Archive for November, 2008

Some school districts have sophisticated sexual education courses for their students, offer contraceptives, pregnancy test kits, and advanced health classes. In addition to this many high schools and some junior high schools offer clinics in addition to the traditional nurse’s office where students can get personalized support on a wide range of sexual topics and services. Still other school districts see sex education, STDs and in-school contraceptives as taboo and want to leave that topic for parents to cover with their children. And what about college age students? Many university campuses have a full spectrum of sex education, sexual health products and clinics. How does your part of the country fit in? Is morality, ethics, or personal responsibility part of the discussion?

Then again many parents may be embarrassed or not know how to talk about these issues with their children and hope the schools, churches, or civic groups provide the facts about sexual health. At the other spectrum are engaged and open parents who feel it’s their duty to teach their children about the more than just the birds and the bees. Some families, schools, and areas of the country educate children at a very young age. Where does your school fit into the broad spectrum?

School Nurse News featured the article Teen Pregnancy and the Role of the School Nurse by Arleen Barlow, BSN, MA in their November 2008 issue. The article talked about the importance of education and counseling. Barlow noted in the article that the high school she works at has a school-based clinic that provides many services including strep throat, MRSA, mental health and venereal diseases testing.

Obviously not all schools offer these services whether due to funding, political and/or religious beliefs, etc. However, consider this - according to the Guttmarcher Institute almost 750,000 women aged 15 to 19 become pregnant each year. At the same time, the teenage pregnancy rate is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. Have the teen pregnancy statistics improved through sexual Education, Abstinence programs, more engaged parents or a mix of all of these? Please tell us about what’s happing where you work in our comments section.

As good as a reduction in teen pregnancy is many areas of the country have rates as high as 50 newborns per 1000 female students per year. In a school with 4000 high school teens that’s an average of 400 births across the campus by graduation!

What about sexually transmitted diseases/infections? According to the CDC the highest age-specific rates of reported Chlamydia in 2006 were among women ages 15 to 19 (2,862.7 cases per 100,000 females). Chlamydia is the most common STD however 2006 was the first time reported cases exceeded 1 million.

How do you feel about sex education in US schools? Is there a certain age you think is the right age to start teaching appropriate information? What is the policy/standard in your school district? Should it be up to the parents to educate their children about sexual health, including “risky behavior”? As a school nurse are you allowed to distribute condoms or other contraceptives? If so, who is distributing them? The school nurse? Where are they distributing them - the library, cafeteria, or in PE/gym class? Does your school provide pregnancy tests to students? At what age is it too young to begin sex education? What improvements do you think could be made?

We would love to know your thoughts, and that of your peers. Please encourage nurses, and teachers to contribute to this topic and let us know what you think and what is going on at your school, campus, or college.

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) bloodborne pathogen standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, requires that employers supply employees with proper instructions, equipment, personal protection equipment (PPE) and disinfectant to safely clean up body fluid spills. This OSHA safety standard applies to employees who have occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious material.

Does this apply to you? Yes. Whether you’re a school nurse, teacher, a campus security guard, administrative assistant, janitor, work at a daycare center, in a clinic, etc. this applies to you. No matter how crazy, mundane or completely serene your work environment, this applies to you.

OSHA compliance would mean being provided with all the items necessary to properly clean up and dispose of any reasonably anticipated spill. As an employee you must be protected from:

• Puncture wounds from glass or other sharp objects contaminated with blood
• Contact or splatter to eyes, nose or mouth
• Contact to non-intact skin or clothing

The supplies needed to meet these OSHA regulations may be purchased as a biohazard spill kit or as individual items. However, it is usually best practice, more convenient and economical to buy spill kits as a whole instead from a reputable and respected source as opposed to piecing supplies together.

OSHA states that the PPE your employer provides should be based upon an employees reasonably anticipated exposure while performing a task or procedure. However, it is impossible to anticipate or predict the degree of exposure to every possible circumstance or situation that could arise.

Flu season is now upon us and it can and usually does sneak up on someone. What if that someone doesn’t make it to the restroom and now there’s vomit on the classroom or office floor? Whether it’s you or the janitor do you have vomit absorbent?  Let’s say someone has a bad experience in a chemistry lab or technical education class and now there’s blood in more places than you thought possible.  Who is on blood cleanup duty?

Accidents can happen any time. Make sure you and your employer are prepared with an OSHA compliant spill kit and infection control supplies.

Sources: OSHA, Sharps compliance Inc.

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November Is American Diabetes Month®. Throughout the month the American Diabetes Association (ADA) will be working hard to raise awareness about the seriousness of diabetes and its potential complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and amputations.

Diabetes affects 7.8% of the American population, that’s 23.6 million people. Of that 23.6 million 17.9 million people have been diagnosed but the remaining 5.7 million people have yet to be diagnosed. Adults and children alike are susceptible to diabetes. This disease does not age discriminate.

What exactly is diabetes? Diabetes is a disease that causes blood glucose levels to be above normal. People with diabetes have trouble converting food to energy. The food you eat is broken down into a sugar called glucose. Your blood carries the glucose to cells throughout your body. Cells use insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, which aids in converting blood glucose into energy.

How do you know if you could be at risk for diabetes? Check these risk factors:

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