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I just thought of something else. If the school got ahold of this boys Mom, why didn't they get verbal authorization from her to give him his inhaler? I mean, the nurse could have said, Mrs. SoNSo, your sone is having an attack and we don't have a signed med form, can u authorize me to give the inhaler to him to use, and then pass the phone to another person in the office to verify verbal ok was given. Why did they have to wait for the mom to get there?
Yes, I think. I'm talking, of course, about the emergency situation that is the subject of this thread. Didn't think it was necessary to reiterate that fact. Of course, the doctor may have changed the medication. But the student in question is a 17 y.o. senior. The inhaler was confiscated from him in this current school year. He should certainly know which of his medications are current, else why would he be carrying it?
I'm not advocating public execution for the people involved. But I do think that anyone standing around with their collective thumbs up their collective...noses, should know that there will be repercussions if they don't do something. I also understand the Good Samaritan rule not applying to the school nurse, but administrators are not under that restriction. Based on the information given in the news story, someone needed to do something. IF no one did, (and is it possible that the medics were called and slow responding) shame on them. It is also possible that this story was released to the media by the Mom's attorney with some pertinent details left out.
I learned not to believe everything I read in the paper.
A 17 yr old senior is still a minor. My biggest issue with this story is the mom trying to rationalize that she never got around to turning in the form. I too do not believe everything I read in the paper. I'd hold off on believing parts of this story.
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Originally Posted by Cav Scout wife
Yes, yes I do. That is what she deserves. She failed to do her job.
Oh please! Like you've never make an innocent mistake before? I know I have filled out forms completely only come to find out I forgot to sign them (in fact, I did that with my tax forms last year! ), and as soon as the party noticed the lack of signature, it was corrected. Accident does NOT equal irresponsible.
She should lose it for not doing her job and helping a child that needed help. Honestly, I would rather be fired for doing the right thing, than standing back and doing nothing, due to "policy". I thought all good people thought like that, guess I was wrong.
Amen Jasper!
I think we've all made "innocent mistakes". However, this mom had all school year to get that medication form in.
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Originally Posted by ellar
One of the things I have learned from these stories is that school may be one of the most dangerous places my daughter goes. As a parent, I can only trust her going out of my eyesight if I believe in the good will of other adults. In most cases, it seems other adults must be worried about protecting children. I have yet to read a story about a child being denied an inhaler or other necessary care by a dance teacher or coach or friend's parent. When I leave my daughter at activities, I have some confidence the other adults in charge will do what it takes to help save my daughter if the worse happens. That is apparently not the case at school.
With this story and the other recent story of the Virginia girl dying, I see at schools that many nurses apparently are more concerned about lawsuits and whether or not the parent did their homework correctly than the life of a child. I just don't see this problem anywhere else. Once in the emergency room where I had taken my daughter for breathing difficulty, the medical staff there did not even tell me what they were doing let alone get my approval to give my daughter albuterol etc. They were too focused on saving my child's life. I would have expected the same from a school nurse.
There are always people who harp on the parents in such scenarios, but it is not always as easy as it sounds to keep everything straight. My daughter has had allergies since birth. Her life-saving medicines have not changed in all the years she has been in school. Yet, I do have to get the same forms at least once if not multiple times a year (summer camps often have their own forms). I also have to deal with whatever curve balls the doctors or nurses throw my way--like the time the doctor made the order expire in December (calendar year rather than school year). If I had not noticed that and my daughter had a problem in January, I guess she may have been out of luck at school.
Then there are all the expiration dates on the medicine. A nurse here pointed out that school nurses also are not allowed to give expired medicines. Epipen shots frequently expire. They, along with other medicines, still work for some time after the expiration. However, if I don't keep track carefully and one expires on March 31, and my daughter has a problem on April 1--again I may be out of luck. Life gets busy and sometimes mistakes happen. I cannot imagine my daughter dying because one of her six to eight medical forms at school was missing something or one of her medicines had recently expired. Only at school would this be a problem. It is frightening.
The bold is the difference. You were there in the ER. It was presumed you were giving permission.
You guys who are so critical of the nurse should put yourselves in the position of being responsible for a bunch of other people's kids.
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Originally Posted by markg91359
One of the things many people really don't understand is that school nurses are not in the school to provide medical treatment. Generally speaking, school nurses are in public schools to carry out programs like vision screening, immunization, scoliosis screening, and head lice inspection. Part of the job is a sort of social work. The school nurse may make home visits when a referral is provided by a school teacher or the Principal. Home visits generally are requested because of suspicions of neglect or even abuse that maybe going on. When my wife was a school nurse, one of the things she sometimes had to do was to speak to the gas company or electric company about turning on services in a home where parents couldn't pay the bill and, as a result, kids were coming to school without being able to bath.
Standard protocol in most schools is that in the event of a medical emergency the school nurse is to call an ambulance. Although, even this gets dicey. Nurses and school administration have been yelled at by parents for calling an ambulance before the parents were called first. Honestly, if someone's life was in jeopardy, the last damn thing I'd worry about is calling parents first. Although, you'd be surprised about how many parents even in a situation that threatened the life of their child would ***** about having to pay a bill for the ambulance.
I understand where this nurse is coming from. In an emergency, I'd almost certainly throw the rules aside and do what I thought I had to do. In other words, I'd have gotten the inhaler. However, it can be a very dicey situation. People need more education about what the role of the school nurse is. They need to be more responsible for their child's own medical needs. Forty years ago, there weren't so many rules that govern everyone's conduct. Today, its a fact of life and its a given that some outcomes will be less than optimal because of them. I'm glad this poor child survived.
Most school nurses do not give immunizations, as again, a parent has to give permission for it.
Still doesn't excuse the nurse for not calling 911 as she was told by the student's mother and by school policy.
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Originally Posted by Katiana
A 17 yr old senior is still a minor. My biggest issue with this story is the mom trying to rationalize that she never got around to turning in the form. I too do not believe everything I read in the paper. I'd hold off on believing parts of this story.
I think we've all made "innocent mistakes". However, this mom had all school year to get that medication form in.
The bold is the difference. You were there in the ER. It was presumed you were giving permission.
You guys who are so critical of the nurse should put yourselves in the position of being responsible for a bunch of other people's kids.
Most school nurses do not give immunizations, as again, a parent has to give permission for it.
As a teacher of medically fragile children in SPED, I knew all the meds my kids were on...and while it was "policy" that only the nurse did certain procedures....I made sure me and my paras were also trained. I had two Epi pens in my desk...along with glucose for diabetics.
Many school nurses get used to barely working. They are usually lazy.
As a teacher you would administer glucose? You would keep Epi-pens IN YOU DESK?!! Whose prescriptions were those Epi-pens? Where did you get the glucose?
As a fellow teacher of 25+ years, our school nurses were very busy all day with fevers, vomit, bloody noses, playground injuries, allergies, etc etc. They are not "usually lazy" at all.
As a teacher you would administer glucose? You would keep Epi-pens IN YOU DESK?!! Whose prescriptions were those Epi-pens? Where did you get the glucose?
As a fellow teacher of 25+ years, our school nurses were very busy all day with fevers, vomit, bloody noses, playground injuries, allergies, etc etc. They are not "usually lazy" at all.
A-men! My friend is a school "nurse", actually parapro. That is what she does all day long, and she is usually exhausted by the end of the day. She also spends a lot of time trying to get those med forms signed.
As a teacher you would administer glucose? You would keep Epi-pens IN YOU DESK?!! Whose prescriptions were those Epi-pens? Where did you get the glucose?
An Epipen in your classroom is great idea. When my daughter was younger, Epipens were regularly held in classrooms. The schools asked for parents to supply an extra Epipen for the classroom.
On the other note about taking care of other people's kids, how many adults do you know would deny a kid his/her inhaler? This teenager was obviously in distress. If I am taking care of another child, I give him his inhaler. It is not rocket science. I much rather be sued or lose my job or whatever else than let a child die because of my lack of action. I just cannot imagine such inaction if a child was in such obvious distress, and I knew I could help.
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), and as soon as the party noticed the lack of signature, it was corrected. Accident does NOT equal irresponsible.
