Tired of being "the bad guy"...

[caretakerofkids]

I am tired of being the "bad guy" and I just want to keep our kids safe!  Are the rest of you getting negative feedback from parents when you have to call to tell them their child needs to quarantine due to being a close contact of a positive student?  A lot of the parents are great and understanding, but I have just as many lately that complain about how their child "is hardly ever around that kid" (the one that is positive) or that they have to work and this is hurting their job, and "this is just stupid!  My child is fine!  You all are over-reacting!"  

I have heard every excuse in the book as to why their child shouldn't have to quarantine, and I've been lied to and cursed at over this.  I try to patiently explain that we are following Department of Health and CDC guidelines, and I am very sorry, but we have to follow those rules for everyone's safety.  I would rather have a bunch of parents mad at me for "overreacting" than to not do enough and someone get critically sick with COVID!  I am in a very small town and there is so much drama!  My co-workers and I do our best in identifying close contacts.  We interview teachers, students to the best of our ability (keeping the name of the positive COVID person out of it) and even watch the security camera videos to see what happened in certain situations in order to identify those close contacts.

I've had parents try to talk us into letting their child return from quarantine early with a negative test, though we've been told by the health department that a negative test doesn't get a close contact out of quarantine!  10 days is our district's minimum quarantine for close contacts.  I DO feel for the parents and I DO know it's taking a toll on everyone!  I am sympathetic and I DO care, some days just take the wind out of my sails.  I'm trying not to take it personally.  I'm not the only one getting backlash - all of administration is!   Here's hoping we can put this COVID mess behind us as soon as possible!  

Thank you for letting me vent!!  I knew you all could probably understand my frustration!!

[guest464345]

23 hours ago, BrookieRN84 said:

We do not have a health department in our county.  I’m in a high school with 2600 kids and 200 staff members.  I am *this close* to not doing anymore contact tracing.  I don’t have time for any of my other job duties.  Athletics doesn’t let me quarantine those that need to quarantine, and I’ve seen time and time again kids that are supposed to be quarantining are out with their friends off campus and end up getting it and spreading it around.   If something doesn’t give, I don’t know if I can come back in the fall.  

I understand your frustration. Our public health dept gave up contact tracing months ago, and pushed it on to school nurses. But we're 100% reliant on self-reporting from kids/families soooo....yeah.

I'm not allowed to handle any athletics exposures (which have been the vast majority of exposures in our schools). Admin and the coaches decide who's exposed, they send an exposure letter that doesn't use the word "quarantine," and they let me do the data entry for public health reporting.  We have full-on Winter sports, including wrestling.

Honestly I'm not sure I'm coming back in the fall either.  I'm not sure I'm going to even be a nurse. 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

9 hours ago, laflaca said:

I understand your frustration. Our public health dept gave up contact tracing months ago, and pushed it on to school nurses. But we're 100% reliant on self-reporting from kids/families soooo....yeah.

I'm not allowed to handle any athletics exposures (which have been the vast majority of exposures in our schools). Admin and the coaches decide who's exposed, they send an exposure letter that doesn't use the word "quarantine," and they let me do the data entry for public health reporting.  We have full-on Winter sports, including wrestling.

Honestly I'm not sure I'm coming back in the fall either.  I'm not sure I'm going to even be a nurse. 

Do you have some way of documenting this insanity for your own records? It sounds like a situation that could go south, quickly. THEN watch the pointing fingers fly.

(Glad to know that athletics trumps public health- it's important to know a district's priorities...)

What part of the country are you in?

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Student advised close contact, on a plane south the next day...

Student travelling, parent advised of post travel Q rules "We'll see about THAT" mmmkay....

Aye yay yay....

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

I honestly don't envy school nurse jobs, especially with this going on. (((HUGS))) to you all. It's hard enough in the dialysis clinics where patients and families lie about exposure, but were the ones just last week stating they would come clean out the clinic if "mom" got it from another sick patient. In our state, the sick patients go to a clinic that is set up for covid positives and those under investigation. No one wants to travel, causing the lies.

Having someone take control out of your hands but expect you to control the situation...grrrrrr. I don't have words for the craziness. I just hope it gets better for all of us soon

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

12 minutes ago, Hoosier_RN said:

I honestly don't envy school nurse jobs, especially with this going on. (((HUGS))) to you all. It's hard enough in the dialysis clinics where patients and families lie about exposure, but were the ones just last week stating they would come clean out the clinic if "mom" got it from another sick patient. In our state, the sick patients go to a clinic that is set up for covid positives and those under investigation. No one wants to travel, causing the lies.

Having someone take control out of your hands but expect you to control the situation...grrrrrr. I don't have words for the craziness. I just hope it gets better for all of us soon

Thanks! at least one upside is that in a school system (especially a small one) someone ALWAYS talks!!! FIbbers gonna fib, but we are gonna catch most of them!!

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

16 minutes ago, NutmeggeRN said:

Thanks! at least one upside is that in a school system (especially a small one) someone ALWAYS talks! FIbbers gonna fib, but we are gonna catch most of them!!

We catch ours when asking screening questions. " do you or anyone you are in close contact with have covid or covid symptoms?"  Answer "no, but my daughter Mary came this weekend to give my daughter Sue a break. Mary has Covid, but says it's no big deal since she doesn't live at my address. We didn't wear masks, because she is my daughter, we have the same germs". Of course, patient has fever on arrival to clinic. Frustrating!  At least I don't have to do contact tracing on top of it!

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

40 minutes ago, NutmeggeRN said:

Thanks! at least one upside is that in a school system (especially a small one) someone ALWAYS talks! FIbbers gonna fib, but we are gonna catch most of them!!

We've had so many little ones tattle on their parents.  It kills me when the kids share with us that they were INSTRUCTED to lie.  "Mom told me I have to say we went near Wisconsin to ski this weekend because if I say I went to Wisconsin then we have to quarantine for two weeks" as their little eyes well up with tears.  We are of course so careful and gentle with them to make sure they know they aren't in trouble and we aren't mad at them. I can't stand it when the sweet little babies cry out of fear.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

31 minutes ago, BrisketRN said:

We've had so many little ones tattle on their parents.  It kills me when the kids share with us that they were INSTRUCTED to lie.  "Mom told me I have to say we went near Wisconsin to ski this weekend because if I say I went to Wisconsin then we have to quarantine for two weeks" as their little eyes well up with tears.  We are of course so careful and gentle with them to make sure they know they aren't in trouble and we aren't mad at them. I can't stand it when the sweet little babies cry out of fear.

It sucks that family asks the kids (and in other settings, patients) to lie. Willing to risk everyone's health for their convenience ?

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

2 minutes ago, Hoosier_RN said:

It sucks that family asks the kids (and in other settings, patients) to lie. Willing to risk everyone's health for their convenience ?

ANYTHING to ski! I swear!

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

2 hours ago, BrisketRN said:

ANYTHING to ski! I swear!

In my area it has been "anything for sports, (read hockey)"

[KKEGS, MSN, RN]

Our health department is so far behind with contact tracing that they are relying on the schools to handle that part as well as the parent education regarding isolation and quarantine for our students and staff.  Otherwise the isolation or quarantine time would have already passed by the time the health department gets to them.  

[guest464345]

11 hours ago, Jedrnurse said:

Do you have some way of documenting this insanity for your own records? It sounds like a situation that could go south, quickly. THEN watch the pointing fingers fly.

(Glad to know that athletics trumps public health- it's important to know a district's priorities...)

What part of the country are you in?

I'll give you a hint, our new cases/100k population has recently "improved" from over 800 to like....650? Worst transmission rates in the US for the entire month of January, I believe?  No state mask mandate, bars are open, indoor dining A-OK, gyms, salons, all open.  So although HS wrestling and basketball are a terrible idea, they're happening in the context of a lot of other terrible ideas which everyone seems to accept.

I worry most about our bus drivers.  Average age is at least 65, and they're in enclosed vehicles with these teams for hours at a time.  I don't care which seats the kids are in or whether it's 6' back or if everyone's wearing (cloth) masks - it's a tragedy waiting to happen.  I am reaching out to drivers trying to get them vaccinated, and trying to get them to consider double-masking or getting KN95's.  I am actually kind of sneaking around to do it, since I'm pretty sure this is considered outside my lane.  Overall, a very strange time for me professionally. 

We're at basic harm reduction, I guess, since proactive public health measures seem impossible.