The age old question for my SN Peeps......So we strongly recommend that if a student has Vomited, had Fever or Diarrhea, they should stay home and be free (from either malady) for 24 hours.
Now the problem is: This is only as STRONG SUGGESTION. We do not have a written policy for this.
Most parents will adhere to this. Some do not.
The problem is when the parents send them back to school the next day and the teacher becomes irate with me because they are here.
I tell the teacher that if the parent sent them, then there is nothing we can do. Of course if they get sick again and are not acting normal...then of course I will call the parent.
I get dirty looks from teachers about this, but what in the world can I do ? I have asked that we get something written in stone about this SUGGESTION, but the powers that be are not wanting to do this.
How is this situation handled in your school system. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and have a great weekend to all of my School Nurse's !!
We have the 24 hour rule written into our school policy but my nursing judgement trumps that rule. I assess the kids individually and instruct the parents accordingly. If I tell them the student can't attend school tomorrow and the kids shows up I call the parent to come pick them up. I am the "perfect attendance" grim reaper.
This is me too! In general the hard and fast rule here is 24 hours but I do make exceptions. Depending on the circumstances I may let parents know that if their child does not throw up the rest of that day into the morning and eats dinner and breakfast without vomiting that they can return the next day. If I send someone home for vomiting I remind their parent of the 24 hr rule when they pick up and I do not hesitate to call first thing in the am for kids who have come back within those 24 hours if I think it's warranted. We don't do perfect attendance awards in our school because I fought to get rid of them. I get very frustrated with parents sending kids to school sick and then hearing them whine when someone else does it.
This is what I am proposing goes in the handbook this year: (there is nothing currently)
Vomiting: Students who vomit in school (witnessed) will be excluded and parents/guardians notified. There may be exceptions if it can be determined that vomiting was caused by factors such as nervousness, excessive crying/anger, phlegm in throat, ect. Children who vomit at home should not come to school until free from symptoms for 12 hours.
Instead of listing what exceptions are acceptable, maybe you should say, "The only exceptions to this policy will be made by the school nurse."
If you give examples of what is considered ok to remain at school, the parents have their ammo right there to keep them at school. "Oh, Susie isn't sick, she has a test." And Susie is sitting in your office pale and looking like she is about to pass out.
Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..
I did get the wording changed for this year for one of my schools. It has actually worked pretty well. It goes something like this. " Students who vomit 2 times in 24 hours may be excluded." This covers the student who throws up in the night, but feels ok to come to school the next morning. If the student vomits at school, then that is 2x in 24 hours, and is sent home. This also covers, the nachos on taco Tuesday and spinning playground equipment>>>>vomit. If the student doesn't look or act sick, they can stay at school. If they vomit twice>>>>we are calling home.
My situation is a little more complicated, because I go to 4 buildings, so am not there a lot of the time to assess them.
Ours is: A student with vomiting 2 or more times in 24 hours will be excluded from school, unless a physician feels the cause of vomiting is not an infectious disease and the child is in no danger of becoming dehydrated. A child should have 1-2 meals without vomiting before returning to school. Your child may be sent home from school for vomiting one time.
Farawyn
12,646 Posts
I've seen this, you know.
Some kids are just artists. In puke.