lissaq10

Can you be 'cured' from c-diff, or are you always colonized with it? Is someone really only contagious when they have diarrhea, or anytime they have a stool?

I think we are just trying to figure out if he should be in school or not. The child was pulled out of school several years ago and has not had ANY type of schooling since then. I think that it was said she was home-schooled,but that wasn't the case. We would like to get some services in place for this child and trying to figure out if we can bring her into the school, or if it's best to bring services to the home.

I should add that the school would like him to be in school, parents are just the ones that area adamant that he is not in school. How do you handle c-diff in school? Just normal precautions?

Need some help on how to handle Spec. Ed student with c-diff. The parent says that he has to be home-schooled with tutors and cannot be in the Elementary School. I am very new and unsure how this is handled in the schools

Hi there! I teach a 4th grade Puberty/Hygiene class in our schools. We separate boys from girls and talk about menstrating with the girls and more hygiene with the boys. We currently use 'Straight Talk: Period' for the girls and 'Whatsa Hygiene' for the boys. I am looking for some suggestions for new videos. I can't stand the Whatsa Hygiene video. The boys really lose interest in it and it does feel silly and outdated. We use the Always changing video for the 5th graders. Videos can be very costly, so I want to make a good decision before purchasing. Any suggestions for a good hygiene 4th grade video for boys (and girls)? Thanks

We give a call to the family and send a Head Bump letter with any head bump that occurs, even if they seem pretty minor. They will stay in the office for 20 min. and get an ice pack. There have been a couple occassions where it did not seem they were hardly hurt and they ended up having a minor concussion, so I was glad that it was just routine. I do not have nurses in each of the schools and just Health para's, so they do not do the neuro checks.

I am on the teachers payscale in MN. I am making less than any of my other jobs. I am very new into School Nursing, so I am feeling very overwhelmed at this time. It's a lot to learn, but I am enjoying learning new things. It seems weird to say that I am more stressed than any other nursing job, but it's worth the money. :-) I have young kids and so I am saving on daycare in the summer and also have that opportunity to be on the same schedule as them (very few days of daycare during the school year). The summers with them are INVALUABLE and well worth the lower pay. Can't put a pricetag on that.

Sounds like very good answers! I'm sure you did a great job. Good Luck!

I am fairly new in school nursing and trying to get a grasp on things. I have a 10 y.o. student that was diagnosed with diabetes a year ago. Last year, my health assistant had to do everything for him. He just got a pump right before the start of this school year. I gave a courtesy call before school started and mom said that he was going to do everything by himself this year in the classroom and would no longer come to the Health Office. I was taken aback and didn't say anything. The day school started, I decided I wanted him to come to the Health Office for awhile to make sure he was truly competent in self care. The student (and mom) are very passive-aggressive. I am not at that school very often and he needs to check in with my health assistant. She is very frustrated because he will skip coming into the office to show her what he is doing at times. He has been confused counting his carbs at times and has made a few other minor errors. I told mom that it is important that he shows the assistant why/how he is doing as part of showing his competencies. Mom called me today and is very mad at me, feels it is outrageous what I am doing. I said it is to keep him safe. She has put all the responsibility on this 5th grader (from what I can tell). She says that he will have to live with it and knows himself best and better than anyone else. She says he is responsible, but then later says he forgot to check himself before the PE 1 mile run and was low after. I was so bugged after a call, I was almost in tears. Am I being too cautious? What is your protocol/policy on self-administration of diabetes. Does someone have a policy they can share? Thanks

We have had a student that is having accidents almost daily. Is supposed to be on Miralax for supposed blockage. I have asked parents to get a note from the MD for a medical diagnosis, since this is a daily issue. The health assistant has been going in to clean her up each time, but she does not feel she should have to do this all the time. Parents have not followed through on going to MD. (MD also wanted a follow-up). Parents blame autism for her accidents as well, but there is not a diagnosis and I don't really see it. She wears pull-ups the majority of the days. I refused to give her any more of our stock supply of underwear. I don't really know where to go with this?

I am sooo sick of head lice. It is seeming to be never-ending. I am wondering what different schools do for head lice. Do you do classroom checks? Do you have a no-nit policy? What do you do for those chronic cases? We have been sending out letters for EACH case now and do 2-3 checks within 7-10 days after treatment to help, but it seems like we are going to have another lice epidemic this year. We have one family that get it over and over again. I hate the family missing school and mom missing work (I don't want her to lose her job). Help?? Lastly, if a louse only lives 48 hours off the head, why do things have to be bagged for 2 weeks?? THanks

We have always used Technicare scrub to clean those little bumps the kids encounter during school. We must have had this cleaner for quite some time, because now when we need to order, I see that it was pulled off the market. I am wondering what anyone else uses to clean wounds? I liked that the Technicare was clear on the skin. Thanks for your help.

What is your policy/guideline for cough drops in school for both elementary and secondary schools? For elem. OTC's we typically require an MD auth form, but I have learned one of my Health Paras have been giving them out with just a parent note. I am wondering if I should enforce written auth by MD for elem. for them or maybe rewrite our policy?

Genesis. It's okay. The support has been really good, but I think that pulling reports can be complicated at times.

Yea- it's hard to know if appropriate or not. You could send a letter home for everything (strep, impetigo, pink eye, etc). They are all contagious. I don't want to bend for one person throwing a fit, but also afraid that all of a sudden there will be several more cases and then there will be more of an uproar. That happened with Lice in our schools. We had a HUGE outbreak this year, but it seemed even MANY letters home, it didn't make too much of a difference. I am not confident enough in this job to decide. Ugh.....