Help me understand school nursing or lack there of. (I'm a LTC nurse)
It is a small Catholic grade school. We have a school nurse from the local school district. She is only there once a month and it isn't to see children but just complete paperwork? I think she goes to all the local Catholic schools in the district.
So, what happens when the children get sick? What should happen?
Right now, only inhalers and epi pens are permitted and in the absence of a RN or LPN, the child is only permitted to administer the medication. It doesn't say anything about insulins (we haven't had diabetic children than needed insulin....we did have a child with a pump a few years back)
So...no more cough drops at all. A letter came home stating that parent can send in 2-3 cough drops that the home room teacher will keep for the child. The child must take them on their own. This will be fazed out because cough drops are used as "crutches". I get the fact that cough drops, even Ludens non menthol, are considered meds...in LTC we need an order for them too.
I guess I have an issue that we really don't have a school nurse. We had a child that had a seizure once. I think they were told "we can't handle him" I'm assuming this is where the parents would need to get a nurse to go to school with the child?
Do you have the secretary call the parents to come in to give cough drops? Tylenol? Tums?
What suggestions do you have for kids with a cough? Sip on water? Cough med at home before school (not really effective)? Keep the kids home for the week or so until the cough subsides?
Petition the school to become the school nurse in exchange for free tuition? :) ....if only this was an option! I have my BSN but no school nurse cert!
My wife subs for me when she can and we were discussing our prn assortment. She brought up cough drops and mints. I told her my rationale that kids would be coming for the "candy" would make it impossible to maintain a supply, not to mention the choking hazard. Then she brought up cough syrup and I said that stuff is too unpredictable, hard to dose correctly and no more effective than pushing fluids. Further rant... Why don't pharmaceutical companies dose their meds by weight exclusively for safety?
My wife subs for me when she can and we were discussing our prn assortment. She brought up cough drops and mints. I told her my rationale that kids would be coming for the "candy" would make it impossible to maintain a supply, not to mention the choking hazard. Then she brought up cough syrup and I said that stuff is too unpredictable, hard to dose correctly and no more effective than pushing fluids. Further rant... Why don't pharmaceutical companies dose their meds by weight exclusively for safety?
I have an order for cough syrup, but rarely use it, typically only if I have talked with a parent who has been giving at home with some relief. And only for kids 12 and up that are over 100 pounds.
Plus, it is abused by the kids these days - I lock my small supply up. My 11th graders love to bring up lean during my drug unit in health class. (Personally, I think cough syrup tastes gross, but what do I know?)
I have an order for cough syrup, but rarely use it, typically only if I have talked with a parent who has been giving at home with some relief. And only for kids 12 and up that are over 100 pounds.
Plus, it is abused by the kids these days - I look mine small supply up. My 11th graders love to bring up lean during my drug unit in health class. (Personally, I think cough syrup tastes gross, but what do I know?)
I must be really old, dated 2005 and I have never heard of it. Must say that Phenergan is probably the only cough syrup I have ever given my kids that actually works, and it helps one of them for their GERD.
I must be really old, dated 2005 and I have never heard of it. Must say that Phenergan is probably the only cough syrup I have ever given my kids that actually works, and it helps one of them for their GERD.
It's in all the rap songs, MMx2. Every HS student knows what purple drank or lean is.
I read a few years back that the issue with cough drops was that somewhere someone choked to death on a cough drop and they don't allow them anymore. I've also heard that a student shared a cough drop with another student who had an allergy to red dye and had a reaction. I'm not sure if I believe those, just sharing what I've "heard" over the years as a school nurse (13yr).
I'm sorry your school does not have a nurse ALL students should have access to a school nurse. Teachers are educated to TEACH, we are educated to NURSE. It's scary to think that something may happen to one of the students who is sick and a teacher not recognize symptoms of something major (like diabetes) or notice the little things that we are trained to notice.
Are you sure your state requires the School Nurse Certification? Not all states require them.
ALL students should have access to a school nurse. Teachers are educated to TEACH, we are educated to NURSE. It's scary to think that something may happen to one of the students who is sick and a teacher not recognize symptoms of something major (like diabetes) or notice the little things that we are trained to notice.
MrNurse(x2), ADN
2,558 Posts
My wife subs for me when she can and we were discussing our prn assortment. She brought up cough drops and mints. I told her my rationale that kids would be coming for the "candy" would make it impossible to maintain a supply, not to mention the choking hazard. Then she brought up cough syrup and I said that stuff is too unpredictable, hard to dose correctly and no more effective than pushing fluids. Further rant... Why don't pharmaceutical companies dose their meds by weight exclusively for safety?