Holiday Travel and Mandatory Quarantining?

Published

Is anyone requiring families/staff to quarantine after travel? 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatric Home Health, High School Nurse.

In order for this to be successful, it would rely on parents to self report travel. Depending on the school, this may or may not be realistic.  I was just reading that some schools are doing full eLearning the week after Christmas break.  I am starting to think through this and I am so glad you asked the question.  Looking forward to hearing what our "virtual nursing station" has to say on this!

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.

We are following our State's travel order. MA has issued a travel order that requires anyone travelling into MA from a red state (listed on the state website) to either have negative test results from within the 72hours PRECEDING their arrival in MA or they must quarantine for 14days. We have just sent out messaging telling everyone in the community this plan, including discouraging travel all together (which is also part of the order) as of this afternoon. 

One thought is to go remote for 2 weeks following our break, just to avoid needing to track it all, but I worry this might actually backfire and encourage travel. I just hope that people are honest and do the right thing, and that they all realize that if LD reveals they had a Christmas trip to Disney, that they're being sent home immediately.

I mentioned it in another thread, but I literally have a staff member who is refusing to teach students inside, period, who came to me last week to let me know she'll be travelling to a red state in December and what does she need to do. I sent her to the travel order and she came back around and started to argue with me, saying it didn't make sense. I really wanted to tell her to take it up with the Governor, but I kept my cool and just told her, it is what it is.

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nursing.

My state's travel stuff uses "recommend", even when referring to Hot Spots. Not "required."  Super fun. ✈️

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nursing, Med-Surg.

Parents won't even be fully transparent with me about if they're really isolating their child from a positive family member so I have pretty low confidence in being notified if a family is traveling. My school's principal is considering switching to remote learning the weeks before and after our Winter break.

3
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School nursing.
18 hours ago, k1p1ssk said:

We are following our State's travel order. MA has issued a travel order that requires anyone travelling into MA from a red state (listed on the state website) to either have negative test results from within the 72hours PRECEDING their arrival in MA or they must quarantine for 14days. We have just sent out messaging telling everyone in the community this plan, including discouraging travel all together (which is also part of the order) as of this afternoon. 

One thought is to go remote for 2 weeks following our break, just to avoid needing to track it all, but I worry this might actually backfire and encourage travel. I just hope that people are honest and do the right thing, and that they all realize that if LD reveals they had a Christmas trip to Disney, that they're being sent home immediately.

I mentioned it in another thread, but I literally have a staff member who is refusing to teach students inside, period, who came to me last week to let me know she'll be travelling to a red state in December and what does she need to do. I sent her to the travel order and she came back around and started to argue with me, saying it didn't make sense. I really wanted to tell her to take it up with the Governor, but I kept my cool and just told her, it is what it is.

We are doing the same. 

Though the sample before arriving is just a little UGH to me. It would be more accurate to have the test done UPON arrival to MA and quarantine while getting results (which they do also allow per the order and what I instruct any staff traveling can do as option).

I say this because it can mean this: travel to another state on Tuesday, get tested Wednesday before Thanksgiving while in said state, go to Thanksgiving meal with 10+ people, go back to MA on Friday. Test is negative but completed within 72 hours of arrival back in MA when you may have actually had exposure on Thanksgiving itself after the test was done.

I'm basically telling my family we may not be seeing them at all this year. They are in NJ and I'm in MA. And NJ just added MA to their travel list. So my husband and I are planning our own Thanksgiving with our cats and dog. 

I haven't had a staff member fight me on this. I just refer them to testing sites. But admin is okay with test being administered within 72 hours of returning to MA and further down in the travel order, MA is okay with it as well so that has been my recommendation and to plan for it if needed with PTO. 

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×

My city has a travel order.  We enforce it.  Parents get mad.  I say "it's not up to my discretion if we follow it or not.  We have to follow what the city health department tells us to do if we want to stay open."  Several children have ratted out their parents for sending them to school after traveling to states on the list.

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatric Home Health, High School Nurse.

I am a little jealous that your states/counties have actual rules.  We are in Florida and it is pretty much whatever here.  Ugh....

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
41 minutes ago, SchoolNurseK said:

I am a little jealous that your states/counties have actual rules.  We are in Florida and it is pretty much whatever here.  Ugh....

I wish we did too.   It is so much better when it is a State or county mandate.  I feel in those cases we can just state that it is a rule and not up for debate.  

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.
1 hour ago, JenTheSchoolRN said:

We are doing the same. 

Though the sample before arriving is just a little UGH to me. It would be more accurate to have the test done UPON arrival to MA and quarantine while getting results (which they do also allow per the order and what I instruct any staff traveling can do as option).

I say this because it can mean this: travel to another state on Tuesday, get tested Wednesday before Thanksgiving while in said state, go to Thanksgiving meal with 10+ people, go back to MA on Friday. Test is negative but completed within 72 hours of arrival back in MA when you may have actually had exposure on Thanksgiving itself after the test was done.

Yes, this is a real concern. We had proposed it to our super to maybe just go remote from Thanksgiving through the end of January (or even just 2 weeks into January), but I don't think that will fly (ha).

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

On the opposite end, we might be happy that they travel. We are so bad here that it might be good for people to get out of the state. haha Sorry for ours that visit ya'll.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nurse/Supervisor.

CT is the same as Mass.  It will be very interesting as I'm sure travel will increase around the holidays

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion