When admin fails to share "critical" information

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Community Health, School Health.

I am pretty steamed right now. I have a third grade student who I have known since K. A little precocious, can be needy, mom babies her (talks to her in a baby vice and coddles her). She has intermittent asthma. It has been an issue every year getting mom to bring in an inhaler to keep here at school. This year has been no different. She was coming down to see me daily, wheezing and saying she still hadn't brought the inhaler. I was calling mom, getting frustrated because mom would say she would bring it tomorrow, just has to pick it up at the pharmacy, etc. This went on for weeks. Meanwhile, kid was coming to me with random somatic complaints as well.

So last week she came to see me wheezing, with an empty inhaler. I told her I could not help her and after assessing her and making sure she was stable, told her to go back to class and get some work to bring down while she waits, and I would call her mom to bring in the inhaler. She came back down and I gave her a pencil to do her work. Mom is unavailable. She is not wheezing at all anymore so I send her back up. I let her keep my pencil. Profanities appear on the wall in the stairwell and her inhaler is found nearby. She denies it was her and says I got my pencil back. Lots of back and forth. She finally admits it. The whole situation was a mess. I never do get an inhaler for her...

Anyway, come to find out that her mother had twins two months ago and one of the twins passed away. The other is still in the NICU. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS. I am beyond pissed that no one thought it was important to share this information with either the nurse or the guidance counselor. So much of her recent behaviors and visits now make sense to me. The only reason I found out is because the MUSIC teacher sent an email to everyone that said "as everyone knows, ______ recently lost a baby sister, blah blah blah and was tooting her own horn about writing a song with the kid about the baby and wanted to make sure we all knew that.

I am sure many of you have been left out of critical information before. I just feel like if I had knows, I would have responded very differently to mom not getting the inhaler and might have been able to plug her into resources, etc.

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Nightmare, and the music teacher is irking me the most.

Call 911 the next time she has an asthma attack and see how quickly mom gets you an inhaler.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

Oh my bananas.

I understand that you feel sad for the family and frustrated with the lack of info....and yes, those are "need to know" things.

I feel so bad for your little girl. Momma has way more in the fire and it sounds like she's going to just limp through the rest of the year....

Hang in there.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

Because the nurse and guidance department certainly don't need that type of info, but it's top priority that the music teacher does.

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*HUGS*

Varied circumstances, but that kind of stuff happens to me ALL. OF. THE. TIME.

It is so frustrating.

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Specializes in kids.

Gah!...although it is usually the guidance dept who is holding back...

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Gah!...although it is usually the guidance dept who is holding back...

NO! it's usually Special Ed. They think they own the kids.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I had TWO emails this week from when I reached out to parents about pretty extreme stuff saying "Oh we e-mailed everyone but you. Somehow the nurse slipped our mind." And this was about HEALTH stuff!

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I had TWO emails this week from when I reached out to parents about pretty extreme stuff saying "Oh we e-mailed everyone but you. Somehow the nurse slipped our mind." And this was about HEALTH stuff!

YES!!! I thought that only happened to me!

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