Health Dept Issue

[UrbanHSRN]

Hi all!

I have been a school nurse for 2 years. Today, I received an email stating that the health dept is sending an agent and their supervisor who needs to meet with me, the principal, the lead district nurse, HER boss, and another admin tomorrow regarding an urgent health matter at my school. The person at the health dept also said that they could not tell us what it was about, and did not want to give my boss their email for a calendar invite. I am FREAKED out! The only possible thing I can think of is TB, but why all the secrecy? Does anyone else have any experience with sudden health dept meetings at school?

[TriciaJ, RN]

I thought of TB and STDs. But why all the secrecy? Why not let us know something so we can prepare for the meeting? Is that normal for the health dept? Our district has never had the health dept set up a meeting like this before.

Probably because people get hysterical at the drop of a hat. If there's something happening in your school, the Health Dept. wants to discuss it with you and school admin first. You can all brainstorm the appropriate interventions, prevention and publicity before the rumour mill runs amok and you are inundated with phone calls.

[ohiobobcat]

BWHAHAH!!! Breathing deeply in the comfort of one's sanitary locked office....

Only if it's a negative pressure office, which I'm sure ALL of our offices are negative pressure rooms, right guys?

Add me to the curious bunch, and hopefully you can tell us what this is all about once you know!!

[Amethya]

Maybe they just want to discuss something concerning that should be just you and the people in charge before deciding the next step on what to do.

[scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

OMG, I am dying to know what it is now! They could have said "it is about XYZ, but PLEASE DO NOT SAY anything until we talk".

Good luck! Keep us posted!

[UrbanHSRN]

OK, here is the update. It was about TB. Wow, all that secrecy for TB? I mean, thanks for letting me worry all night about pretty much nothing. We went over the case and plan of action. That's all I can say about it, but definitely not something that needed all that 'cloak and dagger' approach, as one of the commenters stated.

Thanks for your help and support!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

YAY! Active or latent?

When I was the PHN we couldn't send faxes unless someone at the other end was waiting because TB "was just like HIV and you can't release that information." But we were faxing doctors' offices.

I think that a previous poster was correct: they want all the ducks in a row in case this goes public.

[TriciaJ, RN]

OK, here is the update. It was about TB. Wow, all that secrecy for TB? I mean, thanks for letting me worry all night about pretty much nothing. We went over the case and plan of action. That's all I can say about it, but definitely not something that needed all that 'cloak and dagger' approach, as one of the commenters stated.

Thanks for your help and support!

Don't be too sure you didn't need the cloak-and-dagger. When I worked in the jail, one positive TB skin test tended to trigger a flurry of hysteria from all the other inmates in the block.

At a more recent place of employment, an outbreak situation certainly caused a lot of concern. Organized efforts had to be made to allay these concerns and stave off a lot of additional nuttiness.

The Health Dept. has probably been around this block before.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Only if it's a negative pressure office, which I'm sure ALL of our offices are negative pressure rooms, right guys?

That sucks!

[UrbanHSRN]

Active.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

ZOUNDS! Welp, that's why the cloak and dagger. Hang in there!

[Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN]

OK, here is the update. It was about TB. Wow, all that secrecy for TB? I mean, thanks for letting me worry all night about pretty much nothing. We went over the case and plan of action. That's all I can say about it, but definitely not something that needed all that 'cloak and dagger' approach, as one of the commenters stated.

Thanks for your help and support!

Would it be worth reaching out to someone in the H&S Dept. to discuss their approach and how it impacted you and/or the staff?

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

I was our county TB nurse for a little while so yes this sounds very shady. But maybe your state does things differently. If it is a TB exposure they can tell you that but of course cant violate HIPPA by telling you who has active TB. I do not think they would be bringing all these people in for just STDs either. What is weird is the not wanting to give an email address. I would have loved if someone wanted my contact info for a meeting. I always left my card with them and I always stated what my business was up front. Earlier this year a local high school nearby had an outbreak of mumps and it was kept hush as much as possible but that was to not cause panic of the parents. The school was fully informed. You can always contact your health dept district/regional office and ask what is going on.

Part of me would want everybody and their pet ferret to know about something like a mumps outbreak. There are too many people who have the luxury of being anti-vaxxers mostly due to herd immunity and the efficacy of our vaccines. It's not always a bad thing for folks to realize that these diseases exist, and that, yeah, kids can get sick from them. (That being said, people do freak out, and it is a challenge to a district's public health education abilities...)