Goodbye summer, hello school! Every year I used to get very anxious around this time of year hoping Tyler would get a good teacher. But more importantly that we’d have a great nurse. For me, the school nurse was my number one concern. Before school had started, I would reach out, introducing myself and letting her/him know that I’m excited to be working together. I admit that when Tyler first started school, I was probably a little intense, overwhelming the nurse. Over the years, I got much better at communicating what I needed from her. (We never had a male nurse so I’ll use “her” often.)
I always started with an explanation about what Hemophilia is and what to expect. I think keeping it simple works best. I always took in literature and an extensive contact sheet listing multiple people to call if I didn’t answer my phone. (My mom, brother, sister, etc..) You think you’ll always answer the phone, but you never know. I think that it’s important to be very friendly and reassuring because, let’s be real, it’s a lot. The nurses who act like it’s no problem, this is no biggie, worry me the most. We had a nurse like that and the picture above of Tyler’s knee is what resulted. She decided just to give him ice and send him back to class, not once, but twice that day. He even got on the bus and this is how he looked when I picked him up at the bus stop. What the heck!!! Are you kidding me? To say I was upset is an understatement. Somehow, the nurse didn’t get the main and really only thing I needed her to do, CALL ME. I realized then that what we had here, was a failure to communicate.
I decided that rather than overwhelm the nurse with information, Keep It Simple. Give ice and call me immediately. If my son comes to you for any reason, call me. His head hurts, call me. He tripped and fell, call me. He says his tummy hurts, call me. Make sure you do not give the impression that they are not competent. That’s no bueno. Compliment them, tell them you are so happy your child has her/him as their nurse. Our nurses always became like part of the family. Tyler would even make them a valentine. If you have a nurse you don’t care for, kill them with kindness. Bake goods go a long way!
So remember, communication is key. Let your nurse know there never can be too many calls. Don’t worry about calling me at work. Don’t worry calling if you think it might be nothing or silly to bother me. You can educate your nurse on the different bleed symptoms, but realistically ice and a phone call is all you really need.
Blogging about Bleeding Disorders 