Peanut allergies how does your school handle them?

Published

OK so you get notice that a new student is starting tomorrow and they have a severe nut allergy (ingestion or contact). How does your school handle keeping this child safe in the classroom, lunchroom, playground, etc. I want to see what other schools do and consider new options.

We are latex free. Supposedly. :rolleyes:

:)

We are not peanut-free.

Parents are encouraged to send in a lunch for their kids.

Epi-pen training as well.

All the training I've had as a school nurse states we have gone overboard with the peanut allergy stuff.

The good news is that more than 99 percent of Americans can enjoy peanuts without any issue3. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Expert Panel, peanut allergies affect just 0.6 percent of us – and fall behind milk and eggs in children and behind shellfish among adults in prevalence4.

Peanut Allergy Facts - National Peanut Board

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't doubt that nut allergies are over-diagnosed. We have a local allergy MD practice that most of my students go to. They love to diagnose potential for anaphylaxis without even doing testing. Money making proposition, anyone?

HOWEVER, I am not willing to take a chance on a child actually having a legitimate life threatening allergy. So we may be going overboard but so far, so good.

I have also seem a LOT of new cases of gluten intolerance. Seems like the latest trend to diagnose it for any child with GI issues or even nervous stomach. 4 years ago I had one gluten free student. Now I have 8.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks again everyone for your posts! Sometimes I have to remind myself not to let these parents spin me off my axis!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

Way to go SnowyJ.....you HAAAAAAD to open that gluten can of worms!!!!! But I'm with ya!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have a couple very severe allergic students this year. Ingestion and contact sensitive. We always wipe down all the tables after lunch and now we are having students from those lunch periods use hand wipes to clean hands as they leave the lunchroom. It's not feasible to watch 125 students thoroughly wash their hands and hand sanitizer does not eliminate peanut protein. The physical wiping with wipes does, so that is our protocol (at a cost of 3 cents per wipe for 125 students, daily for 175 school days).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I worked child care, we only had one little girl who was severely allergic to peanuts. There was one boy (three years old) whose mother would pack a PB&J every single day no matter how many notes were sent home. Since we ate in the classroom, they would separate the boy out and set a table out in the hall for him because they didn't think it was fair to single the girl out for her allergy. I usually ended up sitting with the boy during lunch because I felt so bad for him.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It is September and I am sick of this topic already. I work Pre-k and K school 834 students. I have more severe nut allergies than ever before. The district will not stop birthday treats and won't stop peanut butter from coming in to the school. My school, classrooms, and cafeteria is "Nut Safe". We do not police snacks and lunches. Yes, every class has snack time in the rooms and breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria. If there is a child that has a nut allergy:

the classroom is set up to be "Nut Free"

notes are sent home stating there is a nut allergy in the room

lists of nut free snacks are sent home

students that continue to bring nut snacks sit at another table from non nut snack kids

all hands are washed before and after eating snack

all tables are cleaned

nut allergy student cannot have any brought in food snack until parent is called

the cafeteria never serves anything with nuts in it (no peanut butter ever for hot lunch from the school)

nut allergy students sit with hot lunch students from class

everyone washes hands before lunch and uses hand sanitizer after lunch (recess is always after lunch)

Epi Pens must be kept in the nurse office

teachers don't give meds

nurse or parent needs to be on all field trips

There are between 22-25 students in each classroom and I have 7 classrooms that are "Nut Free"

I spend a lot of my day calling parents to see if child can have the birthday treat brought in

I wonder how many of these students really have nut allergies. Only 1 has actually had a + test from the allergist.

Again I am sick of it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
OK so you get notice that a new student is starting tomorrow and they have a severe nut allergy (ingestion or contact). How does your school handle keeping this child safe in the classroom, lunchroom, playground, etc. I want to see what other schools do and consider new options.

I'm not a school nurse, but am a nurse and a mom. My kid's school had no nurse, but here's how they handled it: they sent a letter home to a parents with a child in the same grade as the child with the allergy. This was 5th-7th grades. (The length of time i had a kid in school with the allergy)

The letter asked us not to send any peanut laden foods to school in our kids lunches.

I, being a mostly vegan and sensitive mom, sent my kid with almond butter sandwiches and sunflower seed brown rice crispies.

Imagine my surprise when I received phone calls from the school personnel that the child reported receiving peanut laden food from my kid.

I explained that I only purchased non peanut nut butters.

My child later explained to me that this child would beg to have some of his food!

It was a tough situation, as my child was good friends with the child with the allergy.

But I felt like the school was accusing me of sending food with peanuts.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Our special education director and school district attorney provided an extensive in-service for us on the legalities of handling peanut allergies.

One very interesting and important point was this: Federal law requires schools to make accommodations for students with peanut allergies, however, fellow students are not required and can not be mandated to do the same. This translates to peanut-free schools being an unacceptable means of addressing allergies, unless the absence of peanuts is voluntary.

Frankly, it makes sense to me. While I do not intend to downplay the potential seriousness of this health issue, there are others that are equally important to other students, such as adequate nutrition. As a former NICU nurse, I am familiar with a number of young children whose nutritional intake is limited by gi conditions, psychological issues such as food aversions, not to mention financial constraints. For some children, peanut butter is a necessary source of protein, calories and affordable nutrition. To deny them that option in the pursuit of protecting another child is not acceptable, and probably not defendable in court.

In my opinion, establishing a peanut free school also sets up a false sense of security and discourages nurses and staff members alike from educating themselves, establishing sound policies and procedures, and drilling emergency practices, all of which are critically necessary when unexpected exposure occurs.

I would like to research the settings in which unintended peanut exposures occur most often. I would be willing to bet that they happen more often in peanut-free schools than in those that allow peanut products in specific settings.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

yes to all of this. We had a lengthy discussion last year when one parent started making some waves, the business admin at the time asked me my opinion and i basically told him the same thing - the false sense of security, who's job it it to police the building for nuts?, and why are we just excluding nuts? I have a student that has her face swell up like the moon due to such a bad allergy. Do I make the school wheat free too? What about my students with severe dairy allergy? How about we just serve rice and water?

He got my point after that.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

In my opinion, establishing a peanut free school also sets up a false sense of security and discourages nurses and staff members alike from educating themselves, establishing sound policies and procedures, and drilling emergency practices, all of which are critically necessary when unexpected exposure occurs.

Yes!! This is what I've been trying to reinforce with my district! We CANNOT police almost 1000 snacks/lunches per day. We need to have realistic solutions that can translate to the world outside of school. If we say we are "peanut/nut free" then people may become complacent in monitoring.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
yes to all of this. We had a lengthy discussion last year when one parent started making some waves, the business admin at the time asked me my opinion and i basically told him the same thing - the false sense of security, who's job it it to police the building for nuts?, and why are we just excluding nuts? I have a student that has her face swell up like the moon due to such a bad allergy. Do I make the school wheat free too? What about my students with severe dairy allergy? How about we just serve rice and water?

He got my point after that.

I say this every time becoming a nut free school comes up in discussions!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion