Lice, Lice and more Lice...

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2019

Last year was horrible with lice. The same 4 girls kept spreading it to each other and their siblings. I got admin to change the "no nit" policy. So my procedure was class-wide lice check, if I find lice privately tell the student and help them put their hair back, call the parent and inform them (and explain the child doesn't need to be picked up now, but sometimes they'd pick up right away) and asked to please send in proof of treatment (receipt of lice shampoo works), and I'd do a lice check on that student before school (the next day) to ensure there were no live lice.

There were 4 moms who caused a lot of drama and would gossip about who had lice OMG her kid MUST have had lice and it went unreported. UGH who lets their kid come to school with LICE. Unbeknownst to them they were the mothers of the 4 girls who were spreading lice to each other.

cowboysandangels, BSN · Jan 18, 2019

17 minutes ago, pennyeary said:
We still have a no nit policy and I get constant backlash from teachers about leaving students in class. My principal is pretty adamant about sending them home. My problem is getting parents to pick up

We do too and it makes me crazy!

cowboysandangels, BSN · Jan 18, 2019

We have reached out to organizations to help pay for the family to be treated at a lice salon. It is very expensive but then there is no excuse for them to continue having them. They must treat the home as well as part of the agreement to pay for the treatment.

CampyCamp, RN · Jan 18, 2019

50 minutes ago, BunnyBunnyBSNRN said:
Years ago I dealt with the same thing. I finally just started keeping hair ties in my desk and when one of the teachers would send in one of the girls, I would pull their hair up into a bun and tell them to make sure not to share jackets, etc with their friends. I would send home the lice letter and call the parents at the end of the day. If I got any backlash, my response was that the girls education was way more important than lice.

We tried this type of approach with our sibling group. I hate missed school days and parents missing work days. However, these kids have a sibling in another building and that nurse went to the top to make sure we exclude. The truancy officer and CPS are involved and still the nits and critters show up. Not one classmate in any of the siblings classes have been affected and we keep checking!

BunnyBunnyBSNRN, ASN, BSN · Jan 18, 2019

On 1/18/2019 at 11:20 AM, CampyCamp said:
We tried this type of approach with our sibling group. I hate missed school days and parents missing work days. However, these kids have a sibling in another building and that nurse went to the top to make sure we exclude. The truancy officer and CPS are involved and still the nits and critters show up. Not one classmate in any of the siblings classes have been affected and we keep checking!

Personal vendetta?

T-ROD, LPN · Jan 18, 2019

We are no nit here as well. I only had one family that I had real issues with and I just stood my ground. Policy is policy. They ended up getting SS called because of other reasoning and this was brought up. I very limited issues with this family now.

Daisy Joyce · Jan 20, 2019

Okay, I’m embarrassed to say we were that family.

And I was a school nurse sub.

And, the children my kids were passing the lice back and forth with ? Their mom is an elementary school teacher.

And it took several go-rounds to figure out what was going wrong and why the lice kept coming back. The reason? She was only checking the hairline and not checking the crown of the head. Which was really funny because she was the one who taught me to identify lice and nits! (I was still a new sub and I hadn’t seen it yet...

allnurses Guide · Jan 20, 2019

Well I had a friend whose daughter kept getting lice which was strange as they have a clean household, no pets and she has short hair etc.....so I suggested she shampoo with Defense shampoo which my wrestler son use to ward off ringworm and other nasties from the gym mats. She did and they haven't had lice in 6 months.

Hppy

Amethya · Jan 22, 2019

I tried last year. If you remember my old posts, my AP wanted me to do a school wide search and I just half butted it and did only classes that a group of siblings were in. No one had lice except them and two other kids and I sent them home, checked them when they came back and done. But I kept having issues with one teacher and the AP, and thus started the licehunt of '17.

It ended finally with one parent angry because two students came to tell me about some student with lice, I ignored it and they went to the AP and told me I needed to check. I did it and the lice student, didn't have lice and cried in my office because the other students told him they were going to tell me and have him checked for lice, that he's dirty and an idiot, basically bullying him. The student complained to parent and when I was pushed under the bus, I told the parent, that I was just doing what I was ordered to do and the AP got in trouble instead.

It happened again this year, new AP and our new Head Nurse, I explained the situation and what happened last year, and they agreed with my concept: I only will accept direct reports, which is from the parent, student and teacher. Anyone that is outside of that, will be ignored.

I already had problems already with parents getting mad because I raised my voice at some students for doing the same thing the two boys did last year, and isolating the poor kid. I got on their case, and they hated I got them and they apologized to the girl and cried. I felt bad, but it was needed. I still have heat after months this happened. But at least it cemented the reason for my rules.

So that's our rules now: Only direct reports, I will only check the class once I send a letter, IF I find something in someone's hair. If they have siblings, I will check siblings. The end.

BeckyESRN · Jan 22, 2019

On 1/20/2019 at 4:21 PM, hppygr8ful said:
Well I had a friend whose daughter kept getting lice which was strange as they have a clean household, no pets and she has short hair etc.....so I suggested she shampoo with Defense shampoo which my wrestler son use to ward off ringworm and other nasties from the gym mats. She did and they haven't had lice in 6 months.

These things have nothing to do with head lice...

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Jan 22, 2019

I remember my nephew getting lice many times in day care (he's 16 now so this was probably 12-13 years ago). My sister got so fed up with it coming back that she gave him the shortest buzz cut possible. He looked like a bald toddler.

allnurses Guide · Jan 23, 2019

What I meant was that many people assume that reoccurring head lice is a hygiene/neglect head lice is not reportable in my state to CPS. It's a nuisance but does no real harm. CDC does not recommend exclusion or isolation for head lice cases.