Nurse's Corner
School Nurse: Paula O’Hara, RN, MEd, CSN
Attendance Line / Nurse's Office Phone: 908-709-6246
Attendance Email: [email protected]
Fax: 908-709-6724
At Brookside Place School we are focused on being a caring, healthy community of students, staff and families. Please check here often for ideas and important information designed to keep our BPS community healthy. The Nurse's Corner will also feature monthly health and safety updates (see below).
If you have a student to report absent, please call 908-709-6246 or email [email protected].
Be well,
Nurse O’Hara
December Healthy Hints
The holidays are here! For a happy and healthy season, I have shared a few tips.
For Your Health:
Maintain a healthy routine, including good nutrition, adequate sleep, and washing your hands regularly.
If you do find yourself, or your children, sidelined with a cold or flu, it is best to stay home and rest. If you are considering the many choices of over-the-counter medications for relief, read all labels carefully and follow directions for accurate dosing. Be sure to read all ingredients before combining it with any other medicine. Because some choices contain multiple ingredients, double dosing of certain medicines can occur.
Correct dosing is very important, especially when medicating children. Studies have shown that more than 40% of parents/guardians make dosing errors when giving their children liquid medication. A study conducted at NYU Medical Center found that 20% of parents/guardians incorrectly gave doses which were 2 times the directed doses. The authors of the study recommend the following practices to ensure more accurate dosing:
- Consider using a syringe for administering medicines, especially if the dose is less than 7.5 ml.
- Medicine cups that display both tsp and ml have been found to be more confusing for caregivers.
- Check dosing carefully. Errors were more common when the prescribed amount was 2.5ml or 7.5ml. Findings showed that a whole number dose is better understood than a dose with a decimal.
- Know your conversions: 2.5 ml equals ½ tsp 5 ml equals 1 tsp 7.5 equals 1½ tsp.
- Always measure doses in a well lit area. It is a good idea to turn on your child’s light to read the dosage if administering at night time; errors are more often made in the dark.
For Your Safety:
Each holiday season, ERs treat 12,500 patients for decorating mishaps, accidental burns, or poisonings.
Happy Holidays!
Nurse Paula O’Hara RN, MEd, CSN