oncomom

Im an oncology nurse here and need some help from my fellow nurses working in the schools! My children attend a small private school in Tucson which does not have an employed school nurse, so I am hoping that someone may have a few seconds to answer some questions! My son's classroom of 15 kids (kinder) has been battling lice for about-4 weeks now. Initially, the administrators notified the entire school that lice existed but did not specify the classroom. Four days and 5 cases of lice had passed before I was even made aware that the problem existed in my sons classroom and that was only because a parent called me. No notices were sent to the parents by the school. Parents were upset and a meeting was held to discuss lack of communication. Signs were then put up (reminders to check heads, take home nap mats etc) and notices were sent via email. Then reoccurences within the same families (after treatment with NIX) were detected. I started to volunteer to check heads (I used to volunteer my time helping a school nurse so I know how to identify the lice/nits) with parental consent because the administration would not check and would not allow the teacher to check. Again, no notices were sent. I, myself sent a reminder to parents to keep checking heads, send the girls to school in braids/up-dos and take hats and such home to wash. Of 15 children in the class, 7 children have had lice (all of them girls) and 2 of them have had reoccurence. I am writing to ask you how you handle lice in your school from day 1, child number 1. I also want to know at what point do you think you may be dealing with resistant lice and how you deal with reoccurences (parent notification etc). Lastly, I am curious to know at what point is school/other (??) intervention necessary if a family continues to send their children to school with lice/nits? Do you have a no-nit policy at your school? I am new to all of this, Im tired of checking heads, tired of hearing from exasperated parents and would really really appreciated any help. Four parents have called Pima county health department and have received four different answers. The school states that they do not need to report to parents until 10% of the entire school is affected. Thank you, thank you for any light you may be able to shed on this. At my nits end, Alicia

One of my patients very hautily told me that my nails were in desperate need of a manicure and that I really should be embarassed to show them to anybody. I told her, "Oh my, I know and I am embarassed!" I had gone camping that weekend prior and truth be told, they did indeed look pretty awful :uhoh21: Then, I grabbed her hand and coughed, "um...yours dont look so hot either, ya know?" We both roared with laughter!!

I did exactly what you are doing for the exact same reasons. Four hour shifts are hairy but it can be done. FWIW 3-7 is a better four hour portion but I dont know if that is an option for you. 7p-11 is heavy because at least at our hospital you have to pick up another pt at 7p, plus you have night meds, the second of the BID dressing changes, TPN (though you may not have this if the patients arent that sick) and you have to address all the issues that magically appear once pt's visitors leave ;)etc. You will run your heiney off, you wont have time to chat with coworkers about the baby etc. You seriously go in there with your skates on! I usually am writing meds down, checking vitals, new orders and skimming the last progress note as I wait for report. I do my assessment for all patients, then put in calls to docs at the same time. I try to get a bit of charting done. I get night meds together and then pass meds and proceed with new orders. After meds/ dressing changes are done I get caught up on charting. Then voila ..your shift is over...its crazy, you feel like you just got there. The nice thing about my facility is they have a policy that four hour shifts do not get admissions (doesnt always happen but I was sure to keep that policy handy in case I deemed the assignment unfair.) Some days are just crazy and I dont mind doing what I can to pitch in, ya know. Even though the four hour shifts were crazy, it was nice to have the adult interaction. BTW--Yay to you for breastfeeding this long.:balloons:

I agree that Glendale is close enough to lots of cool places, you definitely wont want to go to to bars there though. People drive like maniacs on the freeways there and traffic can be a bear but given your age and situation, I think my vote is still for Scottsdale....unless you are looking to save your money. Scottsdale is a great place to spend some dough and have a great time doing it. Scottsdale is known for being snotty though. And if you are looking to nab a rich man there....well lets just say that so is the rest of the cosmetic- surgery enhanced ladies there. I used to work at Banner Thunderbird and I LOVED that hospital. Which area are you working?

robe-- my cheeks are not going to be flashing the halls my own soft blanket ear plugs my own BCOC, AOC;) DVD's TP, toothbrush, lip balm,shampoo

Ive taken care of many nurse patients/doctor patients. I usually start out by asking them about what type of specialty they are in and letting them tell me all about it, like a normal conversation with a colleague. I dont know why but I think this helps to break the ice. I work oncology though and many medical professionals are a bit intimidated by the field if they have no direct experience with it so I rarely get specific advice on how to do my job. Ill tell you though, you have never experienced fear until you have taken care of the CEO's mother:eek:

I prefer eights because I have 2 kids under age 3 and 12 hours is tooo long for me to be away from my babes. When I was pumping, 12 hours meant another pumping session too. I also like that there are three pairs of eyes on a pt during the day instead of two. Lets face it, some nurses are just not going to pick up on some things and some are just plain lazy. I cringe when I have to follow a lazy 12 hour person..thats an awful lot of stuff dumped onto you!

:balloons::balloons:yay! congrats!

Im an onc nurse and I love this population. We have lots of frequent flyers so you really do develop relationships with these people (which I love). The downside to this of course, is that many of these people do die and it can be very hard on you emotionally especially if death is something you havent come to terms with. The work itself is rather exhausting (physically, mentally and emotionally at times), there is so much information to learn, so many changing protocols, new research (exciting stuff!), new drugs etc. Patients are needier...they require more education, more symptom management and more TLC than other areas Ive worked. There are a lot of rewards too. You will witness amazing and awe inspiring strength and perseverence from these people, you will see incredible success stories and you will meet people you will never forget. I would be happy to answer any other specific questions you may have.

oops double post