Pink Eye

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I have teachers that seem to be getting all germ-o-phobic about pink eye. ( This is my first year in a school K-5 and I'm finding younger kids are quite different than 11- 14 yr olds! )

Help me out, what criteria do YOU use for excluding students with possible pink eye??

I have been just calling parent, or sending a note home if unable to reach by phone , saying the kid's eye looks somewhat irritated and to please contact the Dr if drainage, crustiness, or discomfort should occur. I DON'T automatically send kids home if I don't observe any drainage or they don't appear to be overly uncomfortable as it might be allergies, etc. If there is drainage, crustiness, or the student is just flat out miserable, I send them home with a Dr referral.

The teachers are afraid they themselves will contract pink eye and infest their entire family at home, blah, blah, blah. ( I tell them to step up the hand-washing) Am I being too lax? Be honest, please!

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Specializes in Psych/Substance Abuse & School Clinics.

if you're being too lax, then so am i, because i do pretty much the same. if you sent home every kid a teacher sends to you or "thinks the student has...", there would be no child at school. my favorite saying/reply is, i don't go to your room & try to teach -- please don't try to tell me how to run my clinic. you're a teacher, i'm a nurse! and like you said, i remind them about frequent handwashing and let them know it's not a disease that can jump from one person to another with no contact(like they act!!).

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

I do the same thing.

If it's sudden onset (you went to bed fine and woke up with junky eye), super red, and has pus, you're going home.

If you have a runny nose, are sneezing and your eyes itch/watery/red, you can stay. I'll still probably talk to the parents, give them signs of bacterial pink eye to keep a watch for.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

:yeahthat:

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Specializes in School Nursing, Ambulatory Care, etc..

One of the things I do is test for photophobia...if they are ultra sensitive to light in the affected eye, it's probably pink eye.

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I agree with you...I would also remind them that these kids probably pick their nose, don't wash their hands after using the bathroom unless you stand right over them and make them...and who knows if they do it when they show up in the morning.

Tell them I can think of a lot more disgusting things on their hands than a pink-eye germ.

AMEN to the handwashing.

The primary school here has a rule that in the classrooms with sinks, all kids wash their hands as soon as they get to class.

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In my school district run K4 school we follow DHEC childcare rules which states to exclude from school when the student has white or yellow discharge. If the eyes are red, with clear drainage we don't exclude as long as there is no fever.

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Specializes in School, Camp, Hospice, Critical Care.

Our school MD has given us the exclusion guideline of purulent drainage; if a child gives me a history of a glued shut eye in the AM (not just sleepy sand but unable to open), even if I'm not seeing discharge, I also call parents for pick up.

Otherwise it's a cool wash cloth, wash your hands a lot, and stay in school.

I had a staff member who wanted me to tell the principal she needed to go home yesterday d/t puffy eyes--"I'm sure it's conjunctivitis and I'm giving it to all my students!" (I would've liked a reason to go home early the day before Thanksgiving, too--sorry, just wash your hands a lot).

I do find this is one (of the many) issues that teachers get riled up about--"I know he has conjunctivitis!" and I'm just the dumb nurse that doesn't get it.

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