Head Lice

[Guest]

Thank you Maz - sometimes I wish they'd just make a concrete decision (and tell everyone!) one way or the other when they have strong opinions about things then everyone knows where they stand <sigh>

 

I remember when I first did my training, one placement was on the children's ward (many many many moons ago!) and there was a child (well there were actually more s/g children than patients) who was placed there for safeguarding purposes (I remember being so surprised that this happened) She had lesions (due to neglect not injury) on her scalp and when the nurses were treating them a whole host of lice came out from underneath that the nurses were horrified - she was the most adorable child, bless her and I often wonder what the outcome was for her

 

I think Snowdrop and her team have done a fantastic job in helping the parents address this and they must feel a sense of achievement too

[MarshaD]

Well done Snowdrop. In terms of policy - in school we are not allowed to talk to any parents directly about head lice and have to send a generic letter as Woodlands says.

[Guest sn0wdr0p]

Thank you all for your kind comments. Sadly she has them back again so I have told mum to treat the whole family including herself. At the moment we have one child from another school (no contact with this little girl so no connection here) who has had them three times in the last couple of weeks and mum is furious that she has to constantly treat her but the school will not put out a message to parents of other children. I have a notice on our entrance door which states that there have been a number of cases of head lice in the setting and could parents please check their children. I feel I have a duty to inform a parents (in private) if their children have headlice as it is such a horrible maddening thing to have.

[Upsy Daisy]

At the moment we have one child from another school (no contact with this little girl so no connection here) who has had them three times in the last couple of weeks and mum is furious that she has to constantly treat her but the school will not put out a message to parents of other children.

It is possible (even likely) that the mother isn't clearing them properly. If she's just putting the treatments on without doing the thorough, regular combing with a decent comb and conditioner/oil, she is probably leaving some behind then mistaking them for new inhabitants.

It can be hard to get parents to understand that combing and conditioning as part of the household routine is the only really effective way of managing headlice. So many think you can save yourself the time and effort by buying a magic potion from the chemist instead.

 

It sounds like you are going to have an uphill battle with this family, Snowdrop. You have done a great job so far but you can't be responsible for getting them to treat everyone effectively. If you can at least prompt them to keep the numbers on this little one's head down sufficiently to prevent her from getting sores again you'll be doing really well.

 

[Panders]

Our local school has Bug Busting Friday, where they encourage parents to treat, look for or just comb and condition as a preventative treatment. They get the children on board to deliver their unique brand of pester power tp get parents to do it. It's a reasonably successful programme I believe. I might suggest a demonstration for parents on what to do - perhaps on one of those hairdressing dolls - not a real child! New parents to this simply don't really know what they are looking for - good information and teaching would help them to help themselves

[Guest sn0wdr0p]

That is a good idea. I think I will put a Bug Busting poster up each week and I will look for some more detail information to put in a leaflet for each parent.

I have checked with Mum that she is thoroughly checking her daughters hair. This little girl is only with us for three more weeks so I have alerted the school she will attend next term