Because it's so "best practice." It's so "evidence-based."
Thank heavens I did since I found 0 cases of lice among 150 students I checked.
On Friday I found 2 different kids in 2 different K classrooms with lice. The first one, I de-loused with a comb since I know the family well. The 2nd I called home for.
Over the weekend, we had 2 parents discover lice in their kids hair and go *******. They posted pictures of their kids on facebook getting their heads shaved in the back (girls). The poor kids are completely traumatized. They kept their kids home until today screaming at me and the principal for letting this happen. We caved on Monday and sent out a lice letter to the school (school policy is to send home a notice when there are 2 or more cases in 1 classroom). That afternoon, I found a 3rd student in 2nd grade. Letter was already on it's way home.
Hell broke loose that afternoon. People were calling me "idiot" and "jerk" for not letting them know sooner. Huh? Then more parents came forward saying their kids had lice multiple times this year but they never got a notice. I had no idea these kids had lice. Parents never called me. I talked to one of the parents and she said she was too embarrassed to call me but she knew that other parents were letting me know. Uh, no they didn't. She said she doesn't think I'm a liar but she has insider information so she knows the school was informed. Uhm, I'm as "insider" as it gets.
As of this morning, we had 3 confirmed (by me) and 3 reported (by parents) cases of lice in the school. We have over 500 kids. Someone call the media. There is CLEARLY a town epidemic!!!!
So parents started freaking out calling the Department of Health, the Superintendent and the Board of Ed I was directed by administration to perform full class lice checks in 5 classrooms. I protested but told me I had no choice. They brought in trash bags to bag the belongings of a 2nd grade class.
I'm seriously thinking about calling out tomorrow. Why hire a nurse if you won't listen to her professional recommendations?
Meanwhile, I can't get the yearly assessments done. I can't keep up with the referrals from the assessments I've done (you know - vision referrals that might actually impact a student's ability to learn). But let's make sure I am available to do full class lice checks.
Someone please help me lower my blood pressure. Or kindly share a Xanax.
Oh, and did I mention all cases of lice were found in the town cheerleaders??? But the school is responsible for all cases and failing to notify parents of the cases we weren't actually aware of.
That would be a losing battle. Anytime the media reports something about our school district, it's always in a negative light. I just want to do my job without abuse from parents, who need to be checking and taking care of their own kids. We are basically performing a service for them, not taking over their responsibility but many don't see it way.
I have similar issues here with lice hysteria. BUT I would flat out refuse to check 150 kids. Why? Because by the 20th or so kid, my eyes are so tired I might miss something and I don't want to give a false sense of security! NO WAY I could check that many. It would be pointless.
If they want to write a policy about head checks, they can pay a professional lice removal company to come in and do it. Not even kidding.
As for the social media BS, those people are boobs. I guess we should consider the source.
Not a school nurse, but this popped up in my what's new on the app, and can I just say wth. I'm a parent of 2 children and long before I was a nurse, I saw kids in their classes get lice, my oldest got lice. Heck, I got lice as an adult TWICE, lice is not a debilitating illness, it's a hassle, but nobody is going to die!
Those parents are crazy pants! Kuddos to you OP for not losing it on social media re: the shaved heads! Who shaves heads for lice? Crazy people, that's who! Also, I'd never have blamed a school nurse. When my daughter got it, we had a talk about not sharing hair bands, hoodies, or brushes. Funny enough, she was a junior cheerleader at the time. I made her start taking her own brush to cheer, as coaches often lined girls up and put hair up, using the same brush girl after girl. I'm guessing the same practice goes on on most cheer squads...
mc3, ASN, RN
931 Posts
That would be a losing battle. Anytime the media reports something about our school district, it's always in a negative light. I just want to do my job without abuse from parents, who need to be checking and taking care of their own kids. We are basically performing a service for them, not taking over their responsibility but many don't see it way.
Is that too much to ask?