Nurse's Notes
September 17, 2020
MHES Health Room Newsletter
MHES Health Room Information
The health room is staffed by a full-time registered nurse and is available for students with acute illnesses, first aid needs, blood glucose checks, asthma attacks, and medication administration needs. Students that become ill or injured during the school day will get a health room pass from their teacher. The school nurse will evaluate the concerns of the students and provide services as needed.
Parents will be notified by the school nurse in the event of any illness or injury that may require outside medical attention or if students are being sent home due to illness/injury.
Parents, please be sure that we have your current contact information on file.
Students should not be sent to school to be evaluated by the school nurse for an illness or injury that occurred at home. Any serious illnesses or injuries occurring at home must be evaluated by the student’s healthcare provider.
The following guidelines should be followed when determining if a student should stay at home instead of coming to school, due to an illness:
- Following a nighttime bout of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever; student should stay at home and be watched for further symptoms.
- Fever is defined as a temperature of 100.4 or greater, without the use of fever-reducing medications. The student’s temperature should remain normal without the use of fever-reducing medications for 24 hours prior to returning to school.
- It is also advisable for students to stay home from school if any of the following symptoms are exhibited: unusual skin eruptions, persistent cough, body and muscle aches, loss of taste or smell, and sore throat.
Each student should have a pink Student Health Form on file in the health room. These forms were sent home with your student during the first week of school. If you have not turned it in, please do so as soon as possible.
Immunizations
Students enrolled in grades 5K to 12, in both public and private schools, must be up-to-date on immunizations based on their current grade level. Notices will be mailed to parents if immunization documents currently on file for your child do not have the appropriate immunizations listed. If you do not receive a notice, your child’s immunization records are up-to-date.
Medications
Prescription Medication
Students that need to take prescription medications during the school day must store it in the health room and follow the district medication administration policy. A new form must be completed by a healthcare provider every year for each medication. Forms for prescription medication administration can be found below, the nurse’s office, or on the Rock Hill School District Three website.
https://www.rock-hill.k12.sc.us/Domain/408
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications
Students are also allowed to take OTC medications while at school. Parents are welcome to bring in OTC medications for students and leave them in the health room for the nurse to administer as needed. Examples of OTC medications include Ibuprofen, Tylenol, cold/sinus medications, cough drops, and antacids. The health room will not supply these medications to students. Any over-the-counter medications that parents wish to have stored in the health room and administered by the nurse requires a signed Rock Hill School District Three Non-Prescription Medication Administration form from the parent. One signed form per medicine is required each school year. Forms for OTC medication administration can be found below, the nurse’s office, or on the Rock Hill School District Three website.
https://www.rock-hill.k12.sc.us/Domain/408
All medications must be in the appropriately identified package or bottle and stored in the health room. Medication should not be sent to school with students in their backpack or shared with other students.
Cough drops are considered to be medications and require a Non-Prescription Medication Administration form to be completed. Please do not send cough drops to school with your student.
COVID-19
My primary concern is for the health and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff. Attendance is important, and we want students to be healthy and in school every day. This year, students showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 should be kept home until they are well.
To keep all students and staff healthy, it is imperative that parents monitor their child for symptoms and fever before sending them to school. Follow these key steps:
- Take the temperature of any child displaying symptoms such as shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, coughing, sore throat, muscle aches, chills, new or worsening cough, or runny nose.
- Keep child at home one or more days to monitor symptoms
- If you decide to have your child tested for COVID-19, notify the school nurse the day your child is tested so the school can implement enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols in the classroom(s) where your child attended. As always, all information will remain strictly confidential between the school and the family.
Students and staff will be excluded from school if they have any of the following, with or without fever:
· Shortness of breath
· Difficulty breathing
· Loss of taste or smell
· New or worsening cough
This is not a complete list of all COVID-19 symptoms, but only those that trigger an automatic exclusion from school/work and evaluation for COVID-19. Other symptoms may include: fever, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea/vomiting, or diarrhea. Many COVID-19 cases show no symptoms at all. An infected person is able to spread the virus for up to two days before they have any symptoms. Given the overlap of these symptoms with other more common illnesses and the lack of symptoms in some cases, it is not possible to identify and exclude all cases of COVID-19 through screening of symptoms.
Students and staff that have been excluded for these symptoms should not return to school/work until they have either tested negative for COVID-19 or had a medical evaluation that determined that their symptoms were more than likely due to another illness (i.e. sore throat caused by strep throat). If diagnosed by a healthcare provider as having an illness other than COVID-19, students/staff may return to school when all non-contagious criteria for that illness have been met.
Students or staff that require testing for COVID-19 will be required to provide the school nurse with a negative PCR test or must complete the current isolation criteria for COVID-19 in order to return to school.
Symptoms explainable by an underlying condition (such as shortness of breath or cough for an individual with asthma) may not require exclusion from school and will be evaluated by the nurse on a case by case basis.
This guideline is based on what is known as of August 2020, about COVID-19 and will be updated as more information and guidance become available by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and South Carolina Department of Health.
https://scdhec.gov/sites/default/files/Library/CR-011634.pdf
Face Masks
Rock Hill School District Three will require the use of face coverings for students and staff while riding school buses and on school grounds. Based on CDC recommendations, masks with one-way valves or vents will not be allowed. Please click the link below for the district’s mask policy.
Cloth face coverings should be washed after each use. It is important to always remove face coverings correctly and wash your hands after handling or touching a used face covering.
Cleaning Face Masks
Washing Machine
· You can wash your face covering in with your regular laundry
· Use regular laundry detergent and the warmest appropriate water setting for the cloth used to make the face covering
Washing by Hand
· Prepare a bleach solution by mixing:
§ 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) of household bleach per gallon of room temperature water
§ 4 teaspoons household bleach per quart of room temperature water
§ Check the label to see if your bleach is intended for disinfection. Some bleach products, such as those designed for safe use on colored clothing, may not be suitable for disinfection. Ensure the bleach product is not past its expiration date. Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser.
§ Soak the face covering in the bleach solution for 5 minutes.
§ Rinse thoroughly with cool or room temperature water,
§ Make sure to completely dry cloth face covering after washing.
Drying Your Face Mask
Dryer
· Use the highest heat setting
· Leave your mask in the dryer until completely dry.
Air dry
· Lay mask flat and allow to completely dry.
· If possible, place the cloth face covering in direct sunlight.
Thank you for helping me ensure that our students and staff are healthy and safe while they are at school. I look forward to working with you and your student(s) this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me. We are going to have a fantastic school year at Mount Holly Elementary School!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Crumpton, RN, BSN
MHES School Nurse
Phone: (803)985-1654
Fax: (803)985-1660
Email: rcrumpton@rhmail.org