Care manager at children’s shared details of child’s ER visit with school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I guess I was so caught off guard because we've been to the ER dozens of times with each of our kids and were never contacted by the school nurse after a visit until now.

This jumps out at me. If you've been at the ER dozens of times for multiple kids without diagnoses, then something is really wrong. I can totally see them calling in extra support.

This is the OP again....please don't be a jackass. Yes...we've been to the ER DOZENS of times...ear infections, asthma attacks, allergy flare ups, sprained ankles, strep throat, ingrown toenail, suspicious rashes, food poisoning, spider bites, covid testing, stomach viruses, respiratory viruses, concussions, chicken pox...and more. Anybody that judges a parent for getting the appropriate medical care for their child is a moron....

You went to the ER for an ingrown toenail?

OP, do your kids have pediatricians? Do they have a nurse on call service? Do you use it?

Seriously this post makes me think that you are in need of exactly the kind of wrap around service DCPS is providing.

Rule of thumb, especially these days. is to avoid the ER at all costs unless it is an actual emergency. You’re the reason our friends’ recent visit to Childrens ER for their 3 year old took 12 hours.

Did you read the thread? Her child’s foot was infected and swollen and could not put a shoe on, and required surgery to remove the ingrown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

My ped didn’t have a nurse line or telehealth. And urgent cares are not open at 1am. I am the PP who took my DS to the ER 9 times (but zero in the past 4 years). I never had anyone suggesting any of those visits were inappropriate. The one time I was able to get my ped on the phone (huge knot on head from falling down) she was able to counsel me to stay home. But in the middle of the night when kid cannot breath? Yes, ER.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Children's ED has a way to flag patients that they believe may not provide appropriate follow up care in cases where they deem it necessary. In your case, you probably didn't leave a primary pediatrician's name, or they called that doctor and they said you were no longer a patient, or they couldn't reach that doctor; as a result, they used this alternate means of follow up. In this context, the school nurse is considered part of your care team. FWIW whether it's because you're a frequent flyer or because of your lack of a primary care doctor or something else, CNMC is concerned about your children and acted on that concern to avoid a child falling through the cracks. You may not like that this happened to you, but this kind of process saves kids lives. I will also say with your no diagnosis from one incident, etc comment that the hospital may have been concerned that you're in denial about your kid's medical condition, which would absolutely trigger this kind of follow up.

Disagree. The Childrens ER can do their own follow up. If there are actual concerns about abuse then call CFSA not school. The school is not part of my child’s medical team, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

My ped didn’t have a nurse line or telehealth. And urgent cares are not open at 1am. I am the PP who took my DS to the ER 9 times (but zero in the past 4 years). I never had anyone suggesting any of those visits were inappropriate. The one time I was able to get my ped on the phone (huge knot on head from falling down) she was able to counsel me to stay home. But in the middle of the night when kid cannot breathe? Yes, ER.

Not PP, but you described taking your child to the ER for stitches, and multiple seizures. Those are ER situations.

I just can’t wrap my head around OP thinking that “waking up on a Saturday with a 102 degree fever” is something where you would pack your kid in the car and go sit in the ER for 9 hours. Like…give them some Advil and tuck them into bed, ffs. Call the doctor if the fever isn’t gone in a few days. But the ER? That’s nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Children's ED has a way to flag patients that they believe may not provide appropriate follow up care in cases where they deem it necessary. In your case, you probably didn't leave a primary pediatrician's name, or they called that doctor and they said you were no longer a patient, or they couldn't reach that doctor; as a result, they used this alternate means of follow up. In this context, the school nurse is considered part of your care team. FWIW whether it's because you're a frequent flyer or because of your lack of a primary care doctor or something else, CNMC is concerned about your children and acted on that concern to avoid a child falling through the cracks. You may not like that this happened to you, but this kind of process saves kids lives. I will also say with your no diagnosis from one incident, etc comment that the hospital may have been concerned that you're in denial about your kid's medical condition, which would absolutely trigger this kind of follow up.

Disagree. The Childrens ER can do their own follow up. If there are actual concerns about abuse then call CFSA not school. The school is not part of my child’s medical team, period.

They are when you sign the form consenting to their notification like OP did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

Wow, OP here....is there anything else you'd like to share with me about MY family? I'm all ears....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

My ped didn’t have a nurse line or telehealth. And urgent cares are not open at 1am. I am the PP who took my DS to the ER 9 times (but zero in the past 4 years). I never had anyone suggesting any of those visits were inappropriate. The one time I was able to get my ped on the phone (huge knot on head from falling down) she was able to counsel me to stay home. But in the middle of the night when kid cannot breath? Yes, ER.

Solve that bolded problem. I can't imagine life without our advice nurse and telehealth!

The ED isn't going to turn you away, but if you talk socially to an ER doc or nurse they will tell you that people taking up rooms for non-emergencies are causing harm to those who really do have an acute emergency. Think about the word "emergency" and what they means. they will also tell you about the "frequent flyers" who clearly don't have primary care and are inappropriately using the ED to fill that need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

My ped didn’t have a nurse line or telehealth. And urgent cares are not open at 1am. I am the PP who took my DS to the ER 9 times (but zero in the past 4 years). I never had anyone suggesting any of those visits were inappropriate. The one time I was able to get my ped on the phone (huge knot on head from falling down) she was able to counsel me to stay home. But in the middle of the night when kid cannot breathe? Yes, ER.

Not PP, but you described taking your child to the ER for stitches, and multiple seizures. Those are ER situations.

I just can’t wrap my head around OP thinking that “waking up on a Saturday with a 102 degree fever” is something where you would pack your kid in the car and go sit in the ER for 9 hours. Like…give them some Advil and tuck them into bed, ffs. Call the doctor if the fever isn’t gone in a few days. But the ER? That’s nuts.

OP here...and what if it was a preemie that had the 102 fever? Or a child that had a compromised immune system? Or a child that had recently gotten over a severe blood infection? Can you wrap your head around any of those scenarios? Probably not because (luckily for you) it sounds like you've never experienced any of them. Look...you handled you situation your way, and we handled ours our way. I wouldn't dare call you a slacker parent for giving your child a dose of motrin and sending him back to bed, so why do you feel the need to be so critical of us for doing what we felt was in the best interest of our child given the circumstances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have two children, ages 9 and 5. We have been to the ER literally never. Beyond annual checkups, we have called their pediatricians advice nurse countless times, had televisits if they need a prescription, gone to urgent care once in a case when my son would not stop vomiting and once when my other son had a bad cut. Urgent care is the place for MANY of the items on your list, others probably required a call to the doc.

The ER is for ACUTE emergencies: that means that they would lose their life or the use of some part of their body unless their was an intervention.

I agree that your family is on a CFSA list and you may suspect that and that's why you are freaking out.

My ped didn’t have a nurse line or telehealth. And urgent cares are not open at 1am. I am the PP who took my DS to the ER 9 times (but zero in the past 4 years). I never had anyone suggesting any of those visits were inappropriate. The one time I was able to get my ped on the phone (huge knot on head from falling down) she was able to counsel me to stay home. But in the middle of the night when kid cannot breathe? Yes, ER.

Not PP, but you described taking your child to the ER for stitches, and multiple seizures. Those are ER situations.

I just can’t wrap my head around OP thinking that “waking up on a Saturday with a 102 degree fever” is something where you would pack your kid in the car and go sit in the ER for 9 hours. Like…give them some Advil and tuck them into bed, ffs. Call the doctor if the fever isn’t gone in a few days. But the ER? That’s nuts.

OP here...and what if it was a preemie that had the 102 fever? Or a child that had a compromised immune system? Or a child that had recently gotten over a severe blood infection? Can you wrap your head around any of those scenarios? Probably not because (luckily for you) it sounds like you've never experienced any of them. Look...you handled you situation your way, and we handled ours our way. I wouldn't dare call you a slacker parent for giving your child a dose of motrin and sending him back to bed, so why do you feel the need to be so critical of us for doing what we felt was in the best interest of our child given the circumstances?

Was it a premature infant that had the fever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I guarantee you landed yourself on a special call list for "frequent flyers" of the Children's ER.

Children's is not tracking down the school nurse for every DCPS student who goes to their ER.
They have a threshold for outreach and you crossed it with your ER utilization.

These protocols are there to protect kids who:
--are using the ER instead of primary care
--may need school support of the chronic health concerns that are causing this level of acute care utilization

WRONG, WRONG AND WRONG!!! Sorry to shut down your conspiracy theory, but according to the hospital administrator I spoke to last week, their goal is to reach out to school nurses regarding any public or charter school student who was recently seen in their ER. Now whether or not they meet that goal, I don't know...but that is their goal nonetheless.

With regard to our personal situation...not only do we have a pediatrician, but our pediatrician is a part of the Children's network. And we don't need the school's support for anything other than educating our children.

[Anonymous]

Why are you so offended about this?

[Anonymous]

OP, you realize you can leave this thread, right? It isn't giving you the answers/confirmation that you want.

[Anonymous]

OP here....thank you to everyone who offered positive and/or rational feedback...your insight was appreciated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Children's ED has a way to flag patients that they believe may not provide appropriate follow up care in cases where they deem it necessary. In your case, you probably didn't leave a primary pediatrician's name, or they called that doctor and they said you were no longer a patient, or they couldn't reach that doctor; as a result, they used this alternate means of follow up. In this context, the school nurse is considered part of your care team. FWIW whether it's because you're a frequent flyer or because of your lack of a primary care doctor or something else, CNMC is concerned about your children and acted on that concern to avoid a child falling through the cracks. You may not like that this happened to you, but this kind of process saves kids lives. I will also say with your no diagnosis from one incident, etc comment that the hospital may have been concerned that you're in denial about your kid's medical condition, which would absolutely trigger this kind of follow up.

Disagree. The Childrens ER can do their own follow up. If there are actual concerns about abuse then call CFSA not school. The school is not part of my child’s medical team, period.

They are when you sign the form consenting to their notification like OP did.

well apparently there was no opt out on the form. and it goes against my settled expectations as a consumer so I would expect it to be more prominent a consent form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you realize you can leave this thread, right? It isn't giving you the answers/confirmation that you want.

Sorry you did not succeed in bullying OP. OP has done a useful service here and I may follow her lead by complaining to the Children’s omsbud.