What is your school nurse policy on calling parents?
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Anonymous
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Got a call from my DS’s (kindergartener) after school program that he showed up from class visibly sick and burning up. I immediately left work to get him. On my to school, I got an email from my son’s teacher that she sent him to the nurse that afternoon bc he was clearly sick. The nurse did not find a fever so she sent him back to class and didn’t call me. He ended up testing positive for the flu.
I expected that the nurse would call me if my son (and we’re not talking high school- he’s only 6) was not feeling well. I’m going to inquire about this next week when school reopens. In the meantime, I’m curious what other elementary school nurses do when children show up not feeling well. Thanks |
Anonymous
| They only call if there is a problem IME. |
Anonymous
| Without objective symptoms like a fever or throwing up they make a judgment call. Sometimes they get it wrong. Hell, sometimes I've gotten it wrong. |
Anonymous
+1. It's a judgment call, especially since there are many situations where the parents get mad at the nurse/school since the parents don't think the kid is sick and are mad they had to leave errands/work/etc. to pick up the child. |
Anonymous
| I have two kids now in MS. It has been my experience school nurses call for trivial issues, like a rash or stomachache, but then have sent both my kids back to class with broken arms. Both times the kids required casts. School nurses aren’t helpful in my experience. |
Anonymous
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Our school is all over the place.
I once got a call when DD bumped her head on a piece of playground equipment. They were worried about the tiny red bump. The time she fell off a different piece of equipment, landing on her face and breaking her glasses, I didn’t get a call. I got a call that she was “sick” and wanted to come home one morning an hour into the day. She didn’t have a fever or other signs of illness, but since she was complaining, they called. Her dad was off of work, coincidentally, and she just wanted to be home with him, as it turned out. I didn’t get a call the time she kept having loose stools. The teacher noted her frequent trips to the bathroom, and even her malaise, but thought nothing of it. |
Anonymous
| Our nurse is great. She's only called us a few times, but they have been call-worthy. Kid ran into jungle gym bar, big bonk on head and a time when there was some incident that left kid in tears and went to nurse. She suggested calling us as she rightly suspected he just needed to call his mom but was otherwise fine. |
Anonymous
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They call with head bumps, even when kid has gone back to class and is fine. And they call with fevers, throwup, diarrhea. Otherwise, they call if your kid makes a big fuss. One of my kids is very dramatic and we get extra calls for her--I wish we didn't.
They do the best they can. I'd rather have fewer calls, OP would rather have more. As for sending kids back to class when they had broken bones, I have sent my kids to bed with broken bones more than once. It is impossible to get this stuff right every time. We as parents should know this. |
Anonymous
| Ours doesn't call even for blood. It really annoys me so I got my child a gizmo to call me in case of emergency. |
Anonymous
You want your day to be interrupted if your child falls and scrapes their knee? What kind of blood are we talking here? |
Anonymous
| Ours follows the book exactly - we've received calls for some bizarre things. |
Anonymous
| We got three calls earlier this week because DS had an eyelash stuck inside his eye. Nurse called me twice and since my phone was on mute she called DH and told him there was something wrong with his eyes. We thought it was his allergies making him miserable, so I left my meeting and went to pick him up. His eyes were perfectly fine and he said he had an eyelash stuck in there. I was a bit miffed. |
Anonymous
| Ours calls for literally every head bump, to tell me that my kid is spending a mandatory 20 minutes in the clinic, no matter what he is missing in class, even if he is going to miss lunch. Drives me nuts. Would love to know if it is FCPS policy or just our school’s policy. I’m all for watching out for concussions, but I don’t think we need to spend 20 minutes icing the head every time they honk heads with another kid. |
Anonymous
The one time my kid bumped her head at school, she was fine and already back in class when the clinic called. The aide apologized for bothering me, but said that she had was required to as it is FCPS policy that anything involving the head results in a short clinic stay and a call to a parent/guardian. Besides that, the calls I've gotten have involved fever and/or times when the kid is feeling off and asks to talk to me (most of those times I have not had to go to the school, a quick chat has usually helped enough to get them back to class). I'd assume they'd call for vomiting, as well, but knock wood that's never happened at school. |
Anonymous
It was blood in a place that it should not have been coming out of. Told the school to call me if my child reported it and they refused. Doctor explained it all to the child. Child reported it to the teacher who said write her a note and she emailed me at 5 PM. Doctor wanted child back immediately or ER. That day child was admitted inpatient. If my child tells you they are sick and need mom or a doctor, they should call. Not a kid complaining about every little thing so if they are, its serious. Yes, I want my day interrupted. It should be my call to pick up my child/doctor, not theirs. |