Snacks?

[Imnotasnacklady]

Good morning,

I have enjoyed reading all the posts and just joined to ask about giving out snacks. Who gives out snacks? I'm a new float school RN and am amazed at the amount of kids that come asking for a snack. Today I have turned away 20 kids so far. I just had one student ask for 4 snacks for her classroom. It's only the elementary schools that seem to give out any snacks. I'm sure there are some students legitimately hungry(maybe do not have enough at home/lack resources) and I am sensitive to that. But I've also had kids say, "I don't like the snack I have". I also think that some nurses buy the snacks and then spend time putting snacks into plastic baggies. They are always nutfree(saltines, cheerios). Because I float and fill in when needed I don't feel like I can really try to change the situation. But when I sub for people I have a no snack policy unless there's an obvious need. I also can't imagine the teachers would want the disruption of kids leaving twice a day to get a snack. I just don't feel like it's the nurse's job. Am I way off?

[Glitternurse, LVN]

I'm in elementary, I do have graham crackers for kids who haven't had breakfast (we have a large low income/homeless population). Our school offers free lunch to all students so I don't give snacks after lunch. If they didn't eat lunch that was their choice so they must suffer the consequences.

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

I don't give out snacks. If they're lucky I'll give them some oyster crackers or share out of my box of Nilla Wafers when they've skipped breakfast. We have morning snack and lunch built into tuition, so no one is going hungry. If I was at a school with a low-income population I would give out snacks...bleeding heart over here.

[Eleven011]

I don't give snacks for classroom snack time. Most teachers has extra stuff for kids that forget, ect. I do have different types of crackers and granola bars in my office for kids that I know probably are truly hungry or those tummy aches right before lunch.

[AdobeRN]

I don't give out snacks and teachers are not allowed to either due to allergy issues. I will let a student use my phone and call home to parent if they want -sometimes this does the trick, alot of times parents have no idea their kid is coming to me for snacks.

If the kid is on free/reduced program I will remind them to stop by cafe in the morning to buy breakfast (we have packaged food available - muffins, cereal, fruit etc) and they can use that food for a snack later in the day.

[Supernrse01, BSN]

No snacks in this clinic! If I have a student that I know or have a strong suspicion needs something to eat because they don't have anything at home, I will walk with them to the cafeteria to grab something from our wonderful cooks.

[jess11RN]

Nope. Not a snack factory.

If they haven't eaten breakfast, then they can always head down to the cafeteria. Our ladies down there are amazing.

[CampyCamp, RN]

Wow. I guess we're lucky. I do give out snack in elementary schools but I've never had a demand like that! It's actually very rare and often I suggest it rather than the kid asking. Occasionally a kid asks or hints. We keep an eye on repeats and it's just because they want extra time out of class and a treat as a bonus (teacher discussion) or if they are truly missing meals and no snack is available (guidance referral) Either situation happens about once a year. Kids should get free breakfast at school if their families can't afford it at home. In High and middle school, our kids usually go right to the student food pantry in guidance, unless it's a one-off episode of lightheadedness/missed breakfast or something similar. We tend to have enough donated snacks to give out. Sometimes a snack mom for an activity or class even donates leftover juice boxes, goldfish, or yogurt tubes (I freeze them) or staff donates boxes of pop tarts, fruit cups, or granola bars that they bought and found their kids don't like. We also sometimes get donations from the cafeteria monitors of yogurts, apples, or crackers that don't get opened and can't be returned. Often, by the end of the year, we have more than we need in our buildings so we try to redirect to the pantries as we go. At the end of the year, anything that's left goes home with those kids or to Head Start.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

on occassion, I get an abundance of unopened packaged foods which i will happily give out for snack. But I make it clear, that I don't stock this food myself - it's usually food that is set aside by students that don't want it from the breakfast program. Unopened, but can't be resold or recycled for another breakfast.

[RatherBHiking, BSN, RN]

We only give out a snack to our diabetics who are low and saltines for upset stomach's. If they didn't eat breakfast and are hungry then I send them to the cafe for a free breakfast in a bag. I used to take the extra kg snacks that no one ate and pass them out to kids that were hungry but once they made breakfast free for everyone (since most of our school is below the poverty level) it's helped a lot.

I rarely give out saltines. Only if they truly seem nauseated and it really does help sometimes or they puke them up and I know it's time for them to go home.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Nope. I have "pity crackers" (saltines) for those who came in too late for breakfast or are nauseous. Our school will pretty much never refuse a meal to a student, either.

I have one repeat offender and when I started calling mom to bring him a snack magically he stopped coming.

The difficulty is....what's a kid being lazy (like RJ Junior who has food at home but leaves too late for breakfast) or what's a kid being hungry because there is no food.

[aprilmoss]

I am under the strong opinion that food of any sort, be it snacks or party food or whatever, does not belong in the classroom. The sanitation just isn't there.