Tips for Tummy Aches.

Specialties School

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Tips for tummy aches or nausea. We are a no medication without MD orders campus. Third day of school and this is mostly what I have seen.

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Specializes in LTC.

I don't have any tips but I have seen many tummy aches and nausea the first few weeks of school. Most of the time children have these sx due to " first day of school anxiety". Alot of it comes from their nervousness. If they are afebrile, have pos. bowel sounds, non-distended, not vomiting and have no other s/s of distress. I give them a cup of water, pep talk, tlc and send them back to class. I also offer them to use the bathroom in the healthroom because some of them just need to have a good bm in private. Ahh... miss school nursing at times.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.
I don't have any tips but I have seen many tummy aches and nausea the first few weeks of school. Most of the time children have these sx due to " first day of school anxiety". Alot of it comes from their nervousness. If they are afebrile, have pos. bowel sounds, non-distended, not vomiting and have no other s/s of distress. I give them a cup of water, pep talk, tlc and send them back to class. I also offer them to use the bathroom in the healthroom because some of them just need to have a good bm in private. Ahh... miss school nursing at times.

All of the above. I don't use crackers or anything. I tell the kids "I"m going to give you some of my special ice water. Drink up!" Then I send them to the bathroom. One of two things will happen: They'll either "make" or they're throw up. :clown: Yeah, gets right to the core of the problem.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Ambulatory Care, etc..

besides all of the above, when I was in the elem school, I would let them lay down for 5 - 10 minutes if there wasn't anything going on in the clinic.

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Specializes in Women's Health.

I have my grown children's child rocker in my office..... kids rock and feel better. If you are allowed to use warm packs, they are great as are saltines.

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If they're hungry or have an upset stomach I try saltines.

If they are achy/ crampy I have them drink water, use the bathroom & if that doesn't help I have they lie down for 10 minutes. That usually does the trick.

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First I see if they ate breakfast. Today I had a little girl with a tummy ache. When I asked what she had to eat this morning she said "a candy cane". Nothing else, just a candy cane! I gave her some Saltines and water, and had her sit for a bit. Did the trick!!! More often than not, I find if a kid had a lousy breakfast, they have a tummy ache or headache around 10:00. Crackers usually fix that with a little talk about good choices for breakfast. Sometimes, the before lunch crowd complains of a tummy ache. If all checks out OK, I have them trying eating lunch and see if that helps. I usually don't see them back after that. If they do come back, I call home.

I always check their temps and offer use of bathroom. I also ask what kind of pain - a "burning pain" after pizza, or a pain that "goes away and comes back" after eating is usually gas so I have them use the bathroom; a pain that doesn't go away usually gets Saltines and sips of water. That'll either kill em or cure em, as they say. If they look really pale or green around the gills, I have them rest a bit and if not feeling better, call home. If their belly is tender, especially if the pain radiates, I call home and report the symptoms. Usually, parent comes to pick up.

Hope this helps!

mc3:nurse:

PS I really hate corn dog day and taco day. I have a noticeable increase in above complaint on those days:D!!!

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Specializes in School Nurse/Supervisor.

i work in a middle school....tummy aches.........one of my favorites! :uhoh3: after my usual assesments (check temp, ask for time line of s/s, have breakfast or lunch...) if they appear ok to me, i will have them lay down for a few mins on their left side. i explain to them that this position will help relieve any pressure (usually "gas"). i will offer them pretzels if they didn't eat breakfast ect. this usually works..........even suprises me every once in awhile, they pop up after 5 mins and state they feel much better. not sure why this really works.....could be a combination of listening to them and them thinking i'm really doing something "magic" for them. i don't do this for every tummy ache.......depends on frequent flyer status, anxiety issues (will call in social worker or school pyschologist if needed).

:christmastree:merry christmas and happy holidays to one and all! only 4 more school days until break!!! :christmastree:

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