Just finished my 2nd week....

[Morganalefey]

and my first full week alone, and I'm actually afraid to say that I have really enjoyed it! I walked into a pretty negative situation at my school, and was sort of expecting the worst, but I am enjoying it. The kids are (mostly) cute and friendly, the parents have been okay, and the staff is wonderful. I love the hours and being home so early w/my kiddo's and home on the weekends too!

I stayed prn at the hospital, and I'm finding it hard to go in and pick up a day now that we are on spring break.

Question or 2 for you experienced school nurses...how do you handle your frequent fliers? It seems, that in a school of 700, I see the same handful of kids every day! One girl I saw 3x in one day, all for different vague, ailments. She's cute, but it gets annoying to see her when I know she just wants to get out of class and I have kids there who actually need me!

Also, I have a 1/2 dozen or so expired meds in my drawer. I made a list, made the parent phone calls, and in 5 days not a single parent sent in a new med! I have expired EPI-PENS, and an inhaler that expired in June! How long would you wait before you repeated the phone calls?

TIA for any tips!

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

I give them a week to return a call but I also advise they will be tossed upon expiration as they are not safe.

(Well I wont give them here if they are expired for legal reasons, but I sure will take meds at home- ibu or tyl if theyare expired)

[schooldistrictnurse]

We have it printed right on our med form that expired meds and any meds left on the last day of school will be discarded. I find a gentle heart to heart with a student helps them to understand that their job is to be in the classroom, etc, etc. Then at subsequent visits you can help them remember the conversation you had, etc etc. Sometimes it helps to notify parents how many visits the child makes to the health room, sometimes the parents are shocked.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

If the frequent fliers do not have a temp. I immediately send them back to class. If they come again, I gently encouraged them to go back to class. I'll usually say " You only have three more hours til school is over". This usually works for me. However, when I sub it is hard to tell who is a FF. I usually look at their visit history to help or go by the word of the teachers. The point is, you have to be firm and to the point. If you give too much TLC each time they visit they will continue to come. Sooner or later they will see that coming to the health room just to be sent back to class has no purpose.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

So far as medication. I usually send a letter and follow up after a week. If they don't get the expired meds, I discard them per policy. That way if the child needs the medication, I have no choice but to call home for the parents to medicate the child. Sooner or later the parents will get tired of being called to give an OTC medication or daily med every day.

[coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN]

For expired medications we call the parents and after 2-3 weeks and no reply we discard them. There's a list from the DEA of medications you can safely flush down the toilet. If the medication isn't on that list or is an epi-pen or inhaler I bring it to a local pharmacy that has agreed to discard our un-use/expired medications for us :)

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

There are also drug drop off boxes popping up at police stations in areas. I bring my stuff there. Dont want to flush (we have a lot of well in my area)