Why so long

Specialties School

Published

How long do you normally have to wait for parents to pick up a sick child? I have several parents who take over an hour to get here every single time I call. I have waited almost 2 hours, and then sent the child home on the bus because we couldn't get mom to answer the phone anymore. Of course, my administration says "just keep calling" ? Any ideas on how I should handle this?

I got the call to pick up my sick kiddo while I was in a school two school districts over caring for other people’s sick kiddos!

So I explained to the SN how I was working in the (blah blah) school district, that I could wrap up my work, and be over in about an hour for a pick up. She was super nice about it.

My kiddo told me in the car the SN asked her where my school district was because she had never heard about it ?

1 Votes

It hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’m not sure what I’ll do if one of my daughters gets sick on a day I’m at work at the hospital, her dad is working in another state, and my in laws (sitters) are out of town. Luckily that perfect storm hasn’t happened yet, and I’ve been home and readily available for pickup the couple of times I’ve had to. I have a lot of people I can call on to go get the girls, but they might not be able to do it *right that second* and my daughter may end up waiting a bit.

2 Votes
Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.
On 10/26/2019 at 9:05 AM, CommunityRNBSN said:

My husband and I both work in another city from my son’s school. We do not have grandma, aunties, neighbors, who are in the area. If the school calls with a fever, you can bet it is going to take at least an hour, and probably more, for one of us to wrap up what we are doing at work and commute over to where he is. (Obviously if he were sent to the hospital or something it would be a different matter and we’d drop everything.). For my husband particularly, and me less so, he will not even hear the voicemail from the school nurse until he is out of whatever meeting he happens to be in. Neither of us spends our days at home, a block from the school, sitting with our phone in our hands awaiting a call. I’ve only been called for a sick child once, but I did explain to the nurse that it would take some time before we arrived to get him (and she was lovely because she understands that this is how life works).

but that's just the thing - as SNs, we understand that parents need to work and that there will be a lag time in picking up. An hour is not the end of the world. Heck, if i had a nickle for every time i was told "i'll be there in 20 minutes" and it was well over an hour, then i'd be a very wealthy lady. The thing is, you're not telling the nurse if called at 10 am "oh, no one can get there until at least 2 or 2:30" and then sitting on the couch having "me time" or taking your yoga with goats class or making preserves on a reservation class.

7 Votes
Specializes in IMC, school nursing.
On 10/26/2019 at 9:05 AM, CommunityRNBSN said:

My husband and I both work in another city from my son’s school. We do not have grandma, aunties, neighbors, who are in the area. If the school calls with a fever, you can bet it is going to take at least an hour, and probably more, for one of us to wrap up what we are doing at work and commute over to where he is. (Obviously if he were sent to the hospital or something it would be a different matter and we’d drop everything.). For my husband particularly, and me less so, he will not even hear the voicemail from the school nurse until he is out of whatever meeting he happens to be in. Neither of us spends our days at home, a block from the school, sitting with our phone in our hands awaiting a call. I’ve only been called for a sick child once, but I did explain to the nurse that it would take some time before we arrived to get him (and she was lovely because she understands that this is how life works).

We are reasonable with those circumstances, our complaint is with those that don't try. Playing devil's advocate, your situation is really not acceptable, you should have one or two people who are available to stand in your stead. You may never need them, but life is such that it is necessary. The other posts show where our society is. We all make excuses why our actions are concrete and inflexible, but at the end of the day we prioritize choices and people. Sadly many parents have chosen themselves and their happiness over their children.

3 minutes ago, MrNurse(x2) said:

We are reasonable with those circumstances, our complaint is with those that don't try. Playing devil's advocate, your situation is really not acceptable, you should have one or two people who are available to stand in your stead. You may never need them, but life is such that it is necessary. The other posts show where our society is. We all make excuses why our actions are concrete and inflexible, but at the end of the day we prioritize choices and people. Sadly many parents have chosen themselves and their happiness over their children.

Does everyone else have a couple people on stand by who are available at the drop of a hat every single day and could be at the school in 20 minutes? How does that work? Do people without family pay someone to be on call everyday just in case? I have lots of people to call who would be happy to go pick up my kids, but they have lives too and may take an hour...

2 Votes
Specializes in IMC, school nursing.

An hour is acceptable, and yes, many parents of my generation have multiple back ups, which it sounds like you do. Most parents at my private school put income in front of their children by working an hour away from home or traveling constantly. I am talking both parents. Choices in life show priorities and I think calling them out is more than acceptable, there are children learning horrible lessons that my generation was shielded from. We have rich parents and poor kids.

1 Votes
Specializes in School Nursing.
On 10/26/2019 at 8:05 AM, CommunityRNBSN said:

My husband and I both work in another city from my son’s school. We do not have grandma, aunties, neighbors, who are in the area. If the school calls with a fever, you can bet it is going to take at least an hour, and probably more, for one of us to wrap up what we are doing at work and commute over to where he is. (Obviously if he were sent to the hospital or something it would be a different matter and we’d drop everything.). For my husband particularly, and me less so, he will not even hear the voicemail from the school nurse until he is out of whatever meeting he happens to be in. Neither of us spends our days at home, a block from the school, sitting with our phone in our hands awaiting a call. I’ve only been called for a sick child once, but I did explain to the nurse that it would take some time before we arrived to get him (and she was lovely because she understands that this is how life works).

I'm good with that. Just let me know what's going on. Don't tell me 15-20 minutes and you're still not here 2+ hours later. AND, if I call you back while waiting, please answer the phone.

7 Votes
Specializes in School Nursing.

I fully understand that people have to work and can't sit in the school parking lot all day waiting for their child to *maybe* get sick. A little communication goes an extremely long way, though. Parents know that it'll be a while before someone can get to the school. Just let the SN know. If I don't know what's going on, I'll give you an hour. After that, I'm calling you again and again and again until you arrive. Unfortunately, I do not have a resource officer ?

And, no, I will not send your feverish, vomiting, flu-like symptoms child back to class because you're out shopping!

4 Votes
25 minutes ago, NurseHeatherBSNRN said:

I'm good with that. Just let me know what's going on. Don't tell me 15-20 minutes and you're still not here 2+ hours later. AND, if I call you back while waiting, please answer the phone.

This is my gripe about the long waits - be up front with me; I was a working parent without family around to just drop what they were doing to pick up my kids when they were sick - I get it.

It takes 3 seconds to pick up the phone and call me to say "hey, I am waiting on on my relief at work" or "it will be an hour" etc etc etc.

4 Votes
On 10/26/2019 at 8:05 AM, CommunityRNBSN said:

My husband and I both work in another city from my son’s school. We do not have grandma, aunties, neighbors, who are in the area. If the school calls with a fever, you can bet it is going to take at least an hour, and probably more, for one of us to wrap up what we are doing at work and commute over to where he is. (Obviously if he were sent to the hospital or something it would be a different matter and we’d drop everything.). For my husband particularly, and me less so, he will not even hear the voicemail from the school nurse until he is out of whatever meeting he happens to be in. Neither of us spends our days at home, a block from the school, sitting with our phone in our hands awaiting a call. I’ve only been called for a sick child once, but I did explain to the nurse that it would take some time before we arrived to get him (and she was lovely because she understands that this is how life works).

I'm understanding of this. My school is in a major city and sometimes parents work a few blocks away and just walk over, but usually it's an hour wait because they're tying up loose ends at work then fighting 40 minutes of traffic.

2 Votes
On 10/28/2019 at 9:19 AM, AdobeRN said:

This is my gripe about the long waits - be up front with me; I was a working parent without family around to just drop what they were doing to pick up my kids when they were sick - I get it.

It takes 3 seconds to pick up the phone and call me to say "hey, I am waiting on on my relief at work" or "it will be an hour" etc etc etc.

So agree with this!! For those that are up front, I will jump hoops to help them. It is the ones that say they are 10 minutes away and they say it every time I call over a 4 hour period.

2 Votes

I had a parent who, after 3 hours, picked up their feverish child. Took them to the MD, stated the MD got a different temp reading, so could the child come to school tomorrow since her temp was only 101.1. UM NO, thats still a fever... what about with a MD note...NOOOOOOO

1 Votes
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