So, what little things do you do to make your job easier?
A couple of things I do...
*Sponge ice packs: dampen a sponge and place in ziploc sandwich size bag. Freeze. No drips! I like this because you can cut the sponge into different sizes before freezing.
* "Ghost" small ice pack. makes the little ones smile. Good for little boo-boos and to soothe eyes. Put an ice cube in a zip sandwich bag, place paper towel or other absorbent material over bag and twist cube part/fasten with rubber band at the "neck." make a "wooOOOOOoooooo!" sound when you give it to the student.
*Mini Club crackers AKA "magic crackers." The kids actually believe they will cure a stomach ache.
*Freeze pop for little ones who are crying and have a mouth injury. (Bit tongue, hurt lip, etc.) The pop makes them happy and you ice the area at the same time.
*Use plastic wrap to hold a cold pack in place on an ankle, arm etc.
OK, so most of mine involve ice, but hey...We use a LOT!
Jolly Ranchers work on high schoolers! I have a student who has a rough home life, and hates school plain and simple. He will come to my clinic with the usual, I am dizzy complaint. I will do my assessment, he usually says, those jolly ranchers will make me feel better. I give him a few and usually don't see him for a few days.
Jolly Ranchers work on high schoolers! I have a student who has a rough home life, and hates school plain and simple. He will come to my clinic with the usual, I am dizzy complaint. I will do my assessment, he usually says, those jolly ranchers will make me feel better. I give him a few and usually don't see him for a few days.
Peppermints work for nausea!
Peppermints, ice and band aides will cure just about any thing!
I use cut gallon milk jugs (handle left on) as emesis basins. Each classroom has one. Saves the trashcan liner, fits the "if I didn't see it" criteria and you can tell if a student really has the urge to puke, otherwise they won't touch the thing.
I was actually getting ready to spend money of those fancy barf bags........This is perfect!!!
Homemade calm down bottle for headaches. I use this on my kids with concussions. Shake it up, watch the glitter swirl around and settle. It seems to make a big difference.
With an actual concussion, you need to be sending this kid for an exam with a physician. Not just having them settle down by looking at a swirly bottle of glitter.
Patients with concussions can have serious complications and need to be assessed by a physician to rule out serious problems.
Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..
When there isn't a need for an ice pack, but the little darlings are really wanting something. I dampen a paper towel with cold water. Tell them to hold it on (whatever hurts), and when the paper towel isn't cold anymore it will feel better and they can just throw it in the trash. I have to really sell it and make it sound like I know what I am talking about. Magically, I have never had one to come back to let me know that my prediction that it would feel better when the towel isn't cold anymore, was incorrect. I do, on many occasions get the hairy eyeball from them to let me know that they REALLY wanted an ice pack!! (another excuse to get to use the purple rollie-eye guy)
Ice packs - commercially made - disappear easily. So, whatever you can prepare in the freezer ahead of time is smart. Having access to an ice machine is also a wonder. Mini zip lock bags prepped in the freezer with water mixed with soap or rubbing alcohol works for flexibility, sliding them into cotton sock is great to keep them off the skin. Word to the wise, Be nice, but not too nice (they'll come back frequently if you let them).
Specializes in Pediatrics/Developmental Pediatrics/Research/psych.
Just straight dishwashing soap, nothing else?
Wait, what? I'm not clear on this one.
Sorry. I was unclear. The ice pack is just dishwashing soap. Something about the soap prevents it from getting too hard.
If you see my other post about buddy tape, I think that tape can be used for everything. So if you buddy tape a kid (you know you want to) then you wrap 12 inches of paper tape on a tongue depressor so that they don't come back to you to replace the tape.
Very cool. I like the dishwasher soap/ice pack idea.
I currently have a big icemaker machine next to me in the cafeteria. It's crushed ice and I fill a small beer cooler up every morning.
When I need to make an ice pack, I scoop some of the crushed ice into a Ziploc bag, roll the bag up into a paper towel then tape the paper towel up around the Ziploc. It's a nice, compact, gift-wrapped ice pack for whatever painful body part the kiddo currently has.
NutmeggeRN, BSN
2 Articles; 4,744 Posts
I keep a basic bottle of moisturizer (fragrance free) and aloe in my fridge....the cool liquid feels so good on dry skin, sunburns etc.