What you wish you could say to the staff at your school

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Here are my most current vents:

1) My office is not your personal phone booth. I realize the main office is noisy, but that is not my problem. Please find another place for your personal calls. I do not care to hear your personal drama.

2) Seriously, did you bathe in perfume this morning. I smelled you coming into the office before I saw you. Do you not realize we have students and staff for whom this is a trigger for asthma and migraines (myself included)? Do you care?

3) I have already checked your student out. There is no medical reason to send them home. I have spoken to their parents who agree they need to remain in school. If they are still complaining and disrupting the class, perhaps it's time to employ some classroom management techniques and treat this as the behavioral problem that it is, instead of the medical problem that it is NOT!

That's it for now. I am sure more will be forthcoming. What do you wish you could say to the teachers, staff, and admin that you work with?

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I always want to ask teachers if they ever ask students WHY they needed to come to the nurse.

I just had a 3rd grader run into my office and interrupt a phone call because she got toothpaste in her hair this morning, and now her hair "felt weird".

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Specializes in Telemetry, Gastroenterology, School Nrs.

1) Broken flip flops are not something that I learned to deal with in Nursing school.

2)My office/clinic is not the free space to use to send the student who is misbehaving. I shouldn't have to deal with them just because you didn't want to.

3) I am not a miracle worker. If the phone number to mom, dad, grandma/pa, aunt, uncle cousin, etc... has been disconnected and little Sally is sick, I can't do anything more than you just did.

4)I am not a doctor. I can not diagnose. I am not a doctor I can not diagnose... (actually do say this a lot but I don't think it sinks in)

5)My eyes can detect head lice just as easily as yours can. If you saw nits and a live louse, no reason for me to go digging through their head too... Call home.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.

-I know you sent a student in 4 times today because she " didn't look well". I sent her back to class each time because she was drawing pictures, talking to other students in the health room, and playing around. When I sent her back to class for the 4th time she loudly stated " feel all better now".

- Please stop coming to the health room for a BP chbeck when you cleary see other students waiting. This is just rude. I'm here mainly for them not for you the hyperchondriac.

That is all for now...

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Ah yes........

* Why did you send a student up who had an "accident", and you sent his clean clothes with him? Is my bathroom more special than your bathroom?

*Oh yes, the broken sandal. I didn't go to cobbler's school. Or eyeglass repair school. Or clean do-doo off sneakers school...

*Really now. A cut so tiny I couldn't see it unless I looked under the magnifying lamp??? Did I not give you bandaids??

*Oh, and the ones who didn't take their ADHD medication, and now they're acting up? I know you want me to keep them here until Mom/Dad/other brings the meds (and who knows when that will be), but guess what? I've got sick kids here, and you're going to have to deal with it

*Please - if a child complains of a toothache, ask if his tooth is loose before sending to clinic. Do you know how many kids I've sent back because of that?

I could go on and on, but I'm tired.............

:nurse:

mc3

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Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

Here are mine:

- PLEASE use some common sense before letting a child come to my office! You'll send the kid to me for hiccups? Really? And to have a bandage placed on a dried up, crusty, ancient scab that's about to flake off on its own?? Most of you have children of your own at home. Do you bandage every single pseudo boo-boo? Do you hand your child an ice pack for every single tap/bump/swipe/stumble they receive?? Why do you expect me to?

- When the lawn has just been mowed outside and the pollen count is insane, please do not send a child to me repeatedly, because you noticed his eyes were itchy and watery after outdoor recess. I know, you are "concerned" that maybe he has pink eye. But 1) His eyes are not red. 2) His eyes have no discharge. 3) His mother told me that he suffers from seasonal allergies "big time", and that is how his eyes get. My story will be the same every time you send him to me today... Please, just stop.

- PLEASE stop sending your behavioral issues to me! You may have 1 or 2 in your class that have attitudes that drive you nuts. But, since every one of you guys dump your "problem children" on me for a "mental health break", I have an entire school's worth of them!

- PLEASE be specific when you are frantically yelling, "We need the nurse out at the buses right away!!" I mean, do I need the AED? A first aid kit? The wheelchair? Tell me something, anything! Once I ran out to the buses at dismissal like a maniac, only to find this: Someone noticed that a third grade boy had a tiny red mark on his lip. He said he bumped it earlier in the day, and he didn't go to the nurse because he was fine and it didn't hurt.

Ahhh, thanks for the vent! I do love my job, I just think I'm very ready for Summer at this point... LOL

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Specializes in Pediatric and Adult OR.

- PLEASE be specific when you are frantically yelling, "We need the nurse out at the buses right away!!" I mean, do I need the AED? A first aid kit? The wheelchair? Tell me something, anything! Once I ran out to the buses at dismissal like a maniac, only to find this: Someone noticed that a third grade boy had a tiny red mark on his lip. He said he bumped it earlier in the day, and he didn't go to the nurse because he was fine and it didn't hurt.

Holy crap, guys. I just had my interview yesterday and it went really well, but now I am starting to rethink this possible job change! LOL.

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Please don't send kids when they don't even know why they're there! I ask what is wrong and get shrugged shoulders-really???!! Also if the can't even pronounce their name send a note!

Please do not let the same kids come down every single day because they come up with some reason to just get out of class (esp after I've told you they are a frequent flyer).

Please don't send the diabetic students down when they are feeling "off" or the asthmatic that feels short of breath by themselves!! And yes they are more serious than head lice!

Please remember to send down the ADHD kids for their meds-maybe you need some too since you always forget!

If they didn't eat breakfast send them to the cafeteria-not the nurse.

No, for the 100th time, we do not have Tylenol or Tums for the kids or you! Buy your own if you have headaches at school!

Do not send kids for ice from a bruise a week ago.

Please do not tell me how to do my job-I don't tell you how to teach. I think I'm smart enough to know if it's serious enough for them to go home or the dr or stay at school. Also you're student is faking it with you because they are sure fine in my office! If I send them back do not send them down again unless I tell you otherwise or something else happens.

Ditto for all the other posts as well!!!!

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

You guys have it pretty well covered... i'll just add:

Do you think I'm sitting in here all day reading Cosmo and eating Bon-bons? No - if there are no students in here, i am most likely catching up on my charting. Unlike you, I don't get a prep. the 20 minutes I get for lunch is my only time out of this office... and even then I get called back at least once a week to assess something trivial. (actually the teacher covering my lunch now does a great job of shooing away the non-emergencies! She's terrific!)

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I LOVE our teachers and staff, but some of your peeves really ring true! One to add:

While I do let teachers have Advil from my stock supply, please do not abuse this! You do not need 8 Advil for your headache/back ache/cramps. It's not good for you! Do not hastily woof down a handful of pills after I yell at you "Don't take that many!"

I've started giving it out by hand myself, and they beg for more and get mad after they are denied. Why do they ALL think they need far more than the recommended dosage? It is like an epidemic here. I'm going to have to stop giving it out--period.

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I am laughing so hard at these. I am in a small school so there are so many things that fall on the nurse. I am definitely these kids' mother at school. Being new I have to make sure I don't take on EVERYTHING the teachers don't want to deal with. I'm working on it.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
You guys have it pretty well covered... i'll just add:

Do you think I'm sitting in here all day reading Cosmo and eating Bon-bons? No - if there are no students in here, i am most likely catching up on my charting. Unlike you, I don't get a prep. the 20 minutes I get for lunch is my only time out of this office... and even then I get called back at least once a week to assess something trivial. (actually the teacher covering my lunch now does a great job of shooing away the non-emergencies! She's terrific!)

My office staff is great with my lunch. They don't interrupt unless it's blood, vomit or breathing problems, or something else serious. Any minor things they tell the student to come back in 30 minutes. Small cuts, they clean and bandage themselves. If there are in doubt they will walk down to the lunch room and ask me what to do rather than call me to come back. They rock :)

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