From the Desk of Nurse Allen

It’s always my pleasure to take care of your children. A healthy mind and a healthy body breed academic excellence. I am here to assist your child in staying healthy. As the school nurse, I do not diagnose. I assess your child’s health and make recommendations based upon each individual. My door is always open to you to discuss any concerns that you may have.

It’s imperative that you maintain your child’s immunizations required by the state of Texas. If your child’s immunizations are incomplete, your child will not be able to remain in school until immunizations are current. For a complete list of required immunizations, please see your child’s doctor.

A request form for administering of medication must be signed and completed by the physician/parent and returned to my office before medication can be given to your child. As the school nurse, I cannot administer over-the-counter medications. All medications must be prescribed by a physician and must be brought to school by an adult in its original labeled container.

If your child has allergies to certain foods/milk, a doctor’s note informing the school is required.

Hundreds of days are missed each school year because of head lice infestation. A child found to have eggs (nits) or lice must be excluded from school until treated with an effective pediculicide shampoo. Upon returning to school, parents must bring the child to my office to recheck the child’s hair. The bed sheets, blankets, pillows, and the entire home environment should be treated as well. If you should notice head lice in your child’s hair, please inform me as soon as possible. Follow-up screening will be done in your child’s classroom. Lastly, teach your child not to share combs, brushes, hats or scarves with anyone.

• When they have a fever of 100 degrees or more. Students must be fever free without the use of fever reducing medication for at least 24 hours.

• If the student is vomiting or has diarrhea, the child must be symptom free for at least 24 hours before returning to school. If your child has a inflamed/pink eyes, a doctor’s note is required to return to school. If inflammation is due to allergies, the doctor must document it.

• If your child has a medical condition that will spread from one person to the next (contagious), for example, the flu, strep throat, chickenpox, infectious pink eye, a doctor's note is required for a child to return to school.

My Expectations... for 2012 - 2013 are great!