I know this has been discussed many times before... but the "every kid with any symptoms needs to go home" thing has been really bugging me. Am I a bad nurse? At my school, the policy for sending sick kids home has always been what the CDC has recommended:
"The presence of any of the symptoms below generally suggests a student has an infectious illness and should not attend school, regardless of whether the illness is COVID-19. For students with chronic conditions, a positive screening should represent a change from their typical health status.
Temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, Sore throat, Cough (for students with chronic cough due to allergies or asthma, a change in their cough from baseline), Difficulty breathing (for students with asthma, a change from their baseline breathing), Diarrhea or vomiting, New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever"
I absolutely think this is fair. I must admit that I have been allowing my frequent flyers who come in complaining of a "sore throat" to lay down for a few minutes and/or gurgle some salt water. If they magically feel all better after that and are no longer complaining of a sore throat (and after a focused assessment as well), I see absolutely no need to send them home. Same goes for belly aches or mild headaches. I can't imagine calling home and saying "hello, so-and-so had a sore throat for a few minutes and is now feeling all better, so can you come and pick him up?" If they still feel bad after an assessment and interventions (ex: using the restroom for a bellyache), I will absolutely send them right home. I have one teacher in particular who will ALWAYS send the student back - with their backpacks on no less. So, I just do as she wishes... Maybe I'm a pushover or maybe she is right and I should be way more cautious. In her defense, she is probably just as frustrated.
It is just extremely exasperating being the middleman between teachers who want their students to go home for every single thing and parents who only want me to call if their kid has a fever. My job feels futile if every kid is going to go home anyways.
I would love to hear your school's protocol - does every single symptom have to go home, no matter how minor? Do you try some interventions first or put the kid into isolation right away?
