Sudsy

We have no guidance dept.....I'm pretty much it.....The parent died last night. The family is out of state for a week for the funeral, etc, so we have some time to figure out our school's response. Thank you for the help and advice.

Any ideas for good resources, both for the family and the class as a whole? Child is only 3 1/2.....I contacted the school the older sibs attend to see if their social worker would work with me to make a plan for all the kids (we have no mental health support at my school, so I'm it). In the past, I have used the books "Everett Anderson's Good-Bye" (which might work for this age) as well as "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf". Would love any other thoughts/ideas. Thanks for the help.

Thank you both for responding! I asked the arts and crafts director to switch my red sharpie for a black one, as that seems like the easiest way to go this. Really appreciate the help!

I've been a camp nurse for 4 years but this is the first time I've had a camper whose meds are individually packaged (https://www.campmeds.com/). I know some camps require such a thing, but mine doesn't. I have privacy concerns when throwing this kid's med packet in the trash since she takes some psych meds.....How do others deal with this? Thanks and wishing everyone a good, healthy summer!

Wow, Spidey's Mom: big pat on the back!

In my state (MA) I just call the doctor's office and ask them to fax an Asthma Action Plan over. Then again, I am pretty sure it's a law here, and if it's not a law where you are..... Good luck.

EpiPen® (epinephrine) and EpiPen Jr® (epinephrine) Auto-Injectors Free epipens for schools

What a great opportunity to speak with parents! I would talk about --when to keep a child home --handwashing (after my yearly handwashing talk with the kids, I always have teachers tell me they wish their spouse could hear me). If you have/can get Glo Germ (Glo Germ: Handwashing, aseptic & isolation techniques, infection control, Contagion, Meryl Streep) that would be great! --concussions/sports injuries (depends on your school and how often you encounter these) --basic first aid? Good luck and have fun!

I give notes for students to return to class. Says the time they left my office (b/c some of them can walk mighty S...L...O....W) and any f/u the teacher should do/watch out for. I have worked hard to get the kids to know that, aside from emergencies, they should come to my office on "Their Time" (i.e. recess or lunch) and the pass allows them to get back to my office if the teacher says, "you already went to the nurse an hour ago" Otherwise, the main things I use are :1) ice packs for any bump/bruise 2) hot tea and saline gargle (sore throat, cold symptoms) and 3) lots of TLC Good luck!

I don't have a second job yet, but am looking. I have an interview scheduled for February re being an adjunct professor of pediatric nursing at a small local college for Fall 2014 We'll see .

YES! Any parent who doesn't have a 504 for their child with diabetes should get one!!!!

I wish I had input, but this is more of a "me too" post. My school is age 2 through grade 8, and the practice that was in place before I got here was that the preschool has a list up in all classrooms of every preschooler with allergies or asthma. We have never had a parents complain about confidentiality issues (and we have a TON of parents who are doctors and advanced-practice RN's). I think it makes sense for this age b/c they are too young to know about/tell about their allergies. Whether it's legal, though, well that's a different story. For the older grades, eek, it's so difficult. I ask parents for permission to tell their child's teachers about the issue and our practice is that every class that has a severely allergic child in it has the child's epipen in the middle drawer of the teacher's desk. I always worry, though....

Preschool student with mild asthma, usually triggered by uri. Mom says she "always knows" when he will need and will send inhaler to school if necessary but she doesn't want to spend $ on getting another one just for school "which he will probably never use". Parents live about 30 mins from school. What do you think? If I insist, they will probably get. While I'm sure they're not millionaires, this is not the difference between them having food and not having. Thanks for the input.

I borrowed this from my library my first year: School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text: Dr Janice Selekman: 9780803614031: Amazon.com: Books It was very helpful! Also, the major children's hospital in my state has a conference called "Summer School for School Nurses" that I attended. Very helpful! Here is the link so you can see if there is anything like it near you: http://childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site3102/Documents/HABROCHURE2011.pdf Welcome aboard!

Very good point, Esme!!!!!

Yeah, I had a feeling I wasn't inventing the wheel here! Thanks, Flare. Thank you, NH Nursie. While I don't have any fancy software, I certainly have Excel!

We had no strep in my school for over a month, I'd say. Then one preschool kid about three weeks ago came in. It's been really fascinating to see how it spread down the school floor he was on (first a case or two in the classroom across from his, then two doors down the hall, etc), and then, through sibling transmission, started on the floor above. Does anyone know of an online program that could help me make a chart about when each student got sick and, maybe by color, keep track of sibling transmission? I think it would be very interesting to look at it like that, and maybe make a good posterboard presentation. We have no electronic health record program at my school, in case that matters (in case this kind of thing is standard on them. In fact, if it is, let me know so I can try to use that to make the case for EMR!) Thanks!

How old is the student? I have had a few refusals in my whopping two years of being a school nurse, so I don't have tons of experience here, but I found that all the refusals were from the very young kids (my state starts screening at age 4). For those kids, I asked the preschool director to take over for one of the classroom teachers while the teacher accompanied the child to me. For some kids, it's just too much, the newness of being in my office *and* doing something new, and they shut down. Sometimes they can get through it if their teacher is with them. I had one kid who is known to have a LOT of anxiety and extreme trouble adjusting to new situations. He couldn't even do the test with his grandmother with him (she works at the school). We did give it one last try after I spoke with his parents on the phone. He also couldn't complete vision screening at his doctor's office, either, so it seemed more important to try here. We tried with him sitting on his Dad's lap, and he still just refused. I told the Dad that, imo, the work that we had done getting him more used to being in my office and used to what symbols he would see on the vision screening chart would hopefully pay off next year, when he is able to complete the screening! Good luck.

I agree with all that has been said. And, yes, oftentimes I don't get a chance to eat. The other day I worked the whole day without even going to the bathroom.....

I kind of doubt it, but they do live in a very rural area and have a number of animals and just do not seem to bathe as much as we would consider "appropriate"....

I have an infrared temporal artery one that I like. I do feel like it consistently reads low, but I LOVE that it's no contact and I can almost-instantly go from one kid to another: Amazon.com: Professional Clinical Large LCD Non-contact Infrared Thermometer - Forehead (Fahrenheit Readings): Health & Personal Care

I would be very tough: "if you can't be here in five minutes, I'm calling 911". I think parents who have never seen how bad asthma can get and how quickly it can go south, sometimes don't think it's such a "big deal". Good luck.

That's funny b/c I use temporal at my school and I feel that it, quite consistently, runs low. Almost every afebrile student has a temp in the 97's. Once a kid had a 102 on that thermometer and I joked with him that I almost wanted to take a pic of that result, since some kids would swear that my thermometer NEVER registers a fever :)

I called the state school nursing supervisor, and she suggested I call the doctor and ask his reasoning for not referring her. I really couldn't think of a way to do that without seeming to be either confrontational or overstepping my bounds. To her credit, she agreed when I told her that. She suggested I ask the girls' teachers if they thought this was impacting her. Afternoon teacher said no. I will hopefully ask the morning teacher tomorrow. If, as was mentioned, I can make a case that it is hurting her schoolwork, then the parents might reconsider. And, lastly, ask the girl her thoughts about it. I ask every kid when they sit down for vision screening if they have "any trouble seeing either up close or far away", and she said she did have trouble seeing distances. So I'll try to get some more persuasive details from her and contact her mom one more time. Many thanks for the input. I appreciate having this board to bounce things off of. May this be the biggest health issue I have to deal with!!!

This is a hard one....I speak to the classes at the beginning of each year and then I speak with "prime offenders" individually during the year. The family I have most problems with is one where, frankly, the Dad smells HORRIBLE and I scootch over by my window when he shows up in my office (Mom insists the kids DO bathe every day, which seems highly doubtful). When I speak to the kids of this family, I tell them that "in our culture, the norm is to bathe every day" (I agree with you, DawnJ, that culture can def. play a role). Not that they seem to care much about cultural norms. So sad.... First poster: GREAT work you did!!!! That sounds like a wonderful class you ran!