Why do parents think schools are daycares?

kkbb, MSN, RN · Nov 22, 2016

I will admit that I am not a school nurse, heck....I'm not even a nurse yet (one more semester to go), BUT I am a parent with school aged children. Our school district has the school calendars posted, not only for this year, but for the next 3 years. Yep...I know what my kids' schedules will be in 2019! :wideyed: I'm sorry, but there is no reason to sound shocked that there is an inservice day coming up. Not to mention the fact that if you take your children to a after school/daycare facility they are aware of inservice days.

And yes, it really isn't easy when you get that call from the nurse that your little one isn't feeling well. Not sure what to say except that you are their parent they need you. It sucks, but when is it ever fun to have a sick kiddo? The fact that he was outraged that there are some schools with the policy to pick up a sick kid within 60 minutes was laughable. If my kid was sick, you bet your sweet bippy that I would have no issue leaving clinical (after telling my professor) and driving across town to be with my kid.

Skippingtowork · Nov 22, 2016

I read these comments with very mixed feelings. I am not among the working poor, but grew up with little money to spare. Having children and working as a nurse and previously having an office job, it is not easy to pick up and run when your child has a minor illness. Some employers are very unsympathetic to your plight, no matter how much money you are making. In today's economy, no one wants to be scared of being sacked.

Schools need to do a betterr job of planning inservices. They do not need to be during the school day. Educational triaining can be completed during the summer. Tylenol can be given if needed by the "clinic lady." If daddy didn't sign the form, fax it to him and have him bring the original when he picks up his little one.

These comments are not solely about the father being discussed. I have worked in a doctor's office where so many parents were placed in difficult positions because of unyieldling school officials. Many of the issues were related to lack of knowledge. Most problems can be solved with a llitle effort.

BeckyESRN · Nov 22, 2016

I read these comments with very mixed feelings. I am not among the working poor, but grew up with little money to spare. Having children and working as a nurse and previously having an office job, it is not easy to pick up and run when your child has a minor illness. Some employers are very unsympathetic to your plight, no matter how much money you are making. In today's economy, no one wants to be scared of being sacked.
Schools need to do a betterr job of planning inservices. They do not need to be during the school day. Educational triaining can be completed during the summer. Tylenol can be given if needed by the "clinic lady." If daddy didn't sign the form, fax it to him and have him bring the original when he picks up his little one.
These comments are not solely about the father being discussed. I have worked in a doctor's office where so many parents were placed in difficult positions because of unyieldling school officials. Many of the issues were related to lack of knowledge. Most problems can be solved with a llitle effort.

Trust me, all of us school nurses here understand that not everyone can drop everything to run to the school. We've all kept sick kids in our office all day because a parent cannot come pick them up. Wer keep kids here that aren't sick enough to be sent home, but were sick enough to STAY home. We are very sympathetic to the fact that it is difficult to arrange childcare. However as far as in-services, there are many in-services that must be completed during the school year because they involve content being covered, evaluating progress, student services, ect. These things cannot be done during the summer and people that work outside of the school system have no idea the amount of required trainings and such for staff.

We were not talking about a "clinic lady" that does not have a professional license on the line, we are talking about a registered nurse. I cannot practice outside of my scope and giving a medication without an order is WAY outside of my scope of practice and will result in the loss of my license and, in turn, my means of earning a living. Not every school has a standing order for headache medications. And, most of the time, if I'm calling a parent to "bring in something for a headache" it's because the kid won't stop complaining and I want the parent to, ummm parent!, and tell them to suck it up! :cheeky:

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2016

I read these comments with very mixed feelings. I am not among the working poor, but grew up with little money to spare. Having children and working as a nurse and previously having an office job, it is not easy to pick up and run when your child has a minor illness. Some employers are very unsympathetic to your plight, no matter how much money you are making. In today's economy, no one wants to be scared of being sacked.
Schools need to do a betterr job of planning inservices. They do not need to be during the school day. Educational triaining can be completed during the summer. Tylenol can be given if needed by the "clinic lady." If daddy didn't sign the form, fax it to him and have him bring the original when he picks up his little one.

Actually, it can't. And this has nothing to do with school and everything to do with state nursing protocols. I can get one-time verbal permission and have sent home forms (telling parent I am doing so) and they never get returned. So, I will have to call again to get permission.

And if education training can be completed during the summer, teachers need to be paid for it, because the summer is their time off and these training take days, not an hour or two here and there. And they are trainings to help better educate their students. If the school can pay them for the time, awesome. I completed all of my school nursing mandated state trainings in the summer because it can very difficult for me to get a sub, but I was paid by the school for my time, which was very much appreciated.

kidzcare · Nov 22, 2016

So you want already over worked teachers to work even more? Smart. Clearly it makes sense the way they're doing it now.

I'm thinking the author is of the mindset that teachers (and everyone who works in a school on the 10 month calendar) cannot complain about their workload. Ever.

Tylenol can be given if needed by the "clinic lady." If daddy didn't sign the form, fax it to him and have him bring the original when he picks up his little one.

Who is the "clinic lady" you mention? What is the licensure this person holds that allows them to assess a student and determine the need for medication and then administer that medication?

Not all school districts have standing orders for OTC meds (ie: Tylenol, tums, advil). Mine does not. If I have a girl with cramps come in and her parents have not brought her own supply to the school and filled out the appropriate paperwork, then there is not much I can do for her. Same applies to headaches, heartburn, toothaches, etc.

WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN · Nov 22, 2016

Just to comment on Inservice and/or staff work days - Ya, these may be inconvenient for the working people (myself included) but these are known MONTHS in advance. They are planned into the school year calander. If you can't figure out what to do with your kids with several months notice, there might be a problem.

I

I was thinking the same thing. I'm exempt, I guess for two reasons: we have three parents at home and for the past 6 years we've home schooled. But yeah. when we did public school we all had to juggle our schedules to take care of the kids.

Skippingtowork · Nov 23, 2016

Actually, it can't. And this has nothing to do with school and everything to do with state nursing protocols. I can get one-time verbal permission and have sent home forms (telling parent I am doing so) and they never get returned. So, I will have to call again to get permission.
And if education training can be completed during the summer, teachers need to be paid for it, because the summer is their time off and these training take days, not an hour or two here and there. And they are trainings to help better educate their students. If the school can pay them for the time, awesome. I completed all of my school nursing mandated state trainings in the summer because it can very difficult for me to get a sub, but I was paid by the school for my time, which was very much appreciated.

Of course teachers need to be paid. No one is disputing this. No body needs that much time of in the summer. Period. The entire system needs to be revamped. Cut out some of the beaurocracy and replace with common sense. We ae not at the bottom of the educational rankings because we are doing things right. Education needs to be a priority in this country for EVERYONE. That means inservices and training in the summer. Find the money!

Just to be clear, the comments were not directed at school nurses. I know many and hear about the struggles. It is the system that needs to change in order to be more effective.

Skippingtowork · Nov 23, 2016

Trust me, all of us school nurses here understand that not everyone can drop everything to run to the school. We've all kept sick kids in our office all day because a parent cannot come pick them up. Wer keep kids here that aren't sick enough to be sent home, but were sick enough to STAY home. We are very sympathetic to the fact that it is difficult to arrange childcare. However as far as in-services, there are many in-services that must be completed during the school year because they involve content being covered, evaluating progress, student services, ect. These things cannot be done during the summer and people that work outside of the school system have no idea the amount of required trainings and such for staff.
We were not talking about a "clinic lady" that does not have a professional license on the line, we are talking about a registered nurse. I cannot practice outside of my scope and giving a medication without an order is WAY outside of my scope of practice and will result in the loss of my license and, in turn, my means of earning a living. Not every school has a standing order for headache medications. And, most of the time, if I'm calling a parent to "bring in something for a headache" it's because the kid won't stop complaining and I want the parent to, ummm parent!, and tell them to suck it up!

Again I state: This is not just a school nurse or teacher issue. It is a systems issue. I was a student once and sent three children through school, so I know about the school year and the calender. I went to school in a different country than my children, and to both private and public, so I feel qualified to compare. The system is not working on many levels. It may not be at your level to change, but can you not see any way to influence change? If you don't, then we go on as usual. Please keep in mind, I worked in a doctor's office and had to fill out volumes of forms, each school and county requiring a different one and my patients were in a specialty clinic. I was not paid to complete those forms that the schools required, but had to do it. There are changes needed.

kidzcare · Nov 23, 2016

Please keep in mind, I worked in a doctor's office and had to fill out volumes of forms, each school and county requiring a different one and my patients were in a specialty clinic. I was not paid to complete those forms that the schools required, but had to do it. There are changes needed.

Devil's advocate... you did this off the clock?

What changes would you suggest? It would take a major overhaul to change the national standard to year round school. And not just because those who work in schools many times have chosen their career with that benefit in mind. For example, summer is a time that many kids play organized sports without having to worry about grades dropping.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

While this smowflake parent shouldn't have any noticeable negative financial impact from scheduled days off, there are plenty of parents out there that are affected. I don't work in a school, but I do remember when my daughter in school and too young to be left home alone and needing to plan ahead for child care on inservice days and holidays. These days can scheduled way in advance so there should be plenty of time for parents to plan for this.

When it gets a little complicated is those unplanned days off, Yippee for snow days! The kids love it, for the parent it is a pain in the backside to scramble trying to find last minute day care. I remember one of those days my father ended up taking my daughter to work with him as there was nobody else. My husband worked out of town, both my Mom and I are nurses and are expected to be at work regardless of weather. My Dad was a college professor so while it was inconvenient for him to have a 5 year old with him all day, it wasn't impossible.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

Devil's advocate... you did this off the clock?
What changes would you suggest? It would take a major overhaul to change the national standard to year round school. And not just because those who work in schools many times have chosen their career with that benefit in mind. For example, summer is a time that many kids play organized sports without having to worry about grades dropping.

I agree that if you are charting off the clock, are you letting your manager know this? I have several friends that work in doctor's office and also complete/send physical & immunization paperwork to people like me (and I really appreciate it - the state requires me to have such info) and they are paid for their time doing so.

As for the "find the money" agreement - where is the money to be found from? This is an honest question, as there doesn't seem to be a large amount of it in several states. Other countries have different tax rates as the value of education is high. I would gladly pay more taxes to go straight to educating children - they are the future and someday I will rely greatly on them. Because if year round school is something that is wanted, it will likely require paying teachers at least 20% more each year for that time.

Change is awesome and we advocate for it, sure. But right now, vacation days and PD days are on the school calendar that is distributed for the school often in March/April of the previous school year, so those days are not a surprise to anyone. tangent.>

Sorry, guys! Back to counting down the hours to Thanksgiving!

GdBSN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

I keep reading this post...leaving...and coming back. I find this article disturbing on so many levels. Your parental responsibilities aren't magically suspended when your child steps foot inside the school building. If your student suffers a health related problem at school, it is your parental responsibilty to take care of it. If you do not want to leave your job to give your precious liitle snowflake Tylenol for a headache, then dont do it. I do not have the authority to administer medication without doctors orders, or a pre signed parental form, the one you never returned to me. Tell your child to go back to class and suck it up, stop whining to the teachers and stop coming to the clinic multiple times after I have told them there is nothing I can give them.

In service days are designated well in advance, again it is your parental responsibility to ensure your children are cared for. Its called planning, learn how to do it. As for weather related closings, no one can control mother nature. Schools are closed because it has been determined that it is unsafe to travel to school. UNSAFE. What responsible school authority would jeopardize the safety of students because it is inconvenient for a parent to miss work.

...rant over...