Teacher Issue...

[CarlyCastaneda]

I'm mainly just venting, but I'm also wondering what others would do in this situation. I had a teacher send in a student complaining of arm pain. The student was pointing to a small area in the crease of his elbow saying that it was hurting him. He was acting like he was in a lot of pain for it for a minute or so, but then was acting normal and not complaining about it. I assessed him and sent him back to class. There was nothing significant to note. Not even redness. About an hour or so later, the teacher comes back in with the student and says that his arm is getting worse and is swelling so he called his mom and his mom is on the way to pick him up. There was nothing...and I mean, nothing on his arm. It was not swollen. No pain. No red. His mom arrived within a few minutes before I was able to call her because I was dealing with another situation. I hear the mom call the front office that she was here because "the teacher said my son may be having an allergic reaction." I was furious. I went straight outside to the mom and apologized and told her not to panic. She said she had seen an ambulance and was scared her son was in it. The student walked out to the mom and I explained the situation. She took her son home anyway because she thought maybe he was having a bad day and didn't want to be there, but was just as confused as I was about why she was notified that she needs to pick him up.  How would you go about talking to this teacher? Do I just let it go? My two main issues is that 1. He went over my authority as the health professional in the school. and 2. He "diagnosed" a student, leading a parent into complete panic mode. 

[WineRN]

I'm the odd one out here but I would talk with the teacher the next morning when kids weren't around if possible and see if maybe the student was having a bad day or hard time in class since your assessment showed they were fine medically and the parent was confused at the situation too.

Some teachers respond well and might fill you in (maybe student failed a test or is in a group project where they don't like the others or something is going on at home or they were just interrupting the class non stop etc) and then you can explain that all medical issues really need to be sent home through you so that way everyone is on the same page since this parent was so frightened.

Other teachers could be jerks if you approach them and then I'd go to admin. I feel like it always looks good that you at least tried to approach the situation with a cool head and tried to reach a resolution without going to admin first. 

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

23 hours ago, WineRN said:

I'm the odd one out here but I would talk with the teacher the next morning when kids weren't around if possible and see if maybe the student was having a bad day or hard time in class since your assessment showed they were fine medically and the parent was confused at the situation too.

 Some teachers respond well and might fill you in (maybe student failed a test or is in a group project where they don't like the others or something is going on at home or they were just interrupting the class non stop etc) and then you can explain that all medical issues really need to be sent home through you so that way everyone is on the same page since this parent was so frightened.

Other teachers could be jerks if you approach them and then I'd go to admin. I feel like it always looks good that you at least tried to approach the situation with a cool head and tried to reach a resolution without going to admin first. 

At our school, teachers can't call a parent to pick up the children for any reason. If the student is being disruptive they need to elevate it to a visit to the AP, and even then, rarely, are parents called to pick up the child. 

But definitely, ALL medical calls should go through the nurse, or front office in absence of a nurse on campus. 

I realize this is really hard on the high school level since kids will just text their parent to pick them up. 

[Mavnurse17, BSN, RN]

48 minutes ago, lifelearningrn said:

 

I realize this is really hard on the high school level since kids will just text their parent to pick them up. 

I am at the HS level and deal with this on a daily basis.  Kids will come to me for their attendance slip after they've already texted/called parents to get them.  I have them sit in the front office and the parent will have to sign them out as a personal absence.  I won't be affiliated with that absence if I'm not the one initiating it. 

[schoolnursehc]

My admin will not address this problem. I had a child get hit in the jaw by another student's head. Hard enough to knock a tooth out. I was never informed, did not see kid. Teacher called parent & got permission to give ibuprofen. Only when his jaw swelled to the size of a baseball did they call the PARENT. NEVER sent him to me. Had a very bad concussion. I told the teachers they could be fined for practicing medicine, but attitude is 'not me'.

[boozer60]

I have worked as a high school nurse for 25 years. I have seen students getting worse about calling their parents first before coming to see me. Cell phones have made doing our job a lot more difficult in controlling who goes home or not. I have noticed that if I do not send them home, they either call their parent on their own or the teacher will let them call. Very frustrating. Administration doesn't discipline when this happens, they always say there is nothing they can do about it. I also hate it when the teacher tells the student that they need to go home, but when I assess the student, there is no need for them to go home. The student is then insistent about going home because the teacher told them they needed to. Uggghhh!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

1 hour ago, schoolnursehc said:

My admin will not address this problem. I had a child get hit in the jaw by another student's head. Hard enough to knock a tooth out. I was never informed, did not see kid. Teacher called parent & got permission to give ibuprofen. Only when his jaw swelled to the size of a baseball did they call the PARENT. NEVER sent him to me. Had a very bad concussion. I told the teachers they could be fined for practicing medicine, but attitude is 'not me'.

It amazes me that college educated people can't understand why this would be a bad idea.  I totally agree that the staff needs to be educated as to why a practice like that is problematic.  Then of course you get the staff the takes that to heart and swings waaayyy too far in the other direction and won't hand a kid a tissue for a nose bleed because they didn't want to be held liable.  Common sense is a commodity way too short in supply.  

[EnoughWithTheIce]

Sometimes these practices come back to bite them on the butt. I had a student that the SPED was sending home A LOT for "illness." When mom got the truancy letter - she was mad! Admin came to me on why illness absences not excused. and I explained it is because I never saw the student. never happened again with that teacher. Of course, now she drives me crazy with every tiny thing but, oh well!! 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

My pet peeve is the dramatic reinforcement of any student symptoms by some teachers.

"Oh my GOD! You look TERRIBLE!! Are you going to be okay...?"

It knocks my low-key approach out into the water and sometimes even encourages kiddos to start crying...

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

15 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

My pet peeve is the dramatic reinforcement of any student symptoms by some teachers.

"Oh my GOD! You look TERRIBLE!! Are you going to be okay...?"

It knocks my low-key approach out into the water and sometimes even encourages kiddos to start crying...

Made me think of an event 2 weeks ago.  One of my known drama queens tripped in the hallway--the sort of trip where most kids would get up quickly and pretend it didn't happen.  Instead she sprawled herself across the hallway and then our janitor started yelling "OH NO ARE YOU OKAY?"  She turned the dramatics up more.  A small crowd formed around her.  I had to tell them all THREE TIMES to go away.  As soon as the crowd dispersed she was completely fine.

[Camillemm]

Been a school nurse for 26 years and an RN for nearly 40.  It happens all the time.  We often joke about how we are going to send the students back to class with a note about how to teach math.  Let it go.  What's it really matter?  You let the parent know your assessment, you cannot control what others do.  Don't let your ego get in the way.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

1 minute ago, BrisketRN said:

Made me think of an event 2 weeks ago.  One of my known drama queens tripped in the hallway--the sort of trip where most kids would get up quickly and pretend it didn't happen.  Instead she sprawled herself across the hallway and then our janitor started yelling "OH NO ARE YOU OKAY?"  She turned the dramatics up more.  A small crowd formed around her.  I had to tell them all THREE TIMES to go away.  As soon as the crowd dispersed she was completely fine.

Does your school have their own version of the Oscars/Emmies/Tonys?

I smell a...WINNER!!

[amoLucia]

And the Status Dramaticus award goes to ...