it. Seems he was out with a legitimate GI virus a few weeks ago and enjoyed his time off so much that he just wants to go home and play now. Geez, don't we all!) If there are no symptoms I send them back to class with a note that says, "No fever, no vomiting, throat looks fine, breathing okay. Encourage child to drink extra water." And sign it with a smiley face :)

Nurse_Ziba · Mar 11, 2010

Sometimes it annoys me when a teacher assumes that the student needs to go home just because he feels like it. It's annoying that they keep on passing the bucket when obviously it's a classroom management/behavioral issue. As much as I would love to baby those kids I realized that we are all molding them to be a better person and if we continue to spoon feed them with everything and give them what they want regardless of the consequences, then sooner or later when they are out in the real world they'll realize life is too unfair just because don't get what they want. Sometimes the best was to show that we actually care is through tough love. I too was a frequent flier when I was in grade school (how ironic that I'm now a school nurse ) and I remember the nurse would send me back to class whenever I tell her I don't feel well when actually I just wanted to sleep for 15 mins and skip math class. After numerous attempt, I stop doing it and stayed in class even when I don't feel like it. Reflecting on it, I hoped the teachers would have just dealt with it in the first place instead of letting the nurse do the disciplining.

LOL at I want to go home too.. :lol2:

kidsnurse1969 · Mar 11, 2010

I remember being a frequent flyer as a child too. My school nurse was still working in my old school when I got this job. You bet I called her to get some starting points. She retired a couple of years ago.

I like to think of it as an early internship rather than trying to skip class.

safarirn · Mar 11, 2010

I'm a push over, I guess.

If a kid throws up his/her lunch & they say they're not feeling well, they're going home w/ my full blessing!!!

(I'm in an elementary school).

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2010

I have the "vomit doesn't count unless I (or the teacher) sees it" also. It has cut out a lot of the I-went-to-the-bathroom-and-threw-up fakers.

I also have a 2 vomit rule. One episode (especially like this when it is just a little, mostly mucus spit-up), and we wait 15-30 minutes and see what happens. No further vomiting, back to class. Any further episodes, parents called to pick up. Unless of course a fever, then it is automatically home with or without vomiting.

LACA, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 11, 2010

I would send the note back "the child appears to be fine, he's okay to return to class." I am NOT sending a child home just because he wants to go...heck, the entire school would be empty!

I just had a 4th grader come up here because he "was sleepy and throat hurts a little bit". When questioned, he's not feelin good because he stayed up late last night watching TV....sorry, mister--back to class with you. I was up late last night too, because my 15 month old has an ear infection, I'm here, so are you!

Tough love?? Definitely. Heartless?? No, not at all.

My job is to make sure that these kids do their job- get an education. If they have a fever over 99.5, throw up more than once, or I can just tell they feel like crap, they're going home. But I'm NOT sending a child home because a teacher thinks "they feel warm" or "they aren't themselves". I sat my happy rear end in school plenty of days when I didn't feel the greatest. It's called dealing with it. LOL

Whew...I think I'm done now haha!

:spbox:

missfixit · Mar 11, 2010

I would call if the student was not a frequent flyer. BUT I would make sure that the parent knew that I did not see any symptoms of illness. If MY personal children ask to come home from school, something is wrong-- so as a parent, I would want a call. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what everyone else posted as well and follow most of the same rules, but there are times that a child, especially a young one, just needs to talk to a parent and they do not know how to ask.

luvschoolnursing, LPN · Mar 11, 2010

I call with any student that insists on going home. If I don't, they go to the bathroom, use their cell phone to call parent then the parent c/o that I wouldn't sent their ever-so-sick child home. I tried to battle this when I started working here, but admin wants me to do it this way.

mustlovepoodles, RN · Mar 12, 2010

I would call if the student was not a frequent flyer. BUT I would make sure that the parent knew that I did not see any symptoms of illness. If MY personal children ask to come home from school, something is wrong-- so as a parent, I would want a call. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what everyone else posted as well and follow most of the same rules, but there are times that a child, especially a young one, just needs to talk to a parent and they do not know how to ask.

I agree, there are time when nothing will do but a call to a parent. Last week I had a 4th grader come to me with c/o pain--someone threw a pencil at him and it hit him in the upper chest. I took a look at it. There was a small red dot and no broken skin. I gave him an ice pack and sent him back to class with a note for the parents.

Not even 5 minutes later he comes back, with a note from the teacher which says," Nicholas says he is in extreme pain and needs to go home right away." :confused: Huh? He was just here. So I look at him. THere is no way this kid is in extreme pain, but I can see that we're not going to get anywhere with that. So I called his dad and told him what happened, how it looked, what I did, AND I told him that Nicholas does not appear to be in "extreme pain" to me. Dad talked to son. The first thing out of that boy's mouth is "I need to go home. We could watch a movie or play Wii." :mad: Fortunatley, Dad has some common sense and didn't fall for this. I let them talk for a few, until the boy began to get manipulative--oops, time's up! Dad agreed with me and we BOTH sent him back to class.

YOu want to know the real reason that teacher sent the boy back to me? Dad is an attorney. :uhoh3: Sheesh. (and a very nice man, indeed :))

manjaNurse · Mar 23, 2010

What's up with these teachers huh? I tot their main job is to give education rite? I have a teacher who insisted that the girl is pale-looking. I acn't find anything wrong with her. Send her back to class and teacher send her back down to me and insisted that she's not well!!! call mommy and mommy asked her if she wants to go home..and of course the answer was yes!! RIDICULOUS!She was then happily grinning in my room while waiting for mommy.

Another incident, a kid wants to go home and said he's having tummy ache. Teacher is aware of his tummy ache episodes. So i let the kid talked to mummy over the phone and ...ta da!!! tummy ache's gone!!