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Karin Young, the school nurse, has come into
your office and told you that she has found head lice on Brooke
Wilson, a second-grader. Karin informs you that Brooke had
lice last year as well. Karin has checked Brooke’s brother
Paul, in kindergarten, and found that he has head lice, too.
School policy is that any child with head lice must be excluded
from school until the lice are eliminated. Karin has a pamphlet
ready to give Mrs. Wilson that explains how to get rid of
head lice. Both children are in the nurse’s office,
and Karin is trying to get in touch with their mother to have
her come and take them home. There is no answer either at
home or at the emergency number listed on the children’s
health card. Brooke is crying and has been since the lice
were discovered.
Karin has searched the heads of all the other students in
Brooke’s room and has not found any other infected children.
She now wants to inspect the heads of all the kindergarteners.
Karin hopes that she has caught the problem before the infestation
had a chance to spread. She tells you that the last time Brooke
Wilson brought lice to school, nearly a quarter of the primary-grade
students were infected.
The Wilsons are longtime residents of the community, and several
of the parents who had moved in recently complained bitterly
the last time they found that their children had head lice.
Many people said that the school should be responsible for
providing the special shampoo to kill the lice and detergents
for washing all the clothing bedding, and plush surfaces their
children’s heads may have touched.
Karin wants your permission to send letters home to the parents
of all children in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade,
telling them that head lice have been found, asking them to
check their children’s heads, notifying them that their
children should not be sent to school if they have lice, and
giving instructions as to how to check for the lice and eliminate
them. She says that last year she had to meet all the primary-grade
children at the door and examine their heads to make sure
they were free of lice. It was not a pleasant duty, and she
would like to avoid doing it again.
Case Questions |
| 1. |
Do you have the nurse check
the heads of all the kindergarten students? Why or why
not? |
| 2. |
Do you have the nurse send the notice
home to all primary-grade parents? Why or why not? |
| 3. |
What, if anything, do you do about the
two Wilson children in the nurse’s office? |
| 4. |
Do you have the nurse do spot checks
of primary-grade children for the next several days to
monitor them for infestation? |
| 5. |
How can you prepare for any parent inquiries? |
| 6. |
What do you do when you cannot reach
parents at the numbers listed on the student emergency
cards? |
Tasks
1. Divide students into six groups. Each question is assigned to a group to discuss a week prior to the chat room session.
2. Each group should prepare to post their answers in the chat room session and also is responsible for coordinating the online chatting for that particular question.
3. Allocate 10 minutes to the discussion of
each question.
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