Teacher not letting kid go to the nurse

[Anonymous]

Exactly. I am thinking perhaps the injured boy did not advocate for himself well enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you wait for a school nurse to get to a kid having a seizure? Call 911!!!

First of all, most kids with seizures have a seizure plan at school that specifies when various interventions, including calling 911, will be used. 911 isn't always the right response. Often times the plan says "seizures end within 2 minutes, so keep child safe by doing X, document by doing Y, and call mom to pick up." or "Time seizure, and call 911 after 3 minutes . . . " or "Use Diastat which can be found in the nurse's office".

But even when you call 911, you still need the nurse. The nurse is the one who provides 911 with the paperwork with parent contact, permission to treat, information about medication allergies etc . . . The nurse is also the person most highly trained in CPR and emergency care, and should be present until 911 arrives in case something happens.

There are cases where a teacher would call 911 and the nurse simultaneously (epi pen use, severe asthma attack, certain kids with seizures although not the majority, certain kinds of injuries), in those cases, usually the teacher calls 911 and sends a "runner" kid to the next nearest adult with a phone so they can get the nurse and notify the front office. There are also cases (e.g. what appears to be a broken bone, moderate asthma attack, child is bleeding heavily but is conscious and not shocky) where you call the nurse and let them come and make that decision.

I can't think of a situation where one would call 911, for a health related situation, and not also notify the nurse.

Of course, the majority of situations, the kid goes to the nurse, but the idea that you call 911 whenever a kid can't be transported to the nurse (e.g. leg injury that could be a break or a sprain, diabetic kid who is too out of it to follow directions to move to the nurse, kid with an asthma attack) because the nurse would never leave their office is absurd. Nurses can and do leave their office. They also can and do leave their office for things like IEP/504 plans for kids with medical issues, lunch breaks, meeting with teachers to review action plans, setting up g-tube feeds for kids in the cafeteria, etc . . . In all those situations there is a plan such as a cell phone/walkie talkie/ or loud speaker announcement to reach the nurse quickly in an emergency.

-- 25 year veteran teacher, also mother of a medically fragile child, who is really confused how PP could act as a "substitute nurse", and suspects that PP is confusing nurses and health techs.

In our school, we call 911 for peanut injestions by those with allergies. We (teachers) are the ones to talk to the EMTs.

[Anonymous]

I'm a school nurse, I would just try and get the story straight. It is true, some sprains don't swell up for some time and after recess almost every kid wants to come and see me. Does your kid a "frequent flier" to the nurses office which may make the teacher less likely to believe him? Or over exaggerate at times? I'm not making excuses for what happened I would just get more info because even for me it can be very difficult to tell on some kids if they are actually hurt or just looking for attention. If your kid was limping around all afternoon then yes, the teacher should of sent him. But if he is always limping around trying to go to the nurse on a regular basis then that may be the reason it was missed. Also how well do you know the teacher? Things sometimes just happen, maybe he told her and she said let's see how it feels in 15 minutes and it was an oversight.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks. To get to SACC he hopped on one foot the whole way, so you would think someone would have noticed (besides SACC who called me immediately). The teacher apologized and I told my son to speak up next time.

He is not one to avoid school work or go to the nurse (this is only the 2nd time this year - 1st was for lice). So that didn't play into it. It sounds more like an oversight rather than an actual decision not to let him go.

For those that advocated escalating, I am trying to understand the purpose. I guess so that the administration could provide clearer guidance to teachers or make sure there wasn't a problem with the specific teacher?

[Anonymous]

I've never met a school nurse who could handle an actual emergency

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks. To get to SACC he hopped on one foot the whole way, so you would think someone would have noticed (besides SACC who called me immediately). The teacher apologized and I told my son to speak up next time.

He is not one to avoid school work or go to the nurse (this is only the 2nd time this year - 1st was for lice). So that didn't play into it. It sounds more like an oversight rather than an actual decision not to let him go.

For those that advocated escalating, I am trying to understand the purpose. I guess so that the administration could provide clearer guidance to teachers or make sure there wasn't a problem with the specific teacher?

You should only escalate if you think the teacher was negligent. The first step should always be "ask the teacher". Children often don't have the whole story, as you found out. This was not a case of "she didn't *let* me go" it was a case of a comment slipping through the cracks. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you wait for a school nurse to get to a kid having a seizure? Call 911!!!

First of all, most kids with seizures have a seizure plan at school that specifies when various interventions, including calling 911, will be used. 911 isn't always the right response. Often times the plan says "seizures end within 2 minutes, so keep child safe by doing X, document by doing Y, and call mom to pick up." or "Time seizure, and call 911 after 3 minutes . . . " or "Use Diastat which can be found in the nurse's office".

But even when you call 911, you still need the nurse. The nurse is the one who provides 911 with the paperwork with parent contact, permission to treat, information about medication allergies etc . . . The nurse is also the person most highly trained in CPR and emergency care, and should be present until 911 arrives in case something happens.

There are cases where a teacher would call 911 and the nurse simultaneously (epi pen use, severe asthma attack, certain kids with seizures although not the majority, certain kinds of injuries), in those cases, usually the teacher calls 911 and sends a "runner" kid to the next nearest adult with a phone so they can get the nurse and notify the front office. There are also cases (e.g. what appears to be a broken bone, moderate asthma attack, child is bleeding heavily but is conscious and not shocky) where you call the nurse and let them come and make that decision.

I can't think of a situation where one would call 911, for a health related situation, and not also notify the nurse.

Of course, the majority of situations, the kid goes to the nurse, but the idea that you call 911 whenever a kid can't be transported to the nurse (e.g. leg injury that could be a break or a sprain, diabetic kid who is too out of it to follow directions to move to the nurse, kid with an asthma attack) because the nurse would never leave their office is absurd. Nurses can and do leave their office. They also can and do leave their office for things like IEP/504 plans for kids with medical issues, lunch breaks, meeting with teachers to review action plans, setting up g-tube feeds for kids in the cafeteria, etc . . . In all those situations there is a plan such as a cell phone/walkie talkie/ or loud speaker announcement to reach the nurse quickly in an emergency.

-- 25 year veteran teacher, also mother of a medically fragile child, who is really confused how PP could act as a "substitute nurse", and suspects that PP is confusing nurses and health techs.

In our school, we call 911 for peanut injestions by those with allergies. We (teachers) are the ones to talk to the EMTs.

I'm the PP above, teacher makes the initial call, which is why I wrote that we call the nurse (usually by sending a runner kid, since the phone is tied up with 911), and 911 simultaneously, but we also call the nurse so he/she comes to the child's location while we're waiting for the ambulance, and so that she can direct the office about what paperwork to gather. Generally whoever saw the incident explains that to the EMTs, but the nurse fills them in on what paperwork we have (e.g. are there medication allergies, is the kid up to date on Tetanus if it's a physical injury).

This is all somewhat hypothetical, because I've never had a child ingest an allergen on my watch. I'm pretty careful. I have followed the procedure above for a bee sting allergy.

Are you really saying that the nurse would stay in their office while a life threatening episode was occurring elsewhere in the building? I've never seen that.

[Anonymous]

It's just a week on crutches. This is not a huge injury.

[Anonymous]

The nurse is just an ornament paid with our tax dollars. My daughter was hit in ther head by someone else in the classroom last year and she she was asked by her clueless teacher to walk to the health room while while she was about to faint. The lady in the health room is not even a nurse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks.

Former teacher here. This scenario is very believable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never met a school nurse who could handle an actual emergency

+1. I never encounter a real nurse at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks. To get to SACC he hopped on one foot the whole way, so you would think someone would have noticed (besides SACC who called me immediately). The teacher apologized and I told my son to speak up next time.

He is not one to avoid school work or go to the nurse (this is only the 2nd time this year - 1st was for lice). So that didn't play into it. It sounds more like an oversight rather than an actual decision not to let him go.

For those that advocated escalating, I am trying to understand the purpose. I guess so that the administration could provide clearer guidance to teachers or make sure there wasn't a problem with the specific teacher?

Sounds like the teacher is a reasonable person who didn't know your son was still in pain. No need to escalate any further.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I agree. I have no intention of escalating. I was just curious about why someone would in general.