A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Did you EVER go to the Health Room

when you were in school? I think I did maybe 1 time in elementary school. This is unbelieveable to me. This is the 2nd week of school and some of the kids have been 2 or 3 times. One teacher sent a student to the Health Room because she had a loose tooth and another one because she had a blister on her hand. The teacher wanted to fill out a report stating that the child didn't get the blister at school. Another teacher was sent one today because her right eye hurt when she ate lunch. It had stopped hurting and it's never done that before. I'm glad I got a job but I mean...this is our tax dollars at work. I am being paid to tell a teacher it's ok for an elementary student to have a loose tooth and to send a note to mother because her daughters right eye hurt when she ate lunch. Another thing that has me puzzled is that students come from the bus straight to the Health Room. One with sore feet, another with an ear ache, another to tell me her nose had been bleeding all night. They all say that their mothers are aware of this but sent them to school anyway. I send them to class.

I don't ever remember going to the school nurse ever. The schools and teachers have to cover their bases though due to lawsuit possibilities. It is sad.
Our schools do not have full time nurses. An RN here has 5-6 schools and have a health aid full time in some of the schools and part time in others to apply band-aids or first aid if necessary. And to keep track of inhalers and epi-pens.
Ted's school has a full time RN but there are at-risk students there.

I imagine that the schools want to cover their butts with the way people are sue happy nowadays, which is a shame....but with elementary school you do get some funny health issues with kids. Kids are funny. And imaginative.

I went to the health dept a few times in middle school. I think that was all. Usually for a really bad headache or "womanly" things. :wink:

i went to the school nurse twice, both times in kindergarten. once because my thumb got closed in the hinge side of one of those heavy steel doors that only open by pressing the big bar...don't have a clue how that happened, but that thumb still looks weird. and once cuz i fell thru an ice covered really deep puddle on the way to school and i was blue with cold and soaked to the skin by the time i got there. they warmed me up and dug a really ugly dress out of the charity box sent me back to class til school let out for lunch when they made my big sister (2nd grader) walk me all the way home.
such big crisis for a 6 year old.

i went a few times, almost always from being sick to my stomach. but, i do understand.

For some children, the school nurse is the only contact with a health care professional they will ever have....or with an understanding adult, for that matter.

You provide a highly valuable service to an extremely "voiceless/powerless" segment of our society and you will be blessed for all your efforts on their behalf, I'm sure.


Merme

school nurse??/ when I was in school-(you know back in the stone age)- we had NO nurse.----ah how things have changed!!!

We only had a school nurse in high school and she came in twice a week. I think it was mostly a part of the 'sex education' thing anyway.

I think it's great though. Some children as Merme said may only have this as an option, and with all things some will use it and some will abuse it.

Tina you are so right, the 'lawsuits' are the main cause for concern probably.

Sheri, as frustrating as it is....listen carefully to every child. Some children who have a constant need for the Health Room may have something they need to confide. They see you as the 'safe person'.

I have had one bad case. I've already called DSS. The student has seizures but she begged me not to call her mother because her mother will whip her for complaining.

Oh that's terrible Sheri. How sad for the poor kids that are in situations like that. Childhoods should be happy, and when you feel your safest in life.

Do schools still have guidance counselors? I spent a LOT of time there in middle school. I got picked on so bad for being English I'd go home crying almost every day.....mom never knew how bad it was, never wanted to tell her--last thing you want is your mom going to school. She's so mad to this day that I never told her.

Sounds like a whole different ball game for you there, Sheri. I wish you much good luck with your new job.

Our schools here have always had a full time nurse. Even when I was a kid in school way back when! I remember one time having a coughing fit in chorus in elementary school - I could not stop coughing, and the teacher angrily sent me to the nurse's office because I was "disturbing the class"!!! Nevermind the fact that I could hardly breathe, it was more of a "punishment" to have to go, and I was so embarassed in front of the entire class the way she yelled at me to go.

I can see that some of the kids need someone to talk to, or sometimes just a friendly person to send them on their way at the beginning of the day. Often, kids don't even see their parents before school - either they have left for work, or they are sleeping when they leave the house. My heart goes out to them. I can also see that you will have some trying days, dealing with kids who just want attention from a kind adult, but I also know that you have that compassion and will point them in the right direction.

I'm sure you will have many stories to tell during the school year - what age are these kids?

Sheri, I too wish youy the best of luck in your new job.--I think they are lucky to have you.

it is a shame no days, I know they go straight from the bus to the nurse here, Ashley had to go past the health room on her way to class in 1st grade and there was always a line there. I hated going by there because you never knew either if one had the lice.
but yeah the school's are mostly covering their butts

on occasion my kids (elementary) would come home from school and say they went to the nurse for a little scrape and a bandaid. I'd ask was it bleeding that bad, or doesn't your teacher have some bandaids/peroxide in her room? they'd say no. sometimes the kids 'injury' was so minor they didn't want to go to the nurse but the teachers made them.
last year my son had a busted ear drum and was on meds for a week. in this case the nurse would call down to the room for him to come take his meds. one day she didn't call. he hadn't had his antibiotics or ibuprofin and was in great pain. he went down on his own and the line was so long he ended up just going back to class without it. he was pale when he got home from the pain.

I did go to the nurse's office a couple times when I was in school for legitimate reasons.

I know that the nurse at Tristen's school says that they have some regulars. I think there are some kids that either don't like school or they are getting picked on or maybe it is because of things happening at home. Tristen went there once this year and he really was sick. I had to go pick him up and she said that she really knew that he was sick because she hadn't seen him all year and this was May. She said...he is not one of my "regulars" that come in so I figured I better call. So, I think there are some of those everywhere Sheri and they feel comfortable and safe there so that is where they go. I'm sure it gets frustrating but I know that you will do well with them! Sometimes I think they just want a friend or someone to talk to..to escape everything else.

I meant to say before that I can't believe school has already started there!!! School starts the day after Labor Day here.

School starts here on the 25th of August. Same day for Athena in VA too. I can't believe schools are already started there for you Sheri. It is awful early.

School starts here two days after Labor Day - always has. The day after is for administration and teachers to come in before the students start. Amy even starts the day after Labor Day at NYU, which is different from most universities that are not in the city. They all usually start the week before Labor Day.

School nurse not at all. We had the county nurse come by once or twice a year to make sure everyone was up to date on polio and whooping cough meds. Our school was the only one in the county and the doctors there also doubled as vets. or maybe it was the vet. doubled as the doctor. The hospital my mother was nurse at was the only one in three counties now it too is shut down. Now they have nurses that stay in the school house man how things change.

The elementary school that I went to had a nurse....the middle and high school I went to did not. If you were sick, you just called your parents to come get you.

Now, in elementary school, I went to the nurse just once........because I had a comb stuck in my hair. It was picture day and they used to give you these little black combs, well, I was bored out of my mind for whatever subject they were teaching at the time and I was playing with my bangs with the comb and all of a sudden realized it was stuck! I have no idea how they ever got it out of my hair. I'm sure that nurse had a good laugh at my expense after I left her office. ....I really did hate school...I always felt out of place and was sooo glad when I was 18 and graduated and could go to college and start all over again with new people who didn't know that I had gotten a comb stuck in my hair in 3rd grade and poked fun at me.

Sheri, I have a blood clot in my brain and a completely blocked left Carotid artery. Can I go home?

Just click your heels together Thornius.

I think parents have given the care of their children over to the school. When did it happen? Almost everyone of these student who've come right off the bus or out of the car say they told their mother or father their complaint and they said either tell your teacher or go to the nurse. My concern is like some of you mention. The really sick children aren't going to be able to get to me because of the ones who need attention or want to stay out of class. Some teachers are good some are not so good. Some students are out in the hall for one reason or another all the time. They have the same teachers who send their students to the health room all the time. Some students I've never seen because they are in class.

I go to another school on Friday. Talk about a difference. I had to GO to the classrooms to meet the teachers and the children. Not one student was sent to me and I didn't see any students in the hall without a teacher. One of the teachers came to me and said she has a student with allergies and needed training on using an epi pen. Her plan is to keep it in the class and use it herself rather than sending the child to the office. She didn't even bring the student with her. I suppose the principal has a lot to do with things too.

We have some schools here that are called year round schools. These are year round.

This is a great job.

Actually, I really was diagnosed with the above conditions this week. They've put me on Plavix and aspirin and may add Coumadin to the mix. I had one NEAR blackout spell earlier this week but have been fine since.

HOLY COW, I have not laughed that hard while sitting in front of the computer in a long time! I got a real visual, I guess.

Thorn, you take care of yourself!
...or else.

Our janitor did that too !!!

Thorn, you need to get back to Kansas and FAST.

Glad you had a good laugh...hope it made you pee just a little. :wink:

I got an email from another school nurse who has a school with older children. The teacher brought a girl, to the nurse mind you, because she had on skin tight pants that she couldn't snap - intentionally. What is the school nurse supposed to do about that?

I'm convinced that children haven't changed but the teachers have. Everyone is terrified of being sued. If we fell down, we got up. We're raising a bunch of sissy's folks.

Oh my gosh....she should have wrapped her with tape and sent her back. unbelievable what they send to the school nurse.

Well here they would have given her the choice of wear a pair of sweats from the lost box... or call Mom and tell her to dress you properly since you can't do it yourself... especially if the kids was in junior high or older... girls here who wear something see thru or shows the belly are made to put on a sweatshirt ..good thing cause I have seen some of them that look like they should be walking the street not going to 6th grade.
Nana

Kids here can't even have swing sets in there play grounds at the schools. 'they are too dangerous'.

Seriously??? That is crazy!

seriously! no swings at the schools and the parks have to have a 'fall area' around their swings.

What is our world coming to?!?

Our school nurses keep spare clothes in the office for mishaps... a badly torn rearend seam; someone wetting or getting an irregular unprepared for cycle or even just wearing something unfortunately inappropriate.

Our school nurses also keep their eye on the poorer families and suggests names privately to the PTA at Thanksgiving and Christmas as to which families might benefit from a food basket and/or needful gifts.

People also give our school nurses useful items such as spare coats, hats and mittens and they make sure those things get passed along.

Up here, our kids can NOT be on the playground unless they are wearing snowpants, winter coat, boots, hats AND mittens. Yet children do lose things. And some families are very, very poor.

Every autumn when Maxi buys his winter boots he also likes to buy a pair for a younger child who wouldn't otherwise have any. But I must admit, no matter how many pairs of mittens I buy the kid, he has come home with a different pair from the school nurse a time or two because he lost his somewhere between our front door and the school playground. I always just hope some other kid found the ones he lost!


Merme

The end to that story about the 8th grade girl is that she's pregnant and that's why her pants won't snap. Mother hadn't noticed.

Another thing I've found out about school nursing is that if a child wets his pants in class he's sent to the nurse. At this school, I don't have any clothes for the children. They wear uniforms. The nurse who was here last year said that never happened to her so I guess these are new teachers. I've talked to the counselor and she doesn't have clothes either. She's going to take care of these kids by calling their moms from now on. I don't know what has been done in years past because I'm sure this isn't the first year a little child has wet their pants at school.

8th grader is pregnant?!? I guess that make sense why her pants were not fitting. Did the girl know she was pregnant? I can't imagine being pregnant at such a young age.

I'm not sure if the girl knew it or not - I suppose she did because she's the one that came back and told the nurse. The mom didn't even realize she was wearing clothes too small. A lot of these parents are soooooo uninvolved with their children.

I'm at my other school that I love today (more on that in a minute) and we have a very sick child here, have called mom who told us to call dad who told us to call mom who told us to call dad - we've called them 3 times since 8:30 and it's now 10:30. His clothes have been changed 3 times (you can figure out why) so now he's sitting in it because we have no more clothes for him. One time dad told the secretary that he "doesn't have a plane so he can't get here any faster."

Yesterday, at the other school, I had a student who came to school mind you, didn't happen at school but left home like this (2nd grade) with an open, draining sore on her leg. Called mom - answering machine - left message. She has STILL never called back. Called grandmother who said "well I can't be there until after 9:00." I explained that she can't stay in school with an open, running sore and she said "well, like I said I've got stuff to do and I can't get there until after 9:00." That poor child sat in the Health Room for an 1-1/2 hour until 9:30 when grandmother came in with her hair in curlers.

It sounds awful to say but I think some people should not be allowed to have more children if they can't or won't take care of the 1st child, AND, I don't think they should be able to get public assistance AT ALL if they are not taking care of their children. It will take a few generations for people to catch on and a few children will suffer but they're suffering anyway. It makes me mad that these irresponsible people are having child after child and not taking care of them and I'm not taking about with money. There are some people without much money who love and take care of their children.

lice, lice and more lice. I feel so sorry for some children. I'm sure some of these kids have had lice during the summer because it's so bad now. They had to be miserable with all the itching and scratching. Our county has a no nit policy. One little girl came back and I'm sure her mother had washed her hair but her head is still full of nits so she had to go back home.

Having lice isn't a big deal. It can happen to anyone. But it's evident that some of these children don't get there hair combed all summer long. I want to call DSS and report all these parents.

Sometimes the parents aren't using the 'lice treatment' we've seen it in our schools. Parents complained it was too expensive to treat...geez.