HEALTH SERVICES (CLINIC)

The ISPP nurses work to holistically support the wellness of our student body.  We know students achieve academic success when their physical and mental health needs are being met. Our practice is evidence based and student centered, supporting student health and academic success by contributing to a healthy and safe school environment.

The nurses clinic provides reactive services such as:  Medical emergency response, first aid, medication administration, medical consultation and referral to community resources.  We manage chronic conditions such as allergies, asthma, physical disabilities and other health conditions to ensure medical needs are not a barrier to an inclusive and positive school experience. 

As leaders in health and safety, we support and inform our school wide health and safety policies and procedures to contribute to the ISPP community wellness.

Promoting health and wellness of our student body is a collaborative approach. Please ensure to encourage healthy habits at home and communicate regularly with your ISPP nursing team to report or discuss any health concerns for your child. 

Email: nurses@ispp.edu.kh with any health related questions or concerns.

 Caring for Students 

Students who become ill or injured during the school day will be supervised in the clinic until a parent or caregiver arrives at school to take them home.

There are two clinics on campus, one is located next to the Elementary Office area and the other next to the Secondary Office. A log is kept of all treatment, and parents are notified in the event of anything other than minor illness or injury.

If your child experiences: body temperature above 37.5 with additional symptoms, fever (body temperature 38 or above), diarrhea or vomiting, strong respitaory symptoms or has an undiagnosed rash, it is important to keep your child at home until they have been well for 24 hours, without taking fever-reducing medication or symptomatic control medication. 

If your child is at school s/he is considered to be healthy and must participate in all areas of the curriculum, including PE and swimming. 

If your child is recovering from an injury please contact the School Nurse to discuss any accommodations that can be made to enable your child to continue to attend school.

 Medical Records 

It is important that the School Nurses have complete medical records for students at all times, which outline any health issues, including allergies, that could impact their child’s health in school.

Parents complete the Health History page on the application form at the time of admission. It is parents’ responsibility to keep the School Nurse informed of any new conditions their child develops and to update their health history. It is also important to keep the school informed of current work, home and mobile numbers of parents or guardians and emergency contact information.

If your child is injured at school:

• The School Nurse will call parents in the event that a child needs to go home due to illness or injury.

• In the event of a serious injury or illness, the Nurse will contact the parents or guardian to inform them that the child needs to be transported to a medical centre or hospital for further attention.

• The Nurse and/or a designated person will always accompany the student to the hospital or medical centre and meet the parent there. If in emergency situations, the parents cannot be contacted, the school reserves the right to seek medical care from the hospital staff.

 Medication at School 

To the extent possible, all medications should be administered at home before or after school. Should a student need to take medication during the school day, the homeroom/home group teacher and School Nurse should be advised. The School Nurses are the only personnel permitted to store and administer medication during school hours while on campus. 

Students cannot carry medication in their bag or administer medication on their own. All medication must be brought to the School Nurse by an adult and must have: 

• Signed doctor's prescription explaining the medication 

• Child's name 

• reason for taking the medication 

• dose of the medication to be given 

• time the medication is to be given  

• length of time the medication is required 

• and a Parent signed Authorization to Administer Medication at School form.

All medicines must be in their original container, clearly labeled in English. Some over-the-counter medications (e.g. Paracetamol) are available in the clinic and can be given if parental permission is on file. 

Students who may need to use an inhaler, epipen or other medications for a health emergencies are required keep their medications in the clinic. Parents must sign a permission-to-give-medication form and discuss their child’s treatment plan with the nurses.

Students in Secondary School may have self administration plans implemented to manage urgent and chronic health conditions that permit them to carry and self-administer their medication. This is required to be reviewed and implemented from the nurse office. 

To prevent the spread of illness to others, symptomatic cold/flu medication will not be administered at school. Medicated sweets such as cough drops and throat lozenges are not permitted at school. 

If a student's illness symptoms require medication management to participate in school, for their wellbeing and the health of the whole community they will be required to stay home until symptoms improve. 

Symptomatic medication prescribed by a doctor will be reviewed before approved school administration. 

Please contact nurses@ispp.edu.kh with any questions about these requirements. 

 Medications on Field Trips 

On day trips, the school nurses put student medications that are kept in the clinic into the first aid kit that is taken on the trip by the staff. A health alert outlining how and when the medicine should be administered is given to the accompanying chaperone.

On overnight trips, parents are responsible to let the School Nurse and accompanying teacher know when their child will require medicine in advance. Parents are responsible for preparing their medication and bringing it to the nurse office in original packaging with a prescription from the doctor. Medication received same day of the trip may not be permitted to be taken on the trip. Symptomatic illness medication (cough/cold/ flu medications) are not permitted to be taken on trips. Vitamins/supplements are not permitted to be take on trips. The accompanying teacher is responsible for the medication and administering it.

In some circumstances, students may be permitted to manage their own medication for field trips. This must be arranged and approved through the nurses' office in advance.

 Medical Support for School Events 

Many of the staff at ISPP hold current First Aid certificates. At least one School Nurse is in attendance at ISPP-hosted sporting events and several of the community events. A nurse is on campus until 5:00pm to treat students participating in after school activities, if needed.

 Head Lice 

Head lice may occur in anyone but are most common in students aged 4-11.

Although head lice may be embarrassing to some people and cause some discomfort, they do not cause illness. However, they will not clear up on their own and should be treated promptly to avoid the spread to other individuals.

If a student is suspected of having head lice, a School Nurse will check the child’s head and contact the parents if treatment is required. Students with live louse will sent home until treatment is initiated to remove live louse. Following treatment, parents should inform the School Nurse and the student may return to school. The School Nurse is required to check the student’s hair before s/he is permitted to return to class. Students with live louse will sent home until treatment is effective in removing live louse. The school nurse will recheck 1 week later to ensure the infestation has cleared effectively.

The School Nurse will also check the siblings in the shared household of affected students. Mass screening of classrooms is not implemented unless there are multiple different cases reported or detected in the same class.  Classes will be issued advice on head lice to inform parents so that all children can be monitored.

 Medical Exclusion for Infectious Illness 

Previously illness prevention measures focused on Covid-19. Though Covid-19 is still present, several other contagious illnesses with similar symptoms are also circulate.

Please review this information to keep your child and family healthy during this increased illness period and to help reduce transmission risk in the community.

 Respiratory Illnesses 

Common Cold

Covid-19

Influenza (flu) 

Other Respiratory Viruses: RSV, Adenovirus

Want to know more? Symptom Comparison Chart

 Illness Management at School 

Children are allowed to come to school with mild cold symptoms (ex. mild coughing, runny nose) if:

• Has had no fever for 24 hours without use of fever reducing medicine

• Has the energy to participate in school activities

• Wearing a mask if coughing 

• Does not need medicine to control their cold symptoms 

• No persistent vomiting or diarrhea for a minimum of 24 hours

 *Keep your child home if: 

• Temperature sustained above 37.5 within the last 24 hours 

• Multiple illness symptoms with or without fever

• Moderate to severe coughing that is disruptive to participation in learning

• New or strong cold symptoms (Sore throat, runny nose, cough)  requiring medication to feel better

• Persistent vomiting or persistent diarrhea within the last 24 hours 

• Rashes unrelated to allergies with or without additional illness symptoms 

 School Illness Exclusion Policies 

• Students are required to stay home for a minimum of 24 hours without fever and without the use of fever-reducing medication and until their other symptoms (example persistent coughing) have improved without the use of medication

• Persistent vomiting or persistent diarrhea has stopped for a minimum of 24 hours without use of medication

• Students presenting with symptoms of communicable disease or diagnosed with communicable disease will be required to be excluded from school in alignment with CDC outlined parameters 

• Your child will be assessed in the nurse office before returning to class after periods of illness to ensure they are fit to return to the learning environment 

• Medical certificates are required to be provided at request