full image - Repost: Hyper vigilant School Nurse (rant/vent) (from Reddit.com, Hyper vigilant School Nurse (rant/vent))
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Last week my son (7)’s school nurse called to say he had a tooth abscess and needed medical attention right away. Being medical-adjacent I am quite familiar with the dangers of dental abscesses, so I rushed to pick him up from school. En route, I called his dentist who, as it turns out, left his practice. There were no other dentists in-network at that practice so I called the insurance company who gave me the name of the only other in-network dentist in town. So I call that practice and the soonest they can get him for a new patient appointment in is early May, even with a possible emergency. They recommended the emergency room. So I arrive at the school and tell the nurse about our appointment and plan to go to urgent care. I look in his mouth and it looks completely normal to me, but what do I know? I’m a social worker, not a nurse. I took him to urgent care (not the ER thank GOD) and a nurse, a resident, an attending and a second attending, all confirmed there is no abscess. There was a little cut on his gums that looked a bit inflamed, as if he had eaten something sharp - frosted mini wheats, as a matter of fact. No pus, no redness, no tooth involvement, no fever or swelling. “But keep his appointment with the dentist, since they’re the specialists.”We’ve heard nothing else from him about mouth pain since.Until today.When his nurse called and said he has another abscess in a different spot. This time I refused to come get him. There’s no fever (“you can have an infection without a fever”), no swelling (“his gum is inflamed. This is just the start.”) He’s not said a word about it until just now. I can’t get him in ANY sooner with a dentist, there are no emergency pediatric dentists in-network, and without a fever or swelling the ER isn’t going to do anything. I’m NOT picking him up. So I got an earful from his school nurse about the dangers of ignoring dental problems and the possibility that abscesses can quickly become serious or fatal. When I picked him up, not only does he not mention tooth pain, he also didn’t remember why he went to the nurse until I reminded him. No swelling, no fever, no pus, no blood. In fact I’m not even sure I see any redness. He’s also given me two different spots when I’ve asked him at different times. He DID tell me he was in the office that morning because he needed his rescue inhaler, but no one called me about that….????I’m expecting CPS to come knocking at my door any moment and I’m going to throw a shit fit. I can’t be leaving work and having my kid miss school every other day because of a hypervigilant nurse who wants to hospitalize kids for frosted mini wheat injuries.
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