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Have We Got Your Number??
In
September, one of the most important tasks parents are asked to do is
complete an Emergency Information
Card. The information
you provide on this card allows us to reach you or your designate quickly
when illness or injury occurs during the school day.
Be sure to indicate home, work, cell phone and beeper numbers as well as daytime
numbers of two responsible adults who can care for your child if you are
unavailable. We also request information such as your hospital of choice
in an emergency. The
signature on the card is extremely important.
This allows the school to make arrangements in a medical emergency,
such as transport to the hospital. In
the event of an illness or injury, we must be able to contact a parent or
responsible adult.
Remember, hospital emergency
rooms need parental consent before treating minors!
Please return this card promptly in the Fall and keep the school
updated as numbers change.
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Managing
Your Child’s Health Issues at School
By:
Mrs. Meg Snyder, RN BSN
Carson
School Nurse
Below are some important points from an article regarding how the
school and home can work together when a child has a health chronic health
issue such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.
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Develop
your own school management plan first. Each medical issue
carries with it its own set of “management” needs.
For example, if your child has asthma, you and your
doctor/nurse practitioner know what symptoms to look for, what should
be done, and what follow up is needed.
This type of plan can be made for any health issue in
conjunction with your private physician and the school nurse.
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Know
who to tell. Clearly the school nurse and the classroom teacher need to be
aware of your child’s specific medical needs.
Depending on your child’s health issue, other staff,
including cafeteria workers, coaches and educational assistants, may
also need to be in the loop so they can properly respond to a
situation or help prevent one from occurring.
The nurse can play a vital role in this process by keeping
staff informed on a “need to know” basis.
Always let the nurse know about current health issues with your
child. This helps the
nurse assess your child more accurately if a problem develops at
school.
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Keep
up-to-date. Make sure that the medical information that you provided to
the school is up-to-date. Ensure
that all medical supplies needed are on-hand, both for routine use and
in an emergency. Contact
the nurse periodically to make sure enough supplies are on hand.
The nurse will contact you if we are getting low on supplies
also.
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How
to deal with curious classmates.
Children are curious about anything that is out of the
ordinary. When your child
has a health issue, it is very likely that classmates will sense it.
Talk with your child about questions others might ask and how
best to answer them. The
nurse will contact you also if she feels it would be beneficial to
speak to the class in an informal “lesson” about children with
certain health issues. When children are informed in an
age-appropriate way, curiosity becomes understanding.
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Turn
to the experts. Virtually every childhood condition or disease has an
excellent advocacy organization, such as Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
or Food and Allergy Network. These
organizations offer educational materials for parents and children.
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Be
available. Be sure that the nurse and teacher have all of your contact
information – cell phone, home phone, work number and other persons
who can act on your behalf in an emergency.
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Don’t
Panic. It can be difficult to know that your child is in school all
day and away from you. Please
understand that many children are dealing with chronic health issues
and that learning to deal with their disease independently (with
oversight of school nurses and others) is important in helping them
grow up healthy and strong.
It
is essential that the nurse, parent and child work together as a team.
Communication is the key. Please
call the nurse at your child’s school.
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“Tis the Season For
the Common Cold”
You wake up in the morning with a headache, you are
sneezing, you are a bit cranky. What’s
wrong? You have a cold!! Men,
women and children have been trying to cope with the common cold for
years. We are advised on what
to do by Grandma, TV commercials and friends and neighbors. Now, here are some facts and advice from your school nurse.
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First,
here is some trivia. In
the course of a year, individuals in the U.S. suffer 1 billion colds,
according to some estimates. Children
have about six to ten colds per year on average.
Adults average about two to four colds per year, although women
have more colds than men.
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The
common cold is caused by a virus – about 200 different ones!!! So
how do we catch a cold? We
all know that cold viruses are spread through droplets when you sneeze
and cough. Hands,
however, are the leading cause for spreading
the cold viruses from one person to another.
When you touch infectious respiratory secretions (mucous, cough
droplets, sneeze droplets) on a surface or on someone’s skin, and
then touch your eyes or nose – the virus spreads.
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The
“cold season” in the United States begins in early September and
increases slowly for several weeks and then remains high until March
or April, when it declines. Cold weather has been blamed for causing colds.
We do get more colds during the winter, but the weather is not the villain.
During autumn and winter, we spend more time indoors, which
helps spread viruses from person to person.
There is less fresh air ventilation in the winter.
Also there is less sunlight in the winter and ultraviolet light
(like rays from the sun) is known to kill viruses.
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Can
you cure a cold? No, but
maybe someday there will be a cure!
For now, the old adage – “Time
cures all” fits. Your
doctor can recommend over the counter medicines to help with the
symptoms of a cold. The
cold has to run its course, however, usually about a week.
Remember, we are discussing the common cold.
If other problems appear, such as ear pain, persistent coughing,
fever over 101 for several days, consult your doctor.
Also, aspirin and aspirin containing products are not recommended
for children with respiratory illnesses due to its link with causing
Reye’s Syndrome.
In this issue is a list of helpful hints found on the Nemour’s
Foundation/ Dupont website for help with the common cold. You can visit
this website for valuable information on any health topic for parents and
kids – www.kidshealth.org.
I
hope this information has been helpful as we deal with another “cold
season”.
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