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Original poster

Nits - how many of you lot would be happy to see the return of the Nit Nurse into our schools?

28 replies

willow2 · 15/01/2007 20:03

Every day on here someone is complaining that their kids have got nits - invariably not for the first time. Every week my son's school letter includes a plea for parents to check their kids' hair as there's another epidemic. I checked DS the night before he went back to school - he was clear. Hey presto, he's been back two weeks and he's got them again. It drives me nuts. I check his hair regularly, wet comb it, spray it with all sorts of aromatherapy preparations that, supposedly, help prevent infestation and, if he does have them, I treat the entire family promptly. What more can I do? FA, it seems. Strikes me that the only way that we can really get rid of the buggers is if we welcome the Nit Nurse back into our schools, so that the kids are all treated at the same time. Terribly un-pc it maybe, but so what? I'd rather that than yet another nit outburst. Who else agrees - and if not why not?

OP posts:
FioFio · 15/01/2007 20:04

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itoa · 15/01/2007 20:05

me me me

Greensleeves · 15/01/2007 20:05

Oh great, now I've got the phrase "nit nurse" running through my head to the tune they use in the "Night Nurse" advert - "Nit Nur-ur-urse"

Katymac · 15/01/2007 20:06

But surely all she did was say to the parent "your child has nits" - she couldn't do anything

Sobernow · 15/01/2007 20:10

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southeastastra · 15/01/2007 20:11

yes we need the nit nurse back and lollipop ladies

Sobernow · 15/01/2007 20:11

This reply has been deleted

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NotAnOtter · 15/01/2007 20:12

yes i do think we NEED nit nurses more than ever

crumbs · 15/01/2007 20:47

Yes from me - sick of DS getting reinfested. Someone in his class is clearly crawling with the things

Polgara2 · 15/01/2007 20:48

YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Blu · 15/01/2007 20:50

Yes!
But what a job.

nutcracker · 15/01/2007 20:50

I want the nit nurse back too, and have never spoken to any mum that didn't.

There is one family in our school who's dd's are regularly crawling and loads and loads of eggs visable in their hair, and their mum does bugger all and so everyone else is constantly getting them.

Dinosaur · 15/01/2007 20:51

Yes, come back the nit nurse.

nutcracker · 15/01/2007 20:53

I cannot understand how people can discover that their child has nits and do sod all about it.
I felt awful for dd when she had them and there is no way I would dream of ever leaving her untreated.

ScummyMummy · 15/01/2007 20:54

Did they do anything except stab your head with a a smelly metal comb?

Surfermum · 15/01/2007 20:54

Yep, the sooner the better. But she'd need to have some sort of power to treat or go into problem homes. Sending letters home is just not enough.

bandstand · 15/01/2007 20:55

what woudl she do? nits are much more common place now. would she send them home? half the class then? we do get letters.

bandstand · 15/01/2007 20:56

anyway it aint going to happen, don't get community nurses nowadays anyway due to cuts.

nutcracker · 15/01/2007 20:56

If someone is crawling with them, imo they should be sent home and not come back until clear.

I know that sounds quite harsh, but the fact is, some people just cannot be arsed to treat the kids.

onlyjoking9329 · 15/01/2007 20:57

yes but with the hands off policy that schools seem to have at the moment what can the nit nurse do they would have to use one of those grab sticks to grab the nits. my three have had nits once caught from a cousin. i suppose one of the pluses about kids with ASD they don't do close contact so no nits

pollypots2 · 15/01/2007 21:15

Nit nurse sounds great but in reality what could she do and actually what did she do? i only remember seeing her once in secondary school and fortunately I never had them when I was younger so now I have the joy of seeing all 3 of my dd's regularly infested and even caught it once myself. Yes I do all the tea tree and nitty gritty regularly and hedrin occasionally but pointless when some kids are never treated properly and give them to everyone again and again. How about we get flame throwers in and torch all their hair :0

nearlythree · 15/01/2007 21:21

What we need are more school nurses for whom checking for nits is just a part of their job - also educating children on handwashing, using a tissue when coughing/sneezing, not picking noses, not sharing drinks/food etc etc.

Our local authority has frozen recruitment of school nurses so the hvs are picking up the slack, but they can only deal with families who contact them directly, not schools as a whole.

pianist · 15/01/2007 21:32

Although there's a 'hands off' policy in state schools, in the private schools, the school nurse happily checks for nits whenever she feels it necessary. They also send you home, which again the state schools don't do these days.

bandstand · 15/01/2007 21:32

yes lack of school nurses is bad, children slipping through the net.. for my 3 and a quarter year check (4 years ago) it was a voluntary check.. think even that has gone now..

Edam · 15/01/2007 22:23

Yes, vote for school nurses with the power to treat nits!

At the new parents' session at ds's school, we had a nurse telling us to use hedrin on nits. No idea what she actually does though apart from telling parents their child is infested, or how often she's in school.

I don't remember nit nurses ever treating me or my schoolfellows (although maybe they did treat children whose parents couldn't be bothered and I just wasn't aware).

I sometimes wonder what hideous illnesses we are going to get as a result of nit treatments that have now been banned, though... wasn't it organophosphates or something equally scary?