Daughter's School .....

My mom is a school nurse and they have protocol they have to follow. She has to call home if a student has a temp above 99.4. It is their rules. She would much rather not tie up her day calling home on kids who aren't really sick, but she has to follow the rules, or it could mean her job, which in this economy she can't afford to lose as there are a ton of out of work nurses who would love to work in a school setting. When she calls, 50 % of the parents ahve their kids stick it out, 50% pick them up - but then the decision is in the hands of the parents, not her.

14 moms found this helpful

So if the nurse failed to call you and your daughter came to you and said mom I was sick in school today, went to the nurse, and the nurse wouldn't call you!!! I am sure you wouldn't be happy about that. It is not her job to make the decision, but it is her job to call you and let you know that her fever is rising. Maybe if parents picked their children up at the first signs of illness it would prevent the rest of the children, and staff from becoming ill. Sorry, but I deal with this all day long, at my school. It is inconsiderate, and in my opinion unfair to a child that may need to just go home and rest. When my children were young and went to the nurse I picked them up!! If you feel sick at work I am sure you would take the afternoon off and go home and rest. I do not understand how a phone call regarding your daughters health is a bother to you, or bugs you. As you said you are confident in your choice to leave her there, and that's fine, but the nurse has a job to do and she did it. I always call parents early in the day if their child is showing early signs of not feeling well. This gives them time to make arrangements, make a doctors appointment, maybe they have a long drive. It is being considerate. There are many mothers out there working that do not have backup, so leaving children in school who are sick is just wrong to me. Sorry you asked!! In my opinion she did her job!!!

12 moms found this helpful

How would the nurse know what your child's temp was? Your daughter must have been acting differently or told her teacher she wasn't feeling well and was sent to the nurses office. If that's the case, I'm not sure what the nurse is supposed to do. She either asked to go to the nurse's office or was sent by the teacher, so it seems that the nurse would be required to contact you. I personally would want to know if my child weren't feeling well. We had an incident with the after school program last month when my child experienced a pretty serious nose bleed. I was told after the fact, because they claimed they didn't have a cell phone number to contact me. Now, THAT was irritating considering I have filled out no less than five enrollment forms for my child with cell, work and emergency numbers. I would just consider the calls an fyi and be thankful they are on top of things at your daughter's school.

10 moms found this helpful

Well it's the beginning of most illness that a person is MOST contagious... and with airborne things... if your daughter is breathing, she's infecting other people. That's all she needs to do: keep breathing.

That's also why in nearly every other country, when people start coming down with things, they wear face masks. To protect other people.

The kid who's coughing and using a box of kleenex a day on week 3 is merely a bit distracting. The kid who has just gone glassy eyed and a little out of it and feels just barely warm (around 100 degrees) is a germ machine pumping out millions of bacteria or viruses and everywhere within 5-10 feet of her is ground zero. They want to get that kid OUT of school as fast as possible so she doesn't infect everyone within 5-10 feet of her AND so that with rest early on, she'll likely be back in a day or two, instead of in a week.

Immune systems and adrenaline systems can't run at the same time. Keeping a kid active when they START to get sick, pretty much guarantees that they're going to get quite sick. ((Next time you feel a cold coming on; do an experiment.... go to the gym for an hour. Just that. Go to the gym. The activity level shuts off your immune system completely. By morning, you'll be sick as a dog. The next time: Stay home one day and veg & sleep. You'll probably be fine the next day, because your immune system gets to whomp on the infection.

The nurse is irked, because she just called to tell you your child is sick, and is infecting everyone around her... and you don't care about the other students she's infecting.

10 moms found this helpful

I totally understand what you are saying, but just want to give you another perspective that maybe tells you where the nurse is coming from. I was (at one time) one of those parents who got upset when kids weren't sent home with a fever or parents weren't notified and given the option, or I was notified and given the option. I'm why she's so cautious. It's not because I'm over protective and think every fever warrants a trip to the doctor and so on.

I was a single parent with no back up because my sons' dad wasn't available (per his choice) and my mom was elderly, herself. I had a job that I loved but that did not have paid leave. I got no child support 70% of the time so we were a single income family. If my children contracted something at school that kept them home sick, I had to take off which meant I did not get paid for that day. If it was several days then I didn't get paid for all of those days. Rent was still do on the first of the month and my kids still got hungry several times a day and we needed heat and light, but the paycheck was short. If my kids got sick because another child was kept at school when they presented symptoms of coming down with a virus or worse (think strep), and my kids got exposed well then that was at least in some part preventable because further exposure was preventable. The school they were in was notorious for not informing the parent unless the fever was over 100.5 because they didn't deem anything lower a fever. Winters were a nightmare and we were poor, poor, poor for months due to leave without pay. It sucked.

So she's probably doing it because of parents like me who might have been a little over the top protective because they couldn't afford (literally) not to be. It's frustrating to be called over what ends up being nothing, but there is a point at which we *start* getting sick. A fever (usually low grade) presents, mild discomfort, headache and so forth. The fact is the nurse doesn't know which is which. It could be nothing or the beginning of something. No one knows until later. But it's not her call to make. It's yours.

With much respect,

L.

9 moms found this helpful

If my kid is sick, I definately want to know about it.

Why is your child asking to go to the nurse???? Unless a kid is laying around, crying or oozing something, i've never known a teacher to send a kid to the nurse without the child asking to go. Instead of going to the teacher, you should go to your daughter and tell her in no uncertain terms that unless she has a broken limb you will NOT be picking her up from school and NOT to go visit the nurse.

8 moms found this helpful

I think you're being trivial. :) I would appreciate the heads up, especially if working or quite a distance from the school. Also, there has been something going around . (Isn't there always? :o) ) Maybe the nurse thought your daughter was coming down with the recent bug.

7 moms found this helpful

Actually I'd be happy to have the information and get to make the call on whether to remove her from school. What if for whatever reason it was going to be difficult or impossible to pick her up later? Wouldn't you like to know there was a possible situation developing so you could adjust your day accordingly?
If they just demanded I take my child home over something like that I'd be annoyed.

7 moms found this helpful

How did your daughter end up in the nurses office? She had to complain to someone to be sent there right? Your daughter was not feeling well, had a fever and you opted to keep her in school.

7 moms found this helpful

Im sorry but I don't agree. Imo if she's at the nurse and not feeling well she needs to be picked up. You do not know for sure if she is coming down with something and I personally would never risk getting others sick. Besides, I would never make my kids "stuck it out" but then again I give medicine if they have a fever too. I've found out here lots of moms let it run its course. Im different i guess!!

7 moms found this helpful

you are being silly.
If my daughter had a 99.8 temp I'd prob go get her. That's .2 away from 100. 100 is the magic "you have to stay home from school 24hrs" number. I know it will prob go up later in the day and then it will be worse. She had to have been not feeling well to be in the nurse's office in the first place. They don't just pull random kids and check their temp to see who they can send home, that's silly.

6 moms found this helpful

I will say the same thing I said to my sister in law who wouldn't keep her kids home when they "just had a fever" and got my daughter sick...
You are selfish and inconsiderate...

I am not trying to be rude, but seriously.
What about the hundreds of parents who do not have anyway to take time off from work if their kids get sick?
What about the parents whos jobs do not offer health insurance and who can not afford to go to a doctor?

You keeping your child in school when she is coming down with something, which is what a fever means, even a mild one, is unfair to all the other kids and families attached to that school.

You should have gone and gotten her, and thanked the nurse.
My opinion.

6 moms found this helpful

Your kid doesn't have to be acting sick or even have a temperature to be contagious. Most likely she is getting sick & at the height of contagiousness & you completely brushed it off. It's because of parents like you that germs & sickness continue to spread when they don't have to.

6 moms found this helpful

yeah, i totally get "bugged" when the school nurse calls to tell me that my child isn't feeling well and is beginning to spike a temp(ie, she is probably contagious) - it really inconveniences my day when i get calls about "trivial" matters relating to my child's health and comfort... come on, seriously?????? your child is CLEARLY coming down with something(prob nothing major, i'll give ya that!), and you're worried about being interrupted by a 5 minute phone call...

6 moms found this helpful

I thought you were saying the nurse was always insisting your child come home. But if she's just letting you know, I don't see the harm in that. If my daughter had a 99.8 degree fever, I'd like take her out of school for the rest of the day. That's awfully close to 100 and maybe she's contagious. And/or maybe she'll run around and make it worse. And why is your daughter in the nurse's office? I'm sure her teacher doesn't randomly take everyone's temps so sounds like your daughter asked to go to the nurse. I'd be annoyed in that case if the nurse DIDN'T call! In my book she has a low fever and she went there saying she doesn't feel well. Why wouldn't I be called? As I said, I'd disrupt my day and get her home but if you can't or don't want to be disrupted the rest of the day, I don't thnk 5 min bc your daughter asked to see the nurse and her temp is the high side of normal or a fever depending how you view these things is out of line by the nurse at all.

6 moms found this helpful

sounds like the nurse has had run-ins in the past with parents who tore her a new one for not keeping them 100% notified about their kids. you have to realize how very hard it is for schools to try and accommodate hundreds of different parenting styles and personalities with one set of rules.
love your confidence in yourself and your trust in your daughter's common sense. just be a bit patient with the nurse!
:) khairete
S.

4 moms found this helpful

Maybe you're not being clear here. You say the nurse calls to let you know, (she better call and let you know!) then you complain she does not understand so are you implying she wants you to pick up your child and is irked that you dont? I dont know whether you're being silly or not as i dont know what the nurse said.

2 moms found this helpful

I hate to say it but it kind of sounds like your daughter was sick and you didn't want to be bothered with it. From the nurse's POV, you're the MOTHER. 99.8 is a fever in my book, especially when your daughter said she didn't feel well. I don't understand telling an 8 year old to "stick it out." Does it make her tougher or instead possibly sicker and probably infect lots of other kids along the way...? You try to justify keeping her in school by saying you've seen sick kids there. Two wrongs don't make a right... If you're confident in having your 8 year old stick it out, that's fine but I wouldn't criticize the nurse given as you can see, lots of mothers would have come to pick their child up if he/she had a 99.8 degree temp. So seems logical the nurse would call. I'm actually surprised they didn't insist you pick her up.

2 moms found this helpful

That seems like a small thing. In situations like that, we get a note, which I appreciate, even if its administering a bandaid.

99 is low grade and for a little kid, that could mean bad as well as ok.

1 mom found this helpful

I think the problem is when they don't call in these situations, parents have had a fit about the nurse not letting them call home or letting the parents make that decision. Now, they are leaning way the other way and calling for everything. I actually showed up to get my daughter once (because I was told I had to pick her up), got there and she was fine and the nurse said she could stay. Needless to say I was HOT since I just travelled 1/2 from work (one way) and wasted time there at the school for nothing!

1 mom found this helpful

No my daughters' school nurse is very laid back. She calls us if Cheyenne WANTS to call us, but other than that she will just note it in my daughter's ledger and move on. She did call us one time when my daughter had a pretty serious fall just to let us know what had happened, but she let us know that she took care of it and we didn't need to worry. Sorry you have to deal with a school nurse who obviously doesn't have a lot of confidence in her own ability to assess a situation. That would be annoying for sure!!

1 mom found this helpful

Why was your child in the nurses office? If any of my children had a slight fever and knew they would be sent home, even at 8, all 4 knew how to play the system and tell a teacher or me that they were OK. Or not ok and fake an illness to get out of school.
I used to do it myself.
So who is sending your child to the nurse?
Is it after recess? Is she complaining? Does she have that sick look? Did she ask to go to the nurse?
And check the policy. If the temp reading to go home is 99.0 then she is to go home. If she routinely runs hotter, my oldest is a hot one, then have the Dr write a note and have her call you when it is 100.5 or whatever a temp for your daughter is. Have her baseline temp on file so you aren't called every time she comes in from recess.

1 mom found this helpful

I, and our pediatric care giver, is very irked at our kids school nurse right now. She sent our girl home last week with Scabbies. We call the doc and went right in. She was very confused. There were NO SPOTS ANYWHERE. Nothing that indicated scabbies. No red spots on her fingers, no rash other than the rash she had from being allergic to Gain fabric softener, which I had told the teacher about.

My dryer is broken and I am not going to wash an entire closer full of clothes over since I am not sure which ones I used it in.

I call the admin building to talk to the nurse, of course she wasn't there, and I asked them if they knew of any particular symptom she was supposed to have, if there was something we were missing. They didn't know.

I was so annoyed. I had her check her hair and skin for any parasites and there were none.

I think it would be just the opposite at my GD's school. She would be wanting to come home and they would be saying not necessary. LOL

I think I would be bugged if the nurse tried to "convince" me that my child needed to come home. I think maybe she may feel an obligation to call you since your daughter reported to her office and was running an extremely low grade fever. Some moms would want to run down there and pick up the child and if they found out after the fact that the child had presented to the nurse running a low grade fever and no one called them, they would be mad.

So, I guess I wouldn't be mad about the phone call, but I would be irked if the nurse seemed to be second-guessing me.

By the way, I don't really consider 99.8 a real "fever" as long as your daughter normally runs 98.6. My GD normally runs 97.8 so 99.8 would be a bit of a fever for her. Just for kicks, take her temp when she's well and see what her "norm" is.