So my school hardly has any policies. I pretty much follow what my own children's school does (they go to public schools) and use basic common sense.
Was just curious as to what your school does when lice is going around. Do you send home if just nits are found? How long do you exclude? Do you need proof of a receipt or box of treatment before allowing back to school? Is it necessary to screen an entire grade or just the students who hang out with the affected student?
This is what my children's school does so I applied it to the school I work at:
-Obviously if live lice are found, they go home.
-the student is to report immediately to my office the following day with the parent for a recheck. If nothing is found, they can go back to class.
- I don't require the parents to show proof of treatment but when my children had it, their school did.
I am considering a nit-picking business on the side. Primarily because I need a reason to scratch my scalp related to psychsomatic itchies over the summer too.
Some people where I work think I nit pick all the time...about immunizations, health records, asthma action plans...the list goes on and on and on
I received an e-mail from a "concerned" mom a few weeks ago. Her daughter had just texted her some names of students that supposedly had lice. She sent me 6 names (only first names, she did not know last names). Now, for me to pull up kids by first name only with 1300 students on my campus - you can imagine. No way am I pulling 14 Chloe's just to see which one "MAY" have lice.
I just sent her an e-mail thanking her and I would take care of it and reminding her I could not share any info with her due confidentiality.
I took care of it right way by deleting the e-mail and moving on to more important tasks.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Super lice. I know they are in the area because I dealt with them at my previous place of employment outside of a traditional school system.
Last Thursday when we treated & combed two siblings with amazing thick hair (Yes. I'm envious.) we saw that the lice were resistant to the first treatment of Nix that we used. When combing we found live lice on both heads. Gross. So we treated with Rid shampoo next and combed, combed, combed, and combed some more. All lice and nits were removed that we could find.
In subsequent head checks both kiddos have been clear.
I think it really boils down to extremely fastidious combing with good combs. Good combs make all the difference.
I am considering a nit-picking business on the side. Primarily because I need a reason to scratch my scalp related to psychsomatic itchies over the summer too.
I am at this point now, it doesn't even gross me out anymore and I have a good system. I am becoming a pro. My mom however keeps freaking out. She wants me to go cut the rest of my daughters hair off. I am like that's a negative. I checked my mail yesterday and had a box from amazon with 5 more boxes of the Nix with the new formula for the super lice. I had to laugh because it's 30 bucks a box. But so far we are still doing good with nothing live in a while. But I keep treating about every 5 days until I get every last egg. I keep finding more and more eggs that get missed from poor lighting and because my daughter has very thick hair and a lot of it.
Specializes in Sub-Acute, School Nursing, Dialysis.
Wow, you guys are great!!! Thank you for sharing your policies and what your school does. Much appreciated!!
I did find a little sentence in my school's policy book but it doesn't say much. This is what I found..."If a student contracts lice, the parents must notify the school. After child is treated, they must be checked by the school nurse before entering the classroom."
That's it. Nothing about what to do if lice or nits are found while in school. I would love to follow the current pediatric guidelines but can definitely tell no one will go for it based on how they all reacted. I had people in my room all day (even though most of those people are not even in the same room as that student) bugging me all day about it. From the secretary (who told a lot of people about it because she saw me checking the student!), to one of the teachers who is also the student's girl scout leader. Then the following day, the gym teacher was in my office asking why the student was back already! Her scalp was as clean as a whistle! I just don't understand it. I will admit, it is not fun to deal with (four of my girls had it at the same time last year for two months with consistent combing too!) but is not the end of the world.
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NutmeggeRN, BSN
2 Articles; 4,743 Posts
Some people where I work think I nit pick all the time...about immunizations, health records, asthma action plans...the list goes on and on and on