Lice Policies

[BrisketRN]

Today one of my classes is having their fourth case of lice this year. Per school policy I check the whole class whenever we have a confirmed case. This is my first year at the school, and the former nurse left me her parent illness notes which state that parents must provide an "all clear" note from a lice treatment center or pediatrician. I checked our handbook and it only says proof of treatment and children can return to school when no live lice are present, so I changed our parent illness note. I also told admin that the CDC says to not send kids home for lice and their reaction was a shoulder shrug and "ok sounds good." What are your lice policies?

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

BiscuitRN said:

Kind of lost on where to go from here. I don't have much oversight (private school, people above me aren't health care professionals), and this is my first year.

Spring break soon? Our outbreak was found 2 weeks before spring break. Private school, old school thought. Sent many letters to parents and let the 6 days off kill what was in the school. Without thorough treatment it will not end. Good luck.

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

MrNurse(x2) said:

Spring break soon? Our outbreak was found 2 weeks before spring break. Private school, old school thought. Sent many letters to parents and let the 6 days off kill what was in the school. Without thorough treatment it will not end. Good luck.

Still a couple more weeks until break. I'm not really too concerned about lice in the grand scheme of things, but the calls and emails I get from parents are exhausting at times. I understand their frustration, but we are doing everything we can as a school to prevent head lice from spreading. It isn't feasible to check every child in every class every day or even every week. We can reinforce that parents must report any time their child is treated for lice, but we can't ensure that every case is reported.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Cases like this that you want to go all antiCDC and say what horrible parents they are. Honestly, the middle class parents are the ones that have no time to treat properly and can't afford to pay it away. Sad, but true, the parents just have to invest 2 weeks to their child, yet that is too much.

[BeckyESRN]

BiscuitRN said:

Still a couple more weeks until break. I'm not really too concerned about lice in the grand scheme of things, but the calls and emails I get from parents are exhausting at times. I understand their frustration, but we are doing everything we can as a school to prevent head lice from spreading. It isn't feasible to check every child in every class every day or even every week. We can reinforce that parents must report any time their child is treated for lice, but we can't ensure that every case is reported.

I wish they cared half as much about contagious illness as they do about head lice!