Nurse Updates

Dear Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween and the local festivities fall brings!

Below you will find information on the following:

• Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
• Vision and Hearing Screening Information
• Medications for 2025-2026 School Year
• Illness Protocol
• Our Health Staff

Nicole Wollert

District Nurse

nicole.wollert@westfieldpioneers.org

As with a lot of other schools this year, we have seen an increase in cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Here is some general information about this illness.

HFMD is caused by a virus. It is most common in young children but people of any age can get it.

• Spread/Transmission: through inhalation of droplets from an infected person when they sneeze/cough/talk; also from objects and surfaces that have virus particles on them; and additionally from the fluid from blisters and poop.
• Typical Symptoms: sore throat, painful mouth sores, rash (commonly found on hands and feet), and fever.
• Treatment: treatment usually can occur at home, including over-the-counter medication to relieve fever/pain and drinking plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.
• Prevention: wash your hands (with soap and water for at least 20 seconds), avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and shared items, avoid close contact with an infected person.
• Return to School Criteria: students who have been diagnosed with HFMD would need to stay home from school until they no longer have any mouth sores (on or in their mouth), the blisters on their skin is crusted over, and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

If your child has symptoms, you should keep your child home and contact their doctor's office.

We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to limit the spread of it so thank you in advance for your help.

For more information on HFMD, please visit the WI DHS website https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/disease/hand-foot-mouth.htm.

References: Mayo Clinic, CDC, and WI DHS websites

We are continuing free hearing and vision screenings in our school district.

We will be screening all Kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade students in the month of November.

The Lions/Lioness club members will be providing free vision screenings for our 4K students with the use of the Spot Vision Screener (Welch Allyn camera) on November 20th.

If you wish for your child to not participate, please email me at nicole.wollert@westfieldpioneers.org.

Hearing and vision screenings are used as prevention strategies to help facilitate early intervention and remediation while also limiting the potential for adverse academic achievement. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends hearing and vision screenings at the elementary level at ages 5, 6, 8, and 10.

The hearing screening will be performed with the use of an audiometer. Your child will put on headphones that are plugged into the audiometer. We will use the audiometer to present different tones to your child (between 500 and 4,000 Hz), testing each ear at a set threshold of 20 dB. Your child will raise their hand to indicate if they hear a sound and in which ear.

The vision screening will be performed with the use of an eye chart either with shapes or letters. Your child will stand the appropriate distance away from the chart and will be asked to read the chart to determine their visual acuity.

For the 4K students a SPOT camera will be used. It is an automated vision screening technology that takes a picture from 3 feet away and provides a printed summary of the vision screening.

These screenings do not replace a complete and comprehensive hearing or vision examination and cannot detect all hearing or vision conditions.

This screening can help determine if your child requires a follow up with a hearing or vision specialist.

We will send a letter home with your child shortly after the screening occurs. The letter will indicate if your child has out-of-range results and should follow up with a provider for a comprehensive evaluation.

If your child will need medication to be given at school this school year, please complete the following medication form.

The law states that a practitioner's signature is required if the medication is a prescription OR the dose written by parent/guardian on medication administration consent form for an over-the-counter medication differs from the recommended therapeutic dose on the medication label.

Due to not receiving many signed medication forms from the providers' offices this past school year, we are asking parents to get their child's provider to sign the medication form PRIOR to giving it to the school office. We will no longer be offering to fax the medication forms to provider's offices/clinics for signatures.

The student's parent/guardian must bring the medication in the original (manufacturer's or pharmacy-labeled) package and the package must list the ingredients and recommended therapeutic dose.

Students are not allowed to keep their own supply of medication in their lockers. Needed medication must be administered through the school office.

STOCK MEDICATION

As a courtesy, the School District of Westfield will offer stock (school supplied) Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen to middle school and high school students (ages 12 and over) while at school as needed during the current school year. Parent/guardian consent is needed for students to receive these stock medications - Stock Medication Consent Form.

Stock medication will be administered according to package directions (stated below):

Acetaminophen 500 mg tablet - One tablet every 6 hours for headache/pain

Ibuprofen 200 mg tablet - One tablet every 6 hours for headache/pain

This consent covers occasional use only, and will be given at the discretion of the school nurse or designated school staff. Any student that requires any of these medications on a regular basis will be asked to provide their own supply of medication and will need a medication consent form filled out by the student's parent/guardian and medical provider. School supplied medications will not be given to students more than ten times during the school year. If your child reaches the tenth time, a letter will be sent home, alerting you that your child has depleted their doses for the school year.

School supplied medications will only be given to students during the school day; they will not be available on school sponsored trips, athletic events, or after school activities.

If your child has a fever over 100 degrees, is vomiting, or has diarrhea, your child should stay home from school. Your child may return to school when they have been free of fever/vomiting/diarrhea for at least 24 hours.

Your child should also stay home from school if he/she has an unidentified rash or live head lice.

If your child has a rash, your child may return to school when their doctor recommends. Please provide a note to your child's school office from their medical provider indicating when they may return.

If your child has live head lice, he/she may return to school after they are treated as long as there are no longer any live lice.

Your child should stay home if he/she has an eye infection and is unable to avoid touching their eyes.

If your child has a communicable disease, please refer to this chart for guidance on when they may return to school.