What's your lice day like?

Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B · Nov 5, 2015

My camp has done it both ways. When Instarted the nurses did all the lice checks. Around my second year we went to a company.

We always do checks on the first day. When the nurses did them we would setup by the pool and check heads before the kids did their swim test. Statistically I'm sure we did an awful job. 4 nurses for 550 kids, doing checks with just our eyes. The lice company comes in with 8 or so people, they have magnifying lamps and have the kids come in small groups all day. They have the time and equipment to really do a great job. We tried using the health center for checks with the lice company the first year and it was a mess, we just weren't communicated with at all. We do use the health center for the treatments, but they are done by the treatment company not the nurses.

We we will do treatments on lice found during the season, but we can call in the lice company if we end up with a major outbreak. We used to treat with ulesfia but now we use the cinnamon tea tree oil organic salad dressing stuff the lice company uses. Ulesfia works great, but was expensive and needed repeated. The lice company's stuff is ok, needs combing out, but really does make the nits come out easy.

I also used natroba at another camp this summer, it was super easy and very effective. Also insanely expensive.

serioisly buy stock in these companies that are making these second generation lice treatments, when they go generic, the companies will take them over the counter, just like Zyrtec and Claritin, and make a ton of money. Especially because the premetherins are not effective half the time anymore

blue bag nurse · Nov 5, 2015

Thanks so much Big Al! Sounds like you are doing about the same sort of system we do. It works, it's just chaotic. The idea came up for the nurses to do checks and then treat with one of the drugs you mentioned, which was insane to me. Maybe for a mid-season case, but not at the beginning. So thanks for your response bc I've never really known how any other camps did it. When I searched the board, the only topic was from a few years ago.

have a great day!

tining, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2015

We check the staff as they come in pre-camp and the campers on day one. We also have a sibling sleepover on visiting day, those kids are to be checked before parents leave. The nurses and lice company do the checks on day one so about 8-10 people checking, we finish after lunch. The lice company stays and treats any identified lice AND nits. Parents pay for this.

zzisaac · Jan 3, 2016

I would love to hire a company, we check on opening day, 2 weeks later, and the day before they go home (4 week camp). We have over 500 campers to check and use 4-5 nurses, and 2-3 nursing assistants. The nursing assistants usually get the temperatures and the nurses check the heads. We set up outside of the health center on benches. It is one of the stops for each cabin on their camp tours, right before swim checks.

What I like: is that it gives us a chance to have a quick talk with each cabin about developing healthy habits at camp, and we can do a scan of each kid to make note if anyone comes to camp with obvious issues (casts, wounds etc that we might not have known about ahead of time)

What I don't like: is that invariably we still have kids that need to see a nurse for one thing or another, and so one nurse is doing 'sick call' and then we have a few nurses processing all the meds that come in on the bus. It is a real zoo. I do think we miss some lice as a result. I work as the charge nurse and am running in between all the checks, the sick call area, and the medication room, and go absolutely nuts on this one day. Plus, we always have new nurses that have never worked camp, and it gives them a bit of a bad taste having such a busy opening day. Even when the returning nurses try and tell them it is not a usual day, it still takes a while to 'recover'.

If we do find cases of lice on check in - we treat right away, which also takes a nursing assistant away from helping with the check-in's. It is a very stressful day all in all.

Debra

wanderlustnurse88, RN · Jan 3, 2016

Camp of 130 overnight campers and anywhere from 10-60 day campers. Camp sessions run for a week, day camp for 5 days. We check overnight campers on the first evening. They rotate through several areas of camp which include how to sign up for activites, cabin photo, tuck shop, and health centre. We have started to call lice checks "head checks". We usually have 3-4 trained staff members check the cabin of 8 while the nurse does a health talk. If they have any concerns, the nurse will go over and check that camper. Day camper do it the morning of their first day of camp. We treat overnight campers on site. Usually lice shampoo, comb through hair, Vaseline and braid the hair back. Camper also wears a bandana for the week (usually the cabin staff will wear one too for support). Then we go comb through the hair a day or two later. Day campers get sent home and parents do the shampoo and combing the hair before they can come back. It's tough because it's usually one (sometimes two) health care staff so its hard to take time to comb through the hair when we are already swamped.