Should a school nurse diagnose?

[badblackpug]

Right, because the teen would absolutely tell the truth about the conversation he had with the nurse, especially considering his mother was as angry as she was about picking him up.

...and yes, you can have exudate on your tonsils which can be scraped away when eating or drinking.

...and being a mother doesn't make you a doctor. No one can diagnose strep, or the absence thereof, without a culture. So maybe she should have told you when you get your medical degree you can diagnose, too.

All of the above notwithstanding the follow up call was still rude, unnecessary, and childish. Maybe you should direct your anger at your kid, where it belongs.

 

[mhsjax]

Right, because the teen would absolutely tell the truth about the conversation he had with the nurse, especially considering his mother was as angry as she was about picking him up.

...and yes, you can have exudate on your tonsils which can be scraped away when eating or drinking.

...and being a mother doesn't make you a doctor. No one can diagnose strep, or the absence thereof, without a culture. So maybe she should have told you when you get your medical degree you can diagnose, too.

All of the above notwithstanding the follow up call was still rude, unnecessary, and childish. Maybe you should direct your anger at your kid, where it belongs.

I agree that the OP was rude to the nurse, but I would love to know how you can get rid of those little white bumps on your throat by just eating. I got them all the time as a teen and I would practically have to scrape them with my finger nail and they still wouldn't come off. Maybe not for everyone but at least in my experience. But I agree with the nurse's opinion.

 

[kimmyann]

Right, because the teen would absolutely tell the truth about the conversation he had with the nurse, especially considering his mother was as angry as she was about picking him up.

...and yes, you can have exudate on your tonsils which can be scraped away when eating or drinking.

...and being a mother doesn't make you a doctor. No one can diagnose strep, or the absence thereof, without a culture. So maybe she should have told you when you get your medical degree you can diagnose, too.

All of the above notwithstanding the follow up call was still rude, unnecessary, and childish. Maybe you should direct your anger at your kid, where it belongs.

Why would I be mad at my kid? He didn't lie, this information was told to me directly by the nurse, not my son. I wasn't angry about picking up my kid, I was irritated that he had to leave school when he was not sick & no, I don't consider a cold to be sick enough to miss school & especially to go to the doctor. If I were mad at him it would be for going to the nurse to miss class time when he didn't need to. He could have never know that she would have taken a clinic visit to this extreme though.

The main purpose of the follow up call was to let her know that he did not have strep, I agree I should have left out the other part, but I did not at the time. I'm usually not like that, but I think her initial attitude along with the unnecessary doctor visit caused me to speak up. I never raised my voice or cursed or anything, I just stated what I thought of the situation. I have a right to disagree with her decision, just as she had the right to call me to pick him up. That does not mean that either right is correct. I also do not consider myself as childish, rude, yes in this case probably so. If I was childish I would have called her names.........

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Maybe you should direct your anger at your kid, where it belongs.

Why should she be angry with her kid? What did he do? I must have missed something.........

 

[badblackpug]

Why would I be mad at my kid? He didn't lie, this information was told to me directly by the nurse, not my son. I wasn't angry about picking up my kid, I was irritated that he had to leave school when he was not sick & no, I don't consider a cold to be sick enough to miss school & especially to go to the doctor. If I were mad at him it would be for going to the nurse to miss class time when he didn't need to. He could have never know that she would have taken a clinic visit to this extreme though.

The main purpose of the follow up call was to let her know that he did not have strep, I agree I should have left out the other part, but I did not at the time. I'm usually not like that, but I think her initial attitude along with the unnecessary doctor visit caused me to speak up. I never raised my voice or cursed or anything, I just stated what I thought of the situation. I have a right to disagree with her decision, just as she had the right to call me to pick him up. That does not mean that either right is correct. I also do not consider myself as childish, rude, yes in this case probably so. If I was childish I would have called her names.........

Exactly my point. He started this ball rolling. He was the one that presented to the nurse twice in a weeks time with the complaint. Which seems like a time-waster to me. ...and again, you only know what your son told you he said, you do not know what he actually said to the nurse. I have a teen, believe me, if she thought I was angry because I had to pick her up and take her to the doctor she would definitely lie and say she never claimed to have a sore throat. I would be mad at her for going to the nurse for such a trivial thing, and making a complaint that lead the nurse to believe that she may have strep.

Do you honestly think the nurse made the whole thing up just to annoy you or waste your time? Your son must have made some complaint which lead her to believe that he needed to be checked for strep. He didn't walk into her office and say. "I need a cough drop for absolutely no reason." and she was struck with a bolt of enlightenment out of they sky and said, "You have strep!" He made some complaint which made her believe that his throat needed to be checked.

 

[Hannathy]

Exactly my point. He started this ball rolling. He was the one that presented to the nurse twice in a weeks time with the complaint. Which seems like a time-waster to me. ...and again, you only know what your son told you he said, you do not know what he actually said to the nurse. I have a teen, believe me, if she thought I was angry because I had to pick her up and take her to the doctor she would definitely lie and say she never claimed to have a sore throat. I would be mad at her for going to the nurse for such a trivial thing, and making a complaint that lead the nurse to believe that she may have strep.

Do you honestly think the nurse made the whole thing up just to annoy you or waste your time? Your son must have made some complaint which lead her to believe that he needed to be checked for strep. He didn't walk into her office and say. "I need a cough drop for absolutely no reason." and she was struck with a bolt of enlightenment out of they sky and said, "You have strep!" He made some complaint which made her believe that his throat needed to be checked.

Exactly!!

And also why I asked why you think she lied about his throat having white spots. That is what I don't get.

 

[kimmyann]

Exactly my point. He started this ball rolling. He was the one that presented to the nurse twice in a weeks time with the complaint. Which seems like a time-waster to me. ...and again, you only know what your son told you he said, you do not know what he actually said to the nurse. I have a teen, believe me, if she thought I was angry because I had to pick her up and take her to the doctor she would definitely lie and say she never claimed to have a sore throat. I would be mad at her for going to the nurse for such a trivial thing, and making a complaint that lead the nurse to believe that she may have strep.

Do you honestly think the nurse made the whole thing up just to annoy you or waste your time? Your son must have made some complaint which lead her to believe that he needed to be checked for strep. He didn't walk into her office and say. "I need a cough drop for absolutely no reason." and she was struck with a bolt of enlightenment out of they sky and said, "You have strep!" He made some complaint which made her believe that his throat needed to be checked.

He wanted a cough drop for a cough from a cold. She wanted to look at his throat from the last time he was in there (the Friday before), which was about a sore throat. I don't think she was making things up to annoy me, I just think she overreacted to the situation. The nurse is the one who told me that he stated his throat did not hurt.

 

[sparklynails23]

There are good school nurses and bad school nurses, just like in every other profession. Sounds like this one isn't the best. Next time, get the nurse's diagnosis and the fact that she is banning the child from class for said diagnosis in writing. If she is jumping to a bunch of wrong conclusions, it could cause an increase in absences. The administration should probably be aware of this.

My poor son had the opposite problem. He complained of an upset stomach, the school nurse took his temp (which was "normal," she said), and she sent him back to class. Two hours later, he is hiding in the bathroom and calling me to come and get him, so I did. When I took him home, he had a fever, stomach ache, slight sore throat- and strep. The school policy is apparently to assume the child is lying and trying to get out of a test the first time they come to the nurse. If they come back again, they get to go home. My son didn't know that, so he just stayed in class, sick. I told him to make sure all of his friends are aware of the policy. He also was balled out by the nurse for using his cell phone during school hours. Another bad school nurse.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thank heavens someone finally brought up the food and drink issue. It can wash away spots.

The nurse would have no reason to lie about seeing exudate. If she documented its presence when it wasn't there, well that would be fraudulent and could result in loss of license. I highly doubt the school nurse would risk losing her license over fraudulant documentation related to this issue.

 

[badblackpug]

There are good school nurses and bad school nurses, just like in every other profession. Sounds like this one isn't the best. Next time, get the nurse's diagnosis and the fact that she is banning the child from class for said diagnosis in writing. If she is jumping to a bunch of wrong conclusions, it could cause an increase in absences. The administration should probably be aware of this.

My poor son had the opposite problem. He complained of an upset stomach, the school nurse took his temp (which was "normal," she said), and she sent him back to class. Two hours later, he is hiding in the bathroom and calling me to come and get him, so I did. When I took him home, he had a fever, stomach ache, slight sore throat- and strep. The school policy is apparently to assume the child is lying and trying to get out of a test the first time they come to the nurse. If they come back again, they get to go home. My son didn't know that, so he just stayed in class, sick. I told him to make sure all of his friends are aware of the policy. He also was balled out by the nurse for using his cell phone during school hours. Another bad school nurse.

Again, damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you send them home then you are over-reacting and pretending you are a doctor. If you send them back to class then you are incompetent or think that all kids are liars.

What is the nurse to do? Parents complain either way, I guess it's best to err on the side of caution, but either way you are going to get vilified.

 

[kaytieeldr]

There are good school nurses and bad school nurses, just like in every other profession. Sounds like this one isn't the best. Next time, get the nurse's diagnosis and the fact that she is banning the child from class for said diagnosis in writing. If she is jumping to a bunch of wrong conclusions, it could cause an increase in absences. The administration should probably be aware of this.

My poor son had the opposite problem. He complained of an upset stomach, the school nurse took his temp (which was "normal," she said), and she sent him back to class. Two hours later, he is hiding in the bathroom and calling me to come and get him, so I did. When I took him home, he had a fever, stomach ache, slight sore throat- and strep. The school policy is apparently to assume the child is lying and trying to get out of a test the first time they come to the nurse. If they come back again, they get to go home. My son didn't know that, so he just stayed in class, sick. I told him to make sure all of his friends are aware of the policy. He also was balled out by the nurse for using his cell phone during school hours. Another bad school nurse.

No. Bad school policies.

 

[sparklynails23]

No. Bad school policies.

You think school nurses are infallible? The OP's nurse was overstepping (IMO).

My son's school nurse said in a sweet voice, "Let's bring him back in here, so he can meet me and know I'm a nice person." She then berated him for using his phone and threatened to give him after school detention. I just rolled my eyes instead of arguing with the witch, because I could see my son was sick and wanted to go home. I told him to skip the nurse next time and go straight to the cell.

Not all school nurses are the cream of the crop. I've heard the one that visits my son's private school (because she is assigned to the area public school district) publicly, in front of other parents, talk about specific kids' medical problems and how she disapproves of certain parents. I let her know that was not o.k. to do.

 

[kaytieeldr]

He had a cold, it started with a sore throat that then turned into a cold.

No, he caught a cold, the first indication of which was a sore throat. If you knew as much about medicine as you claim, you'd know this - which causes me to have a complete lack of trust in your ability to diagnose any medical condition, disease, or illness.

I wasn't angry about picking up my kid,

Why would you be angry about picking your kid up? Didn't you say your daughter picked him up? Did you ask her how she felt?

The main purpose of the follow up call was to let her know that he did not have strep,

Given that you were informed a doctor's note was required for your son to be allowed back into school, the call was superfluous. The main purpose of the call, therefore, seems to have been to let the school nurse know how you felt.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You think school nurses are infallible? The OP's nurse was overstepping (IMO).

I quoted your post because I was responding to it - not to the OP (this time). The school nurse in your post is enforcing or iterating school policies. Therefore, in your case, it's the school policies that are bad - not the nurse. Just as with the OP, we have only one version of the actual incident, discussion, and tones.

You say "sweet voice" in a way that the reader (this one, anyway) could infer you feel or attempt to convey it's not her normal voice. You then use the words "berate" and "threaten" - which could be intended to garner sympathy, or could be exaggerated, or could be accurate.

Assign blame where it's due.

 

[peacelover]

I'd really like to know how certain posters get away with being SO FREAKING NASTY on this board.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you mean me, please let me know where you see me being nasty and I'll edit.

I'm not trying to get away with anything.

PM me, though - otherwise after I edit, then you'll have to edit...

 

[badblackpug]

You think school nurses are infallible? The OP's nurse was overstepping (IMO).

My son's school nurse said in a sweet voice, "Let's bring him back in here, so he can meet me and know I'm a nice person." She then berated him for using his phone and threatened to give him after school detention. I just rolled my eyes instead of arguing with the witch, because I could see my son was sick and wanted to go home. I told him to skip the nurse next time and go straight to the cell.

Not all school nurses are the cream of the crop. I've heard the one that visits my son's private school (because she is assigned to the area public school district) publicly, in front of other parents, talk about specific kids' medical problems and how she disapproves of certain parents. I let her know that was not o.k. to do.

The nurse in the OP was, likely, following school policy. She saw signs of an infectious illness and referred the child to a doctor for medical clearance. This is the policy in many, many schools. The child needs a note from a physician that he either tested negative for whatever illness it is, or has been treated for the illness.

...and in both my kid's schools (primary and secondary) it is a violation of school policy to have a cell phone. It either stays in your bag or in your locker, but if they see it or hear it it is removed, you receive detention, and a parent must retrieve the phone. A second offense results in suspension.

So you have issues with your school nurse, it doesn't mean that the one in the OP's situation did anything wrong. Again, it is a common school policy to require medical clearance to return to school in the case of infectious illnesses. The child presented with URI symptoms twice in 1 week. Something was said to make her think the child had an ongoing issue. She looked in the child's throat, saw exudate, which is a common symptom of strep, and requested medical clearance. That is her job.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

- which causes me to have a complete lack of trust in your ability to diagnose any medical condition, disease, or illness.

Really???

Almost sounds like you know the OP personally or something.

Who cares about your lack of trust in the OPs abilities to diagnose....why do you feel the need to trust her?

This thread is getting silly............

 

[grafxgirl]

My daughter's school nurse just called me yesterday to tell me that my 8 year old daughter's ear is hurting her. She told me that she looked into the ear, but it was full of wax. She suggested we try to clear out the wax to see if it helps, and that we should in the meantime, call the pediatrician to see what he thinks because it could possibly be an ear infection, but she wasn't able to tell through the wax. I called the pediatrician and he agreed with the nurse. He also said to use Debrox to clear out the wax over the next few days to see if it relieves her ear pain. He thinks most likely this is all it is because the pain is infrequent, she isn't crying non-stop like she usually does on the few occasions she has had an ear infection, doesn't have a fever, and is just as active as she usually is. I like our school nurse because she does usually have good suggestions and does tell us that to be sure we should follow up with the doctor.

 

[kimmyann]

No, he caught a cold, the first indication of which was a sore throat. If you knew as much about medicine as you claim, you'd know this - which causes me to have a complete lack of trust in your ability to diagnose any medical condition, disease, or illness.

Why would you be angry about picking your kid up? Didn't you say your daughter picked him up? Did you ask her how she felt?

Given that you were informed a doctor's note was required for your son to be allowed back into school, the call was superfluous. The main purpose of the call, therefore, seems to have been to let the school nurse know how you felt.

I'm sorry for you that you seem so angry. I never claimed to know "so much about medicine", but I do have a bit of common sense & know my own children. As far as my DD? She volunteered so I would not have to take off of work.

If you would like to get technical, he *had* a cold as a result of *catching* a cold. I really have no intention of arguing with you regarding wording of a post, but if you feel the need to attack me I will bite back.