Nov 22 post conference

My clinical setting this week was with the school nurse in Caldwell county. During my time with the nurse she conducted a head lice check on a student who had a previous infestation. The article I chose was from the American Academy of Pediatrics and was on diagnosis and treatment protocols for the management of children with head lice in the school setting. The article states that no child should be excluded from school because of head lice and that no-nit policies for return to school should be abandoned. The first line of treatment recommended for active infestations is a 1% permethrin or pyrethrin treatment. Instructions for the proper use of products is essential for the efficacy of the product and should be carefully communicated to the parent or caregiver. If the first line of treatment is not effective in eradication of head lice there may be an issue of resistance to that treatment, but other explanations should first be considered such as misdiagnosis, lack of adherence to treatment protocol, inadequate treatment, reinfestation, or a lack of ovicidal or residual killing properties of the product. If resistance is proven then other treatment options such as benzyl alcohol 5%, or malathion 0.5% should be considered. The article also stresses the importance of appropriate training for school officials involved in the detection of head lice infestation, and suggests that parent education on screening may be more cost-effective than head lice screening programs in schools.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 126 No. 2 August 1, 2010
pp. 392 -403

The first few chapters of Marcus Engel’s book really focus on treating the patient as a human being. It is very easy to overlook the personal aspect of caregiving and focus on lab values and assessment findings, but sometimes just connecting with your patient will do more for them than anything else you can do. I never thought about how big of a difference we as caregivers can make just by establishing a connection with our patients. This is something I will definitely think of the next time I walk into a room.

I know that its easy to get caught up in the numbers of nursing. By that I mean lab values, times to document and dosage calcs. We as future nurses must understand that the number that counts the most is the one that you are trying to help. We may need to give more of ourselves than any other profession we've been in but I feel that we are all here to help the one person who needs it the most.

Nice article David. Headlice is so easily preventable with normal hygeine. At least we have evolved past the point of picking the lice out of each other and eating them. Seriously though, I like how the article lays out the proper treatment for lice and give solid direction.

Sometimes I think that the female nurses have an easier time making a connection with their patients, and we as men are more focused on finding problems an fixing them. It is good to explore these other aspects of patient care, it will make us better nurses.