Need your opinion

Published Mar 27, 2011

1,941 Posts

Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

I am a nurse of 33 years, ER being my past speciality and I have been having a debate with several people regarding this issue and I want to get the opinion of the school nurses on this forum.

An article posted on Newsvine is in regard to a 6 year old child who has an extreme allergic reaction to peanuts. So much so that she has been deemed disabled because the risk for severe allergic reaction/ death is very high for her. The school has apparently had to go to great measures to accommodate the needs of this student. From what I am to understand, all students must wash their hands, rinse their mouths before going into a classroom with her. At some point the facility had a peanut sniffing dog there. The issue regarding this child has come to the surface because other parents in the school want her removed from the classroom because they feel that her medical needs are disruptive to the other students and causing much confusion and burden on others.

I expressed my concern that perhaps given the severity of the allergy and the fact that no nurse is available at all times, perhaps she could be home schooled or schooled by video remote access. Not to make her feel unwanted but to keep her safe. As all of you know, when a child starts to lose their airway, there is not much you can do. And if she came into contact with peanuts in some form at the school and had a reaction she might certainly die before EMS arrived.

You would never want to isolate a child from their peers but in my mind her safety is paramount. How can the school assure that another student will not bring peanuts or peanut butter into the school and expose this child? Would you feel safe with this child in your care? Do you think that the school would be prepared to assist her in an emergency until EMS arrived? If there is no school nurse available and the child gets into a crisis, who deals with this.

I would love to get your opinions and feedback on this issue. You can find the posting on Newsvine. Thanks. :confused: