WELCOME TO
THE NURSE'S OFFICE!

The continuum of care provided by our school nurse includes intervention and management strategies to maximize student well-being and achievement. The goal of our school health services is to support and enhance student success!

Please Put On Those Helmets!

When riding bicycles, scooters, skateboards or inline skates helmets can prevent the vast majority of head injuries. Helmets are so vital to a child's safety that we require them to be worn by children riding their bikes to school. Parents can play an essential role by insisting that their child wear a helmet every time they get on a bike or use any other wheeled sport equipment.

Managing Head Lice is a Team Effort!

HOW DO I END HEAD LICE INFESTATION?

1. KILL THE LICE: lice-killing products are available in pharmacies, and will kill lice and most eggs. Reapplication of shampoo (usually in 7-10 days, but please read the directions on the product you use), and egg removal is required to ensure complete effectiveness.

2. REMOVE ALL EGGS: the most important step in ending lice infestation is to remove the eggs that survive lice-killing treatments (up to 30% of all eggs!). These eggs will hatch and cause a reinfestation unless you comb them all out. A lice comb can make this tedious job a lot easier.

3. CLEAN HOUSE: to ensure a thorough job, wash your child's clothes, bed sheets, combs and brushes (in hot water that is a least 130 degrees for twenty minutes); put toys and unwashables in plastic bags for at least 2 weeks; vacuum daily (including car upholstery). The topic of head lice stirs up a lot of emotions! It requires hard work, time and extra expense to bring under control. Please be sensitive to those families and children who are experiencing head lice that you may know. Please call me if you have any questions, or if you discover head lice on your child. If we work together, we can solve the problem quickly.

Sincerely,
Denise Poulin RN & Maralise Boynton, RN
School Nurses

I will continue to follow up on suspected cases of head lice thanks to parents who call with concerns and students who are worried about their itchy heads! Here are some important facts and tools that will help you detect and combat lice if they should infest a member of your family:

WHAT ARE HEAD LICE?

• Head lice are tiny (like sesame seeds), wingless, bloodsucking insects that feed on the human scalp.
• They do not infest animals.
• They cannot live away from the human host longer than 24 hours in our climate.
• They do not fly or jump, but crawl at high speed.
• They are not an indication of poor hygiene.

WHERE DO HEAD LICE COME FROM?

• Head lice crawl from one head to another.
• The most common method of transfer is by direct head contact between two people.
• Transfer also occurs through shared combs, brushes, scrunchies, hats and other headgear or jackets.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CHILD HAS HEAD LICE?

• Examine your child weekly to catch an infestation as early as possible.
• Use bright light to examine your child's head.
• Work in small areas (about 1 inch), parting the hair with a comb, to look for eggs attached to the hair near the scalp.
• If you observe your child scratching his/her head, that is a sign of possible infestation-check for lice!
• Please call Mrs. Poulin if you are not sure what lice look like or if you suspect your child has head lice.

Here's a great website regarding head lice: www.headlice.org/

Click on the moose to return to the
Sunderland Home page