The Role of the School Nurse:

• Provides direct health care to students and staff.
• Provides leadership for the provision of health services.
• Promotes a healthy school environment.
• Promotes health.
• Serves as a liaison between school personnel, family, community and health care providers.
• Takes on additional roles to meet the needs of the school community.

National Association of School Nurses, 2006

Guidelines for keeping sick children home:

If your child has symptoms that will not allow his/her participation in school activities, such as:

• Very tired or lack of appetite
• Cough that he or she cannot control, sneezing often
• Headache, body aches, or earaches
• Sore Throat

*** Keep your child home if he/she is coughing or sneezing often because this spreads the germs to others ***

24 HOUR RULE 

• Fever – If your child has a fever of 100 degrees or greater, he/she needs to remain at home. They can return to school once he/she is fever free for 24 hours (without fever-reducing medication like Tylenol or Motrin). Returning to school may delay recovery and make others sick.
• Vomiting or Diarrhea – A child with diarrhea and/ or vomiting should stay at home and may return to school 24 hours after the LAST time he or she VOMITED OR HAD DIARRHEA.
• Conjunctivitis – Following a diagnosis of conjunctivitis, the child may return to school in 24 hours after the initial dose of medication.
• Antibiotics – Keep your child home until 24 hours after the FIRST dose of antibiotics for anything like an ear infection or strep throat.
• Rashes – Common infectious diseases with rashes are most contagious in the early stages. A child with a suspicious rash should return to school only after a health care provider has made a diagnosis and authorized the child’s return to school.
• Colds – Consider keeping your child at home if he/she is experiencing discomfort from cold symptoms, such as nasal congestion and cough. A continuous green discharge from the nose may be a sign of infection. Consider having the child seen by your health care provider

We often have many children and adults with colds coming to school, and each one is passing their germs to others. Please help us keep our school family healthy by keeping your child home when sick.

If you have any questions, please call me at 508-782-6972.

If you have other questions, please visit Framingham Public Schools Health and Wellness site for additional information.