Does Anyone Else Get Tired Of The Excuses?

[LD14]

I had a dub who is about 15 months who was dropped off this morning and DCD told me he got up earlier than normal today because they had to take someone to the airport, so he is a bit tired. Well an hour into him being here he wasn't acting like himself, I fed him breakfast and then put him on the couch. He fell asleep shortly after and slept for about 5 hours.... FIVE! He woke up once and he didn't want to play like normal, I picked him up and held him for a minute and right back out he went. I took his temp and it was in the 99* range, well about an hour before pickup I took it again and it was 100.7* I called DCD and he didn't answer but was here within 5 minutes (he was early picking up today!) I told him he was sick and I would see him Wednesday... He can't come back until he is fever free for 24 hours. He says, oh, well he just didn't really sleep that well last night and got up early, he's tired. In my head I'm thinking-HE JUST SLEPT FOR 5 HOURS and now he has the fever. NO... he's sick. See ya Wednesday!

[daycarediva]

I agree that anyone would question that.

However, when I take a temperature 3x and then double check my thermometer's accuracy on other children, and then notify the parent of a fever and they tell me they didn't have one when they got home - I would hesitate to believe the parent is telling the truth about the child. Unfortunately this has happened to me a few times with the same family.

YES!

Also the parents don't take temperatures correctly. I had a dcm use an underarm thermometer, but the end was not UNDER dck's arm, it was sticking out. ::

[Unregistered]

YES!

Also the parents don't take temperatures correctly. I had a dcm use an underarm thermometer, but the end was not UNDER dck's arm, it was sticking out. ::

I'm the parent who was complaining about the kid not having a fever when I arrived to get her. I took her temp myself at the center in front of the admins with an ear-canal thermometer that I had put in my purse the week before due to a similar incident. The temp on it read 97.6 so adding the degree would make it 98.6. I've always suspected that someone called in and they were over ratio. Thank God I've found alternate arrangements.

[Blackcat31]

I'm the parent who was complaining about the kid not having a fever when I arrived to get her. I took her temp myself at the center in front of the admins with an ear-canal thermometer that I had put in my purse the week before due to a similar incident. The temp on it read 97.6 so adding the degree would make it 98.6. I've always suspected that someone called in and they were over ratio. Thank God I've found alternate arrangements.

Did you ever point out the discrepancy to the staff?

If so, what did they say?

I am guessing that more than likely your suspicions are correct....as that seems to be a common thing in some centers. At least in my experience here.

I am wondering though, why your child? Was your child the most part time? Last dropped off? Youngest?

Honestly if you suspected this was happening, I would have made other arrangements immediately. Most times your instincts are correct.

[Cat Herder]

I'm the parent who was complaining about the kid not having a fever when I arrived to get her. I took her temp myself at the center in front of the admins with an ear-canal thermometer that I had put in my purse the week before due to a similar incident. The temp on it read 97.6 so adding the degree would make it 98.6. I've always suspected that someone called in and they were over ratio. Thank God I've found alternate arrangements.

Straight from the manufacturer.

"Q. Why do we get inaccurate and inconsistent patient temperature measurements when using our ear thermometers?


A. Most likely, your problems are not related to the thermometers themselves—rather, they are likely the result of an inadequate understanding of the limitations of ear thermometry.

Ear temperature can vary greatly because of environmental factors (e.g., if the patient's ear has not warmed up from being outside in cold weather) and because of variations in patient ear anatomy. Consequently, a single ear-temperature measurement will not reliably establish the presence or absence of a fever.

We discourages the use of ear thermometers to make treatment decisions based on a single measurement. We also discourage the assessment of ear-thermometer readings using protocols and target values that have been established for other temperature-measurement. Ear thermometers should be used only for tracking or trending of patient temperature status. Even this use can be compromised by inconsistent user technique (i.e., failing to position the thermometer at the same depth and angle in the ear canal for each measurement). Inconsistency will result in significantly varied measurements from patients whose temperature status is in fact unchanged.

[kitykids3]

As a parent I can tell you that if I get a call for a fever of 101+ but she has a temp of 98.6 when I get there 20 minutes later then I'm totally going to question any future diagnosis I get. I'm sure none of you do this, butit happens.

If that really happens, then you should question the staff. This is why I take the temp with 2 different thermometers and send a pic of it with the text that they need to go home. Perhaps if you doubt in the future you could just ask them to do that.

[Unregistered]

Did you ever point out the discrepancy to the staff?

If so, what did they say?

I am guessing that more than likely your suspicions are correct....as that seems to be a common thing in some centers. At least in my experience here.

I am wondering though, why your child? Was your child the most part time? Last dropped off? Youngest?

Honestly if you suspected this was happening, I would have made other arrangements immediately. Most times your instincts are correct.

Staff just kind of shrugged their shoulders when I pointed out the difference.

I think that one of the reasons that it was my kid was that they knew that I was one of the parents who could get there the fastest. This was a center that was attached to my job. I work at a manufacturing facility, but have an office job. They could call my office directly while some of the other parents don't have direct phone lines. It would require a call to that parent's manager, who would inform the line supervisor, who would tell the parent. And then, more than likely, that parent wouldn't be allowed to leave until the part that he or she was working on is complete and their tools are checked back in.

I also don't think it was just my kid. I know of at least one other parent who made complaints about excessive exclusions. I think that their child is still at the center so maybe it's gotten better.