From Our School Nurse

Washougal School District      Nursing Services

Candra Cook, RN, BSN

Phone: (360)954-3616 Fax: (360)837-3906  

Email: candra.cook@washougal.k12.wa.us

                                                                                               

A Note from the School Nurse…

Welcome to the new school year!  This letter includes some information regarding health issues at school.  Please contact me if you have further questions.

IMMUNIZATIONS

All students must meet state immunization requirements in order to attend school.  Each student must have a completed “Certificate of Immunization Status” form on file at the school.  Also, immunization requirements often change from year-to-year.  For example, this year (08/09) all kindergartners must have 2 varicella (chicken pox) vaccinations in order to attend school.  Parent report of disease is no longer accepted.  Your child’s healthcare provider can help you determine if your child needs further immunizations.   

(Reference: WSD 3413, RCW 28A.210, WAC 180-38-045, WAC 246-100-166, SHB 3547, SHB1985)

STUDENT HEALTH HISTORY and LIFE-THREATENING CONDITIONS

Please carefully fill out the Student Health Inventory and return it to the school as soon as possible.  This helps us identify students who may have a life-threatening condition, such as a severe allergy to bee stings or peanuts, severe asthma, seizures, diabetes, etc.  If your child has a life-threatening condition (defined as “a health condition that will put a child in danger of death during the school day if a medication or treatment order and a nursing plan are not in place”), Washington state law (SHB 2834) requires that orders from your physician or Licensed Healthcare Provider (LHP) must be provided to the school before your child may attend.  Also, a nursing Emergency Care Plan (ECP) must be developed by the District Nurse, in consultation with you, and based on the LHP’s instructions.  If your child has a life-threatening condition, you will need to obtain a  “Medication at School Authorization” form from the front office.  Your LHP can write his/her instructions and any medications required on this form.  Both parent and LHP must sign and date this form before the child is allowed by law to attend school.  The nurse will then contact you to develop the “Emergency Care Plan”.

(Reference: RCW 28A.210.320, WAC 180-38, SHB 2834)

MEDICATION AT  SCHOOL

When a child requires medication, in most cases this can be given at home, outside the regular school hours.  However, if your child must receive medication in order to be in school, you will need to bring to the school a “Medication at School Authorization” form, completed by a licensed healthcare provider (LHP) or physician, and signed and dated by both parent and LHP.

• Only “oral medications” are allowed by law to be given at school: no ointments, nasal sprays, eye or ear drops, suppositories, or inhaled medications, may be given by the staff at school. 
• All medication, including over-the-counter (ie: Tylenol, ibuprofen, cough drops), require a Medication at School Authorization form. 
• For both “daily meds” and “over-the-counter meds” (“as needed”), you must bring the medication to the school yourself in the original pharmacy-labeled bottle; do not send with your child.  Ask your pharmacist to supply you with a special bottle for school use.
• Please bring only one-month’s supply of tablets at a time.
• If a student is permitted by you and the LHP to self-carry or self-administer medication, this should be indicated by the LHP on the Authorization form.  You may want to have a 2nd epi-pen or inhaler at the school office to serve as a “back-up” in case your student forgets to bring or loses their medication.
• “Epi-pens” are the only acceptable means of administering epinephrine at school.
• All medication must be picked-up by a parent/guardian at the end of the school year.  Medication not retrieved will be destroyed at the end of the year.

(Reference:  WSD 3416, RCW 28A.210.260)

HEALTH ROOM

We have a small health room in the school office to be used for emergencies and urgent situations.  Sick children need to stay at home until well.  Please see Guidelines for Keeping Students Home from School.  If your child becomes ill while at school, we will call you to come pick him/her up.  Please always be sure the school has current phone numbers for you and other emergency contact persons.

Guidelines for Keeping Students Home from School

Children are in close contact with one another at school.  If parents keep their children home at the first signs of illness, it will help us prevent the spread of that illness to other children in the classroom.  The following are some guidelines to help you decide when to keep your ill child home from school.  These are the guidelines and symptoms we look for at school to determine when to send children home from school.

• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea – child returns to school 48 hours after the last episode
• Earache, ear drainage
• Sore throat
• Persistent cough
• Runny nose if the discharge is yellow or green
• Oral temperature over 100 degrees.  Temperature should remain normal for 24 hours before the child returns to school. 
• Headache or stomach ache in combination with other symptoms (i.e., cough or sore throat)
• Communicable skin rash such as scabies, impetigo, or ringworm.  Child may return to school following proper treatment.
• Pinkeye (conjunctivitis) in one or both eyes.  The whites of the eyes will appear pink or red, and feel painful and itchy.  There may be yellow, green or white matter in or around the eye or lashes.

Please don’t send a parent request to have your child kept in from recess due to illness.  A child who is too sick to go out to recess is too ill to be in school. 

If your child’s illness persists or if you have other questions, please call your healthcare provider.

What you can do as a parent to boost your child’s immune system:

• Be sure they get plenty of rest each night.
• Encourage healthy foods:  Offer lots of fruits and vegetables; limit junk foods; have regular mealtimes; encourage water for thirst instead of soda pop.
• Be sure your children get daily exercise out in the fresh air whenever possible.
• Avoid exposing your child to second-hand smoking, either in the house or in the car.
• Teach your children to keep their bodies and hair clean, to brush their teeth twice a day, and to wash their hands often.

HEAD LICE

Any student can get head lice; lice have no preference for dirty or clean hair or households.  If you know that your child has head lice, please keep him or her home until ALL LIVE LICE AND EGGS (NITS) are removed.  Please check your child’s hair regularly all during the year.  If live lice are found in your child’s hair at school, your child will be sent home until lice are treated and nits are removed.  You must bring your child back to school yourself and wait for his/her head to be checked.

DIET AND EXERCISE

Healthy children learn better.  Please keep in mind the basics of healthy living as you teach your child good life-long health habits:

• Adequate rest
• Daily exercise
• Cleanliness (daily showers, frequent shampoos, deodorant if needed, and regular toothbrushing)
• Lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains.  Go easy on the sweets, sugary drinks, and junk foods.