I know, I know. It's inconvenient, they have to take off work, I've totally disrupted their day---I get it.
But really??? Didn't you sign a form at the beginning of the year indicating you'd read the policies? Fever goes home. Vomit goes home. Red eyes with gunk coming out of them go home.
And no, yelling and cussing at the nurse does not change the rules. I thought I was done with people yelling at me for doing my job when I left the hospital. /endrant
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Ummm WHY blame the nurse? YOU had the kids, YOU are responsible if/when they are too sick to go to/stay in school. Deal with it. How awful to want to force them to stay in school when they are feeling so bad.
Cream and Sugar, I wish all my student's parents were like you!!!
Thank you Songbird:)
After reading some of these posts I can understand why the school nurse at our elementary seems so stressed! Some of these scenarios are baffling and I really think some of these parents think school is daycare, and it is not. What flew at daycare because the director didn't want to ruffle a parents feathers does not carry over to grade school. I pulled my middle child out of preschool in the middle of the year because when I would drop her off to her 3 hour class I'd see kids with pink eye/ fevers and vomiting! The school would bend the rules because parents cried the blues. Needless to say,It got old pretty quick!
I really think these types of parents got away with it so often early on that they come to expect the same treatment with the school nurse.
What about the parents that gripe about picking their kids up then send their kids in that are supposed to be kept home the next day.. you know the one that had the 102.7 fever yesterday but is just fine today... yeah... this miracle brought to you by the makers of Children's Mortin.
It reminds me a little bit of when we were having a "lockdown drill" at school. You know: Everyone stay put, lock the doors, stay away from doors/windows, be quiet, etc. A teacher actually sent a 4th grader to me, in the middle of the drill, carrying a trash can. He complained of nausea, so she sent him. Plus, he is a frequent flyer. I was like, "WTH?!" He was fine. I mentioned it to the principal, and she said, "Well, if he was sick..." Oh, dear God. Absolutely no common sense...
Ummm . . .lockdown means lockdown. No one leaves. No one enters. That's simply crazy.
I sent a kid home this week on Monday, vomited all over the main office multiple times. Tuesday morning this same kids holds the door for me when I arrived at school. An hour later he gives a repeat performance in the same spot on the office carpet! Dad was like "but he didn't throw up this morning at home" Only because he has breakfast at school every morning. Uggh!
I can relate to so much of this! So glad it's just not me. I had a teacher come to me and said a parent called her and yelled at her because her son caught an illness at school, wanted to know who else in the room had something, and what she was going to do about it! She said she was speechless. I said welcome to my world! You can't argue with stupid!
From the parent peanut gallery, thank you for dealing with all of the crazy parents, and taking care of all the sick kiddos. ❤️ I just finished a rotation at a school based health center and those kids.... Breaks the heart. So love and admiration to all of you!
I have a couple of kids, and my little girl has seen how my own physical ailments has put me at the center of attention a few times (whether I wanted it or not ??). She's started telling me she doesn't feel well, when she's just fine. I've learned that she usually does this when mama hasn't been as attentive as I really should be, so I deflect when I know she's okay, and then give her a ton of love. But it sucks because one of these days, she won't be calling wolf, and when she tells her school nurse, "I told mommy I was sick this morning!" I'm going to feel rotten for sending her in.
But! I promise I'll never yell at their nurse for sending her home unnecessarily, though. You are all worth your weight in gold, and then some. Those parents should be ashamed of the ways they've treated you and their own kids. This last rotation for my school was quite eye-opening.
Kindergartener is jumping around in his chair. He falls and splits his chin open. The aide rushes him down to my office while he is bleeding and leaving a trail of blood in the hallway. I quickly assess and realize he needs stitches so I applied gauze and tried calling the mom. Her cell phone goes to voicemail and isn't accepting messages. I called dad and got voicemail again. I got the principal so we could make a decision and he tried calling mom from his cell. She picked right up. She won't answer when the school calls but she'll answer a random cell phone!
So she wants to talk to me and starts demanding to know what happened. I can't get through to her that I am the nurse. I wasn't there! So she strolls in about 10-15 minutes later. She pulls the gauze off her son's face and starts yelling that she wants the police called. She stands there for 30 minutes making a fuss instead of taking her kid out for medical treatment. WTH is wrong with some parents????
Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
You can't win.
I sub school nurse. I have a friend who threw a fit that the nurse didn't send her middle school son home. Her son came to office and wanted mom called. Nurse didn't jump to it and sent him back to class. Mom throws fit that when her kid says he needs to go home she is to be called. Whatever. I have an idea...don't let your middle school son call the shots. I bet he was fine and knows how to get home.
I've had times where parents have an emergency card filled with bad numbers. Really?
What about the parents that gripe about picking their kids up then send their kids in that are supposed to be kept home the next day.. you know the one that had the 102.7 fever yesterday but is just fine today... yeah... this miracle brought to you by the makers of Children's Mortin.
I HATE that because then I have to battle them the next day. Our district policy is the student has to be fever free w/o the use of NSAIDS for 24 hours before they can return to school. Basically, they can't come to school the day after being sent home with a fever. Even though I tell the parent that, I'll get the occasional "sneak in". I've heard it all, "Well, I know he went home with a 103 fever, but today's his birthday and he has cupcakes to share with the class." After bickering about 10 minutes, I put the AP on the phone and she backed me up. He was gone in 30 minutes.
Then, I'll have parents calling blaming the school, or me, for their kid being sick. One parent told the principal her kid keeps getting sick because I'm not teaching the children enough about hygiene and hand washing. No, ma'm, it's the kids coming to school sick.
That is absolutely insane. 
I was like, "WTH?!" He was fine. I mentioned it to the principal, and she said, "Well, if he was sick..." Oh, dear God. Absolutely no common sense...
Songbird,RN
41 Posts
Cream and Sugar, I wish all my student's parents were like you!!!