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!
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.
Yeah, no kidding.
I'm not diagnosing a concussion and saying "Here, look at some glitter" These are known concussions with orders for mental rest as needed. So when concussion kid's head starts hurting in math class, he comes down and rests for few minutes. If a break helps and headache resolves then kid can return to class, if not he goes home. Either way parents are notified.
I would refrain from using rubbing alcohol, unless you are supervising the ice pack use until it is done. What if some little darling starts to suck on the ice pack, as mine are apt to do when they start to melt?
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.
When I worked home health we would use Palmolive soap or a 50/50 mix of water and rubbing alcohol. Keeps it slushy and molds to the body part.
BeckyESRN
1,263 Posts
Yeah, no kidding.
I'm not diagnosing a concussion and saying "Here, look at some glitter" These are known concussions with orders for mental rest as needed. So when concussion kid's head starts hurting in math class, he comes down and rests for few minutes. If a break helps and headache resolves then kid can return to class, if not he goes home. Either way parents are notified.