Health and Safety
School Nurse Notes from Ms. White:
Hello! I am the school nurse at Cranberry Station. I enjoy taking care of your children, and hope that you feel comfortable entrusting your child’s health and well-being to my care during the school day. I wanted to address some health issues and CCPS policies that may impact your child during his/her school year.
Acute Illnesses:
The Carroll County Public School System has very set standards regarding when I must send a child home from school for illness. If your child exhibits vomiting, diarrhea, or a fever 100 degrees or higher, I must send him/her home. In addition, he/she cannot return to school the next day. The student must have a temperature below 100 degrees for 24 hours before returning to school without the use of medication. This is very important.
For instance, if your son or daughter has a temperature of 99 because you have given Tylenol to bring the temperature down, you must start counting the 24 hours after the Tylenol has worn off, 4-6 hours later. Obviously this policy will result in more children missing multiple days from school if they are sent home with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher, however, we believe it will help to prevent the spread of disease. We are strongly enforcing this standard at CSE. In fact, if your child arrives to school the next day after being sent home the day before with a fever, we will notify you to pick up your child immediately. Several parents have felt that if they provide a doctor’s note saying it is okay for the student to return to school the next day that we should allow it. However, we are bound by the CCPS policies, and we will still enforce the 24 hour rule, despite the doctor’s note.
Students who were sent home from school due to vomiting or diarrhea must also stay home for 24 hours AFTER the vomiting or diarrhea has ceased. This allows the virus to completely leave the system, and helps to prevent contamination to other students. Many students may have episodes of vomiting, and then “feel better”. However, gastrointestinal illnesses often recur in cycles, and it is better to wait the full 24 hours before returning to usual activities.
Lice:
Unfortunately, lice are a fact of life among school aged children. If you discover lice on your child, please notify me as soon as possible, and I will check the other students in your child’s classroom for the presence of other cases of lice. Keep your child home and treat with a medicated shampoo to kill the lice, and comb all of the nits out of his/her hair. CCPS has a “nit-free policy” regarding lice, which means that the student is not allowed back into school until no nits are visible. The morning that your child returns to school, an adult must accompany the child to the health room, where I will examine the child’s hair and look for nits. If nits are discovered, he/she must return home with the adult who brought them. If no nits are there, the student may return to class.
Health and Care Items:
Students are allowed to bring items to school that may help to keep them well – such as Purell Hand Sanitizer, lip balm, or non-medicated cough drops. The students are NOT allowed to distribute any of the above to their friends or other students, however, and they must be kept in their desks or lockers. Please do send in lip balm if your child gets severely chapped lips in the winter, so that he/she does not miss class time coming to see the nurse for chapped lips. Please label all items sent to school with your child’s name.
Absence/Sick Notes:
Please send in an absence note with each absence for illness. If you can provide a specific reason for the absence, that is very helpful. In other words, instead of just writing: “Bobby was ill”, write: “Bobby had a cough and fever, and saw the doctor – is now on an antibiotic.” Then if Bobby comes to see me that day, I already have the information that I need to know to treat him here in school. Doctor’s notes are preferred for extended illnesses.
Medications at School:
If at all possible, it is best for the student not to have to interrupt their school day to go to the nurse for a dosage of medication. If the doctor is starting a new medication for your child, ask if it is possible to time it outside of the school day. (For example: If a medicine is due three times a day: Give one dose in the morning before school, one directly after school, and one at night.) If that is not possible, a medication consent form must be filled out, signed by both parent and doctor, and the medication must be brought to school by the parent in a box/bottle with the Rx label on it, listing dosage, child’s name, etc. Medication consent forms can be found on the CCPS website.
If you are sending non-prescription medications for occasional use, such as Benadryl or Tylenol, please try to send in chewable tablets, as opposed to liquids. These medications are often sent on field trips, and the chewable tablets make it much easier for transport.
As always, the only medications that can be given without a physician’s order/signature are: Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Ibuprofen (Advil), in children’s dosages. All other medications, including homeopathic products, must have a doctor’s signature for administration.
If your child has a serious illness, such as asthma, or a food allergy that may result in an anaphylactic reaction, please supply me with the needed medication here at school to treat your child in an emergency. If you have any questions or want to supply me with any information about a health issue that needs to be addressed, please call me at Cranberry Station Elementary. I am available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thank you for entrusting your children to my care!
Sue White RN
School Nurse
