Boggess_NurseNews

Each year hundreds of students go to the Nurse’s Clinic for medications, injury, or illness. This guide has been written to help our students and parents understand the district and Boggess Elementary School policies for administration of medications and visits to the clinic. A guide for when to keep a student at home is also provided.

Sometime during the year your child may need to take medications for an illness, injury, or pain. Only medications that cannot be timed to take at home should be sent to school. Prescribed Medication to be given 3 times a day usually can be given before and after school, and at bedtime. Ask your doctor if this would be acceptable. All medications, including over the counter medication, must be given in the clinic. Vitamins are only given during the school day with a physician’s note. Students are not allowed to administer their own medications. Please do not put medicine in your child’s lunch box or sack. All medications must be accompanied with a note or Medication Request form (obtained from the Clinic) with the student’s name, grade, name of medication, dosage, time of administration, the number of pills being sent and parent’s signature. Medications must be in the original container (box or bottle) or a properly labeled prescription bottle. Medications will not be given if brought to school in a baggy, aluminum foil, or envelope without a note from a parent. Please send only the amount of medication that will be needed at school--not the entire prescription. Most pharmacies will be glad to make up an empty bottle if you ask for one. Please make your child aware that he or she needs to come to the Clinic for medication at the specified time. Because our children are young, I will make every effort to call them from class, or remind them to come take their medication, but they do need to be aware that they have a responsibility to remember. No medications are provided by the Clinic. If your child has frequent headaches or will be having orthodontia work done, you may send a medication for pain (follow the above guidelines) to leave in the Clinic, and that medication will be used only by your child.

There are times when your child may become ill or injured at school and will need to come to the clinic for assessment or treatment. Minor aches and pains can be dealt with in the classroom. If your child comes to the Clinic complaining of feeling ill, I will assess the student’s symptoms. I will probably ask the student what they had for breakfast. If the student has not had breakfast and has no fever, I will generally give crackers, and send on to lunch, or let the student rest a few minutes in the Clinic. Following district guidelines, parents will be asked to take a student home if they have a temperature of 100.4 or above, an undiagnosed rash, or an undiagnosed red eye. A student will be sent home in the absence of fever with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, some sore throats, coughing, etc.

Active children invariably will get bumps, bruises, scrapes, and scratches during recess and PE classes. Many of these do not need treatment in the Clinic. Minor cuts and scratches can be cleaned up in the bathroom with soap, and the teachers have been provided with Band-Aids to apply if a child needs one. If more attention is needed the student should come to the clinic. Some injuries can be treated with an ice pack in the Clinic for 5-10 minutes. If the injury is one needing ice or elevation for longer periods of time, it is usually an injury that should be checked by a physician and treated at home where ice and elevation can be easily administered. It is impossible to rule out a fracture or a sprain with some injuries such as jammed fingers, twisted ankles and wrists, without a physician’s care and x-ray. A recommendation to take a student to a physician for assessment will be made if there is a possibility of a fracture or severe sprain.

Early fall and the arrival of Spring go hand in hand with ant bites, mosquitoes, poison ivy, and allergies. If your child is prone to allergic reactions to insect bites, be prepared in advance. Use insect repellent when your child is outside to help prevent an insect bite. If your child is bitten, wash the area with soap and water. To ease the itching and swelling, use an ice pack for 5 minutes. Cover the bite with Calamine lotion or a hydrocortisone cream. Educate your child about poison ivy in fields and creek beds. Poison ivy is spread by contact with the oil from the plant which, when airborne, can be on clothing, or other objects. A sensitive person does not need to have direct contact with the plant. Poison ivy will not spread to other areas of the body once the oil has been washed from the skin or clothing. The danger of secondary skin infection (impetigo) exists if there is persistent scratching of the blisters or sores. Oatmeal baths will help with the itching. Many students suffer from seasonal allergies--swelling, redness, tearing, and itching. If your child is prone to this reaction please send allergy eye drops (follow medication guidelines) to the Clinic. This may save you a trip to school with medication.

During the hot days of summer, early fall, and late spring, there are frequently ozone alerts. There will be no outside activity if the heat index is 95 F or greater OR when an actual RED OZONE WARNING has been issued in Collin County. When there is an actual ORANGE OZONE WARNING in Collin County, time spent outside is restricted to half its normal length. Please provide the school with written notice if you would like your child to not go outside on days other than listed above. If your child has asthma or a respiratory problem, please have your child use caution when going outside for recess or PE on these days. School staff will determine if all students should have an indoor recess. If your child uses an inhaler, please remind them the importance of using it before exercise. The same is true for very cold weather. Encourage your child to bring a water bottle to take outside for recess and PE during the hottest days to stay well hydrated. A dehydrated child will complain of a headache or stomach cramping. A student must bring a note to the PE teachers if they are not to participate in PE for any reason.

The State of Texas requires vision, hearing and scoliosis screening of students that meet certain criteria each year. Vision and hearing screening is done on all Kindergarten, First, Third and Fifth grade students as well as all students new to the Plano Independent School District each year. All Fifth grade students will be screened for scoliosis. I will alert you to the dates of the scoliosis screening in advance. Please encourage your girls to wear a bra or a bathing suit top. Shirts must be removed to fully visualize the spine. If your child is not in one of these grades and is having difficulty with their vision or hearing, you may request a screening. If during any of the screenings your child fails to pass the screening, he/she will be re-screened in about two weeks. If the student fails to pass the screening again, a referral letter will be sent home requesting an evaluation from a physician. When your child is seen by a physician, please take the referral letter with you and ask the Doctor to fill out the report and have your child return the report to the Clinic.

A new emergency Card is required each year. It is extremely important that this card be completed and returned to school as soon as possible. Without an updated Emergency Card, it becomes very difficult to reach you if your child is ill or injured. Please fill out the front and back completely, including signing the back of the card. It is recommended, but not required, that you have the card notarized so that in case of an emergency and you are unavailable, the hospital your child is taken to can care for your child. If information (especially parent’s work numbers) changes during the year, please send or call changes into the office or Clinic.

Many parents are unsure when to keep a child at home with an illness. Please keep your child home if they have any of the following symptoms:

1) A temperature of 100.4 degrees or more in the previous 24 hours (please keep your child home until they have been fever-free for 24 hours to avoid spread of infection).

2) Diarrhea or vomiting in the previous 24 hours (please keep your child home until symptom-free for 24 hours).

3) If your child wakes up with one or both eyes that are red or pink, oozing green or yellow fluid or has matter stuck to the eyelids, please keep your child home and call your Doctor. Your child may have pink eye (conjunctivitis) which is EXTREMELY contagious until they have had 5 doses of PRESCRIPTION eye drops.

4) If your child has a moist cough that is difficult to control with over-the counter medications, or your child is coughing up green or yellow sputum, please keep your child home and check with your Doctor. Yellow or green sputum or nasal drainage of this color is a sign of infection, which could be CONTAGIOUS and may need a Doctor’s care.

If you have any questions or need to discuss a problem about your child, please call me.