Proposed Nurse Reduction in DCPS- how did the meeting go yesterday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

If my kid falls in the park I can make that judgement call. And if I am unsure, I can call my insurance company nurse line and get help figuring things out. I don't just dial 911 all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

So isn't this just shifting things from one budget to another? I bet it would be a lot cheaper to have a school nurse to vet those cases where an ambulance is really not necessary.
Aside from cost, it's not a good thing to unnecessarily send a kid to the hospital. For the kid (lost school time), the parents (lost work time), or the taxpayer who's funding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

If my kid falls in the park I can make that judgement call. And if I am unsure, I can call my insurance company nurse line and get help figuring things out. I don't just dial 911 all the time.

Why would the school be calling 911 all the time? The staff in parochial schools aren't doing that. They look at the kid, give the kid a band aid or ice or if more serious, call the parents if necessary, the parents then go to school. If it is a true emergency like the kid loses consciousness or a bone is sticking out only then do they call 911. That happens at most once a year.

[Anonymous]

Once a year per school not per kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

If my kid falls in the park I can make that judgement call. And if I am unsure, I can call my insurance company nurse line and get help figuring things out. I don't just dial 911 all the time.

Why would the school be calling 911 all the time? The staff in parochial schools aren't doing that. They look at the kid, give the kid a band aid or ice or if more serious, call the parents if necessary, the parents then go to school. If it is a true emergency like the kid loses consciousness or a bone is sticking out only then do they call 911. That happens at most once a year.

Can I see the source for your data on all parochial schools? Growing up, my parochial school did have a full time nurse.

[Anonymous]

You do realize that DC has one of the slowest response times in the nation right? http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-911-Director-Addresses-Delays-Failed-Responses-396083281.html

I get that you have healthy kids and don't care about others, but what about children with allergies or other medical conditions? The stupidity of people on this thread never fails to astound me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

If my kid falls in the park I can make that judgement call. And if I am unsure, I can call my insurance company nurse line and get help figuring things out. I don't just dial 911 all the time.

Why would the school be calling 911 all the time? The staff in parochial schools aren't doing that. They look at the kid, give the kid a band aid or ice or if more serious, call the parents if necessary, the parents then go to school. If it is a true emergency like the kid loses consciousness or a bone is sticking out only then do they call 911. That happens at most once a year.

Parochial schools are not good schools. It is laughable that you're holding them up as some sort of example. Just to remind you, many parochial schools (such as the one I attended) covered up the sexual abuse of children.

Also it has been found that Catholic schools are inferior to public schools. http://ciep.hunter.cuny.edu/catholicschools/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

Are you truly crazy or simply playing dumb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

Are you truly crazy or simply playing dumb?

Nesbitt is on DCUM maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens when e first kid has a peanut allergy and dies because the epicenter is locked up in the nurses office because there is no nurse? Is this funding cut cheaper than the lawsuit that will follow an incident like that?

There are schools without nurses now - mostly charters that can't meet the space requirementsandared by DOH to get a nurse.

Anyway there are students with allergies on these schools and the office staff get some training and can access medicines, such as an EpiPen. I'm not saying it's a good approach but it happens and no doubt is giving DOH confidence that this plan can work without harming anyone.

Some charters are paying for their own school nurse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens when e first kid has a peanut allergy and dies because the epicenter is locked up in the nurses office because there is no nurse? Is this funding cut cheaper than the lawsuit that will follow an incident like that?

There are schools without nurses now - mostly charters that can't meet the space requirementsandared by DOH to get a nurse.

Anyway there are students with allergies on these schools and the office staff get some training and can access medicines, such as an EpiPen. I'm not saying it's a good approach but it happens and no doubt is giving DOH confidence that this plan can work without harming anyone.

Some charters are paying for their own school nurse.

So is that the goal? DOH and DCPS are playing chicken with parents to see who will pony up $ for a full time nurse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens when e first kid has a peanut allergy and dies because the epicenter is locked up in the nurses office because there is no nurse? Is this funding cut cheaper than the lawsuit that will follow an incident like that?

There are schools without nurses now - mostly charters that can't meet the space requirementsandared by DOH to get a nurse.

Anyway there are students with allergies on these schools and the office staff get some training and can access medicines, such as an EpiPen. I'm not saying it's a good approach but it happens and no doubt is giving DOH confidence that this plan can work without harming anyone.

Some charters are paying for their own school nurse.

So is that the goal? DOH and DCPS are playing chicken with parents to see who will pony up $ for a full time nurse?

I think DCPS and DCPCS are actually on the same side here.

[JoshH]

Here's a 10 minute clip from the end of the meeting that stands out to me. If you don't have five and a half hours to kill, I think this part is worth watching. If you're fired up after watching it, please email Mayor Bowser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNRC9r_J9XQ


edit: not sure why I can't embed it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up there was no nurse at my school. Two of my kids are at parochial school and there is no nurse there. An office staff member administers a dose of medication if it is needed and logs it onto a chart. Teachers are trained to administer epi-pens. My third child is at a public school with a nurse. I would not be worried if there weren't a nurse there. They can call 911 if there is an emergency. I would rather they hire a reading intervention teacher instead.

Have you ever tried calling 911 in DC? You do realize the ambulance service will bill for any services they give you child?!?

If I take my child to the park and he falls, gets injured, and I have to call an ambulance why would I expect it to be free? I would expect to get a bill just like if my child is injured at school. Most children who live in poverty have government health insurance.

If my kid falls in the park I can make that judgement call. And if I am unsure, I can call my insurance company nurse line and get help figuring things out. I don't just dial 911 all the time.

Why would the school be calling 911 all the time? The staff in parochial schools aren't doing that. They look at the kid, give the kid a band aid or ice or if more serious, call the parents if necessary, the parents then go to school. If it is a true emergency like the kid loses consciousness or a bone is sticking out only then do they call 911. That happens at most once a year.

Not going to name names, but I know of two dc schools now operating without a nurse that call 911almost weekly. The thing is, without a trained medical professional on staff... They kind of have to. Kid falls off playground equipment, kid has asthma attack, kid spikes a high fever... In these cases the kid needs to be evaluated by a medical professional. Paying a nurse costs a hell of a lot less than those 911 calls and he ambulance service.