Nurse's Corner

Please be aware of how your child is feeling before coming to school in the morning. Parents should keep children home when they exhibit one or more of the following:

a persistent moist cough
discolored nasal discharge
episodes of vomiting or diarrhea within 24 hours
pink eye
strep throat
flu
contagious skin rash
- impetigo
- ringworm
lice
bedbugs
chickenpox
mononucleosis

The school nurse must be notified for all of the following conditions:

Fever . . . Your child must be fever free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school.
Pink eye:
- Children diagnosed (by a physician) with contagious conjunctivitis must be kept home until there is no discharge from the eye. The school must receive a note from your physician advising the date of return to school.
Strep Throat – school policy requires 48 hours of antibiotic treatment before returning to school.
Flu – Parents should be aware of the following symptoms of flu:
- Body aches
- Fever
- Chills
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Fatigue
- Stomachache
- Nasal congestion

Persistence of these symptoms could indicate the presence of flu. Contact your physician for a diagnosis and advice. A diagnosis of flu requires that the child remains at home until they are fever free without medication for at least 24 hours and are generally feeling well enough to attend school.

·      Contagious skin condition – Nurse will advise on a case to case basis

·      Lice – Parent must follow treatment plan set up by physician. Student must be seen and cleared by the school nurse before returning to class. Please call the nurse to arrange for appointment for clearance.

·      Bedbugs – Please call the nurse for directives,

Please also notify the nurse if your child has:
·      An injury requiring the use of crutches:

·      A cast

·      Stitches

·      Recent surgery

In general, if your child is “just not right” evaluate the situation and make the decision that will benefit your child as well as his/her classmates. Please remember that a child who is sent to school must be prepared to fully participate in activities, this includes outside lunch recess. Staffing restrictions prohibit us from keeping children indoors at recess. Feel free to call the nurse for her professional advice for any health concern.

Parents: Before sending any treat or snack to the classroom, please check with the teacher, nurse and class mother. We will be able to determine if this is a “safe snack” for the classroom. We encourage parents to read labels on all products before sending them to school. Most products have an “allergy warning” or an “allergy statement” located where the ingredients are listed. In addition to reading all labels, please teach your children good hand washing techniques to keep the classroom as safe as possible.

Studies show that proper Hand Hygiene reduces the spread of bacteria. Please review with your children proper hand washing techniques:

Wash your hands several times during the day with plain soap and water or anti-microbial soap and water

Here at Immaculate Conception School, we will continue our on-going efforts to ensure that children wash their hands throughout the day. We have also instructed our custodial staff to continue to use disinfectant cleaning products on all surfaces which students come in contact with.

I have decided to remove the "safe snack" list from our website due to the fact that many of the products may no longer be considered "safe" for peanut/nut allergic students. This list requires a daily re-check of these products to stay current with any changes.

I will ask that you read ALL INGREDIENT LABELS before sending any treats to school. Please check with the teacher and school nurse prior to bringing in any snacks.

During our bake sales this year, I would like to set up a PEANUT NUT FREE TABLE. I will be speaking with the class mothers next month to address this issue. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please call the health office or speak to your class mother. We appreciate all of your help and cooperation.