Chapter 12 Case Study: Runny Nose

I chose Chapter 12 Case Study #1 for this assignment. (Robertson p.458) This case involves a child named Charlie coming into school with a minor runny nose. Since his mucus is clear she lets him stay and attended school that day. The teacher keeps an eye on him throughout the day and notices Charlie has developed a fever and within the next hour a blistery rash appeared across his torso. Her immediate thought is that Charlie has chickenpox. The question the author asks in this case is “What actions should she take?” (Robertson p.458). The first thing that should be done is to take the child to the nurse’s office in order to quarantine him until his guardian can come pick him up. This will help prevent the possible spread of this infection to addition children or staff. A doctor’s diagnosis is not required for a child to be dismissed from school if chicken pox is suspected. Once the child is out of the classroom …show more content…
The teacher should have immediately talked to whoever dropped Charlie off to see if he showed any symptoms while at home to make them think he might be getting sick. Allowing him to attended school with a runny nose was fine because the mucus did not show any signs of discoloration. However, once Charlie began to run a fever the teacher should have called the office for the nurse to come and take Charlie back to her office, that way other children are less exposed to what he has. Instead the teacher waited until seeing signs of a rash to make a plan of action. If the teacher had done something sooner than Charlie could have been home getting rest and the help he needs in order to get better. As well as putting a stop to possible spreading of the disease to all of the other children and staff in the room who are not vaccinated. By sending the child home earlier, the teacher could have prevented a possible outbreak of