Wetting accidents

[Tamara421]

I work in an Elementary and have an occasional student pee in his/her pants. We assist in hygiene, change to clean clothes, and send a note home to parents informing of incidence and to ask to return the borrowed clothes. Unless its a frequent flyer, we do not call the parents. Do you feel we should call the parent instead of sending a note since its not a medical emergency or issue that needs immediate attention?

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i tend to go through my supply of "lender" clothing rather quickly. And getting it back is like pulling teeth. So my take on it is once my supply is gone, it's gone. I'll make a call and the parent can come with a costume change. the little ones (pk and k) are supposed to have a costume change in their cubbies so often they are prepared.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

I have a very limited number and size of pants for students to "borrow" - they usually end up never bringing them back. So I always attempt to call home first for someone to bring in spare clothes. That way I either speak to someone right then or leave a voicemail for later.

Frequent wetters, especially those that have spare clothes sent in ahead of time, just get a note sent home.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I don't work with that age group currently, but when I subbed and worked with the younger ones, we called home for a change of clothes. (The kindergarten classrooms had their own restrooms to try and prevent accidents before they happened.)

Now working with middle school and high school kids, we have a supply of school uniforms for many reasons, but I use 'em for the middle school girls when that first time of the month hits and they don't notice until its too late. The kids are pretty good at returning the borrowed stuff back to our stash. I do call home for those kids, but it usually after the kid is back in class to give mom/guardian a head's up :).

[NurseKitKat]

Gosh, we don't even deal with those where I work. "Accidents" are not medical, so they are not brought to the nurse.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

Gosh, we don't even deal with those where I work. "Accidents" are not medical, so they are not brought to the nurse.

Oh, how I wish I could enforce that! But the "nurse" around here is also the eyeglass fixer, the muddy clothes cleaner, the shoelace replacer, etc, etc....

[100kids, BSN, RN]

I always call home when there is a bathroom accident to let he parent know. If I have extra clothes I will let the child use them and when I call home I always ask for them to be washed and returned. I get about 50% back. If I don't have clothes I will ask the parents to bring them in. If it happens more than I ask the parent to bring in an extra set of clothes for me to keep in my office for any future needs.

[Cackalacky]

This doesn't typically come to the nurse at my schools, but the secretaries always try calling home first and then give some loner clothes if no one can come. So, they're kind of like "emergency" supplies. I'm not sure if they actually get them back, but I'm going to guess not.

I had one teacher even tie a bag around the student because they couldn't reach the parents and they were having a class party.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

I had one teacher even tie a bag around the student because they couldn't reach the parents and they were having a class party.

I've had to do that for two students so far -- wetting accidents right before or during dismissal, no time to call home and no spare clothes that fit, so they get a "fasionable new skirt!" to wear on the bus home. Just cut the bottom off a big trash bag and tie it up.

[tictac]

Oh, how I wish I could enforce that! But the "nurse" around here is also the eyeglass fixer, the muddy clothes cleaner, the shoelace replacer, etc, etc....

So true! I'm also the dress code enforcer and apparently a hair stylist if they come to school with their hair in their eyes or spiked up in a mini-mohawk. Our AP tries to send them to me but I tell them I have nothing to do with that.

[Nurse ABC]

Those that don't have to deal with it are so lucky. They send them to me because it's a hygeine issue plus it's a central location for extra clothes. We have a couple who I swear are just not potty trained. At one school I have a church that donates extra clothes which is wonderful. If I start running low I call the parent to bring clothes if I can reach them. One kid pooped his pants big time and thankfully I reached mom who comes in and literally tries to hand me his clothes. Um no thank you! I'm like you can take him to the bathroom down the hall. On that note, they are installing diaper changing areas for pre-k next year. The teachers will have fun with that. Potty training will no longer be a requirement for new preK. I think that's insane. It's going to turn into a free daycare for many!

[rntracy1, BSN, RN]

Gosh, here too. The one thing I DID put my foot down on though was cleaning dog poo off of shoes. I went to the teacher's meeting and told them, "cleaning dog poo off of shoes does not require a medical license. The only reason you would send that to me is because you feel it is beneath you. If you do not want to clean it, what makes you think I do? If you don't want to do it, give the child paper towels or send them to the bathroom and have them clean it, but don't send them to me. I don't clean dog poo off of shoes!" I told the child, there's the sink, go ahead and clean it. She said, "you actually want ME to clean it?" I said, "Yeah! It's your shoe. Why should I clean it?" She said, "My mom told me to come to school and have someone clean it." I said, "Your shoe was like that before you left home this morning?!" She said, "Yeah, it happened while I was playing outside yesterday and my mom told me to have someone here clean it for me." I said, "Well, someone IS cleaning it. From now on, if you don't want to do it, mom needs to do it for you. ok?" She said, "ok, I will tell her." I was soooo hoping I would get a phone call from the mom, but I didn't.