Due to the rising demands for the health office (check out the chart below), we have implemented a new process at the middle/high school for when students visit the health office for non-emergent concerns.
The teachers have been given a handout (see picture below) that lists urgent concerns, in which a student should be sent to the office immediately.
If a student's symptoms are not on this list, the student is encouraged to wait until passing period in order for loss of instructional time to be kept to a minimum.
This process has been implemented in other school districts as well.
What was happening before we implemented this change... students were coming to the office at the beginning or the middle of class, and due to the nurse or health aide being busy with other students (diabetic cares, scheduled medications, emergency medical situations), a student could be waiting for the rest of the class to see the nurse or health aide.
This new process has been working well to limit the amount of time students are missing class.
Note: the number of office visits on the chart does not include the students we see for diabetes care, scheduled medications, or injuries (as these things are documented in a different way and therefore are not part of this count).
When we see a student for illness:
If we see a student who is reporting illness but they do not have a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, eye infection, unidentified rash, or signs of a communicable disease, we offer them any applicable treatment options we have (cough drops, mints, water, crackers, medications if parent consent form is on file), and recommend returning to class. If the student wants to go home, we ask them to use the office phone to call their parent/guardian to discuss it with them.
