NurseVal93

Hey Mr. Nurse! You are right. In our district we no longer exclude. Let me write to you what the Director of student Services emailed us regarding the issue: "The center for disease control and prevention recognizes that head lice can be a nuisance but lice have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with head lice. Parents of students who are diagnosed with live head lice should be contacted so students can be treated. Successful treatment should kill crawling lice. Nits may persist after treatment. Since November 2012, the American association of pediatrics and the National association of school nurses have both advocated that NITS/LICE SHOULD NOT KEEP A CHILD OUT OF SCHOOL. Schools should discontinue the "no-lice/nit" policies and practices that required a child to be free of nits and lice before they are allowed to return to school. In addition to discontinuing the practice of keeping children out of school until they are nit or lice-free, please be sure that all students and families are treated with respect. Head checks should be conducted in privacy. Please remember to be professional and courteous when addressing children and their families who have contracted head lice." Just thought you may want to read that as well. I serve a public school district in southern california.

I am a high school nurse and I'm having a bit of an issue with my some of my diabetic students (I have 5).. they are frequently forgetting to report to my office for their 'before lunch' accuchecks, they all require supervision, and insulin coverage to be administered for carbs to be eaten + a sliding scale. The kids are getting out of class 5 min early before lunchtime, so they can be the first to get their meal and then are supposed to report straight to my office.. I have reminded them daily to do so, I have sent out messages to the teachers so they know to release them early before lunch, and even sometimes I preemptively call the teacher and tell them to ensure they come here (and even then sometimes they no-show!). It is happening too frequently, and I then need to pull them out of their 5th period and have them miss class to test and they have then already eaten. I'm not sure if it is time to involve parents? Calls? Letters home? What would you do in this situation? Any tips or help would be much appreciated.

A Sink is absolutely essential, and I would push for a bathroom.. you don't want sick kids to have to walk all the way across campus to go. You will need a fridge for medications, and cabinets that lock for meds that do not need to be refrigerated. Also you will need a bunch of chairs and recovery couches (cots/beds), with privacy curtains, I have 4 chairs and 3 beds. I use AERIES here at my school, and I love it very much. Its not only for me, but for the front office, counselors, attendance office, admin, teachers.. etc. So if they were looking for a more comprehensive system that they could get everyone on, that would be helpful, I think. Its super easy to navigate and all their info is there. I also have a wall of file cabinets for their paper health folders. Impelement policies on fevers, and communicable diseases. Also very important, make sure that when kids enroll that they have their parents sign a health problems/history form, as well as a consent form in case the child needs to go to the hospital. Create letters home, such as: requesting medication orders for students with health issues; head injury caution forms with s/s of concussion on it for monitoring at home, etc. I just dumped a bunch of stuff from the top of my head.. if I think of more I will come back.. Sorry if it seems disorganized and odd in wording! Good luck!

If you want to go to the boss for the staff talking and not doing their jobs, that's one thing. I feel though that if you were to bring up the subject matter in addition to that in your complaint, that they too, would feel that the root issue is that you do not agree with the viewpoint they hold. On the other hand if you let them know the other nurses aren't pulling their weight, and they are catty-cathy's, your boss will probably be more likely to f/u on the complaint as it is an issue of them sitting arouns VS a personal issue with the other nurses, which is what it seems to be to most of us.

One of my tried and true favorites is "pocket lab values", for lab values, and possible interpretations for critical or abnormal values! I stumbled across it while in nursing school in '13, and have used it since. Simple, clean user interface, easy to use, and has just about everything you'd want to know. I have an iphone, and I can't remember how much it was, (I think less than $5..) but its so worth it.

Hi Fellow School Nurses, How do you deal with a student that is brought in by Admin to "check to see if they are under the influence"? I've had this happen 3 times in the past 2 weeks. I do my head to toe nursing assessment and interview the student and report my findings to admin. What I don't understand is that they look at me for a definitive answer whether YES or NO they are under the influence, and get irate if I'm unable to provide that definite answer. Only 1 time was I able to confirm via my findings and the Student openly admitting to drinking and being drunk. I do not have any special tools (eg brethalyzer), and am not trained to give a field sobriety test... Sometimes I tell them, "This is not the TV show COPS, I can only use my nursing assessment and nursing skills". How do y'all handle this? Help..

Wait, how am I a nurse and did not know that hitting a nurse is considered a felony? Is that in all 50 states?.. I am in CA.

Hi nurse friend. I worked LTC as my first nursing job, and was there for 14 mos. I have always been high-energy, a GO GO GO until I hit the wall type. I am very efficient passing meds and with time management. At my facility we had 1 hour before and 1 hour after the time the med was to be given (with certain exceptions), with a patient load of 50. I'm delighted to see that you have 30 and get 3 hours, this is not the norm from what I've experienced and heard of from my nurse-pal's, but this is so great for a new nurse to help get your footing. I know its difficult now, but i swear it gets easier. 1)know your PT's MAR like the back of your hand. Once you know that Mr.Jones gets X,Y,Z, you are now just flipping through the MAR for any changes in orders. 2)you need to time yourself. How long does it take to pass to each resident? mine was about 2-3 mins. In, out, done. If youre taking more than 6 minutes for each (since you have 30 and 3 hrs) you will be late. So aim for 4 or 5 minutes per resident. 3) do not chit-chat with the residents or their families.. It's ok to say hello but get right to the passing of the meds and then get out. If any family has issues or something they'd like to speak to you about, let them know that you are doing med pass and have a tight deadline, and they can head on down to the supervising RN for any general questions or whatever. If they must speak to you, let them know "ill be available at ____ time, after my med pass, I apologize, but I need to ensure every patient gets their medications; just as i ensure your loved one does, every day." Also, I saw that you say that you have 3 hours for med pass @2100, but you are starting at 2000... so that would mean you're passing meds from 2000-2300? Ask admin what the earliest you can start 2100 meds at? If youre given this 3 hour window, i would assume that means you have 1 1/2 hrs before 2100 and 1 1/2 hrs after to administer, meaning you can probably start at 1930 and end at 2230.. Ask your facilitys admin or your supervsor. GOOD LUCK! Hope this helps friend!!

I worked in LTC for 14 months (my first nursing job) before I went on short term disability (now I am a school nurse), and it was everything as horrible as you have explained and more. I'm an LVN and I was 1 of 3 charge nurses for the whole facility, we had only 1 RN, who mostly sat on her phone, gave the rare IV med (and complained heavily about it or having to do anything), and assisted a little with codes. I was responsible for meds as charge nurse OR treatments as tx nurse (depending on the day), and had 50 *let me say it again* 5 0! PATIENTS! 9/10 of them were diabetic, and about 1/4 were GT, 1/8 had sores or major tx orders. Plus any admissions, discharges, transfers, etc. My co-workers were horrid people (save a couple) and the administration were asses too. Every day my license felt like it was in jeopardy. I even had to report 5+ nurses (from a staff of about 30!), absolute worst place. But the good in it was, that that is and always will be the hardest nursing job I've ever done, and not only did I exceed my Bosses expectations and went above and beyond my duties, I did it whilst extremely sick and with very little help/guidance from above me. I was constantly mandated for 16 hour shifts, yelled at if I had (legitimate) overtime, and was bullied by staff for doing my job more efficiently than them, because it reflected badly on them. That is now a closed chapter in my life, and I know that even though every nursing job has its difficulties, that never will I have such a hard job and situation again, and at the very least, I will never STAY in a job similar to that again. Rant over, haha.

Ugh this makes me so sad, I feel sick to my stomach, I hadn't heard of this yet. Sending all my love and prayers from SoCal to the NorCal residents! Edit: Did not see that this thread was from Nov, regardless, prayers and love all around.

Hello friend, I learned something new today! "A coconut is not a botanical nut; it is classified as a fruit, even though the Food and Drug Administration recognizes coconut as a tree nut. While allergic reactions to coconut have been documented, most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut." -from acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/tree-nut-allergy I myself have a tree nut allergy (almonds), and had no idea coco"nuts" were not really nuts at all! I would tread lightly though as you have, telling her that if they can avoid it, to do so. Also you may have parents calling, just educate them. Have a wonderful day.

Yeahhhh.. no. So they're trying to use you as a second NP AND an RN.. There are only 2 nurses there you and the other NP. They should hire an RN, that is completely ridiculous that they refuse to. Anything above an MA's scope of practice would fall on you; which would be a LOT. UNACCEPTABLE. I'm so sorry you're going through this, best of luck in your job search friend.

YAY! We have the same thing in California, called Vision To Learn. Love getting my kiddos free screenings and glasses!

ruby_jane, BSN, RN: OH GOSH! The round pebble-y type of ice?! That is my favorite.. I'm very jealous! Enjoy!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS POST. I see your posts all over the school nursing forums and your posts are always so helpful, thank you!