A Quarterly Newsletter - Issue 12 - June 2019
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Your 2018-2019 School Nurse Consultants
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Wear Sunscreen and Hats
Stay Hydrated: Water, Water, Water
Have Fun and Relax!
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Health Tip:
"Be Sure Not to Fizzle When the Summer Starts to Sizzle!"
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Sun Safe Colorado - May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month
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Did you know?
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. Most skin cancers are caused by overexposure to the sun’s UVA and UVB radiation. About 20% of North Americans can expect to develop skin cancer during their lifetime. The incidence of malignant melanoma has been increasing faster than any other type of cancer and has doubled since 1973. As few as two blistering sunburns before the age of 20 may double the risk of developing melanoma later in life. Most people attain up to 25% of their lifetime sun exposure before their 18th birthday and most skin cancer is preventable. (via
Sun Safe Colorado
)
Use these tips to keep you and your family sun-safe!
Check the UV Index daily:
- Check the weather report
- Higher number (1 to 11+) = greater UV
- Take more precautions on high UV days
Limit Direct UV exposure:
- Work or play inside during peak sun hours
- Use large umbrellas or other shade cover
- Avoid tanning booths and sunlamps
Cover up with Clothing:
- Choose to wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, wide-brimmed hats and back-flap hats
- Wear tightly woven fabrics (ones you can’t see through when held up to the light)
- Cover your eyes with 100% UV sunglasses
Use Sunscreen*:
- Wear sunscreen and lip balm with SPF 15 or higher that blocks UVA and UVB
- Apply sunscreen 15-30 minutes before going out
- Reapply every 2 hours or more often after swimming or sweating
Examine your skin:
- Monitor your moles, freckles and other skin spots
- Report unusual skin changes to your doctor
*WARNING:
Do not depend on sunscreen alone. Combine sunscreen with wide-brimmed hats, UV-protective sunglasses, and tightly-woven clothing to increase your protection against UV radiation.
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Are You Mind Full or Mindful?
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Being mindful is the ability to be present, aware of what we are doing and not being overwhelmed by what is going on around us. When we are mindful, we see our thoughts and feelings from a distance and do not judge them as good or bad. Mindfulness is a simple and enjoyable way of taking some time out from the demanding life we tend to live these days. It allows us to have a break from stress or focus on the important parts of our day and life.
Mindfulness helps us during school, work and fun by:
- Reducing stress
- Reducing blood pressure
- Increasing productivity
- Reducing mistakes
- Easing physical pain and discomfort
- Feeling more content
Mind full is trying to do many things at once. Think about how often we are talking, eating, watching TV, checking emails or texting all at once. We may be missing out on the pleasures of these activities or not fully experiencing them. Here are a few suggestions to implement across your day from
Mindful - healthy mind, healthy life
.
- “Next time you drive to work or school, practice ‘commentary’ driving, saying out loud what you see. For example, “ahead there are hazard warning lines and feed in arrows – what action am I going to take?”
- “When you’re drinking your favorite morning beverage, you’ll taste it more and enjoy it better if you sip it, occasionally taking pauses to experience the full sensation of what you're doing.”
Read More:
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What Parents Can Do to Support Friendships
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Student friendships are important but parent involvement is equally important. Parental guidance and activity monitoring keep children safe and foster success. Open communication with children when they are younger sets the foundation for deeper conversations about friendships in middle school and high school.
Ways to Support Friendships:
- Preschool years: Observe your child playing with others. Support sharing and positive conflict resolutions.
- School-Aged years: Building healthy friendships does take support and role-modeling from adults at home, school and in the community. Create social plans for your child and include play dates in your home. Also look at volunteering in events that your child may do at school or in the community.
- Adolescent years: Know your child’s maturity level, their friends, and how they fit in with their peer groups. Watch for negative peer influences but realize that positive friendships can be protective and supportive. Build connections with the parents of your child’s friends.
Friendships offer the opportunity for all of us to learn about talking and listening!
Read More
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Surviving the Stomach Bug
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It’s the sound every parent dreads. Woken up from a dead sleep, the sound of your child becoming physically ill in the middle of the night. Your house has the stomach bug!
Viral gastroenteritis, or commonly called the “stomach flu”, is an intestinal infection marked by symptoms that can include fever, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps.
Although it's commonly called stomach flu, gastroenteritis isn't the same as influenza. Real flu (influenza) affects only your respiratory system-your nose, throat and lungs. Gastroenteritis, on the other hand, attacks your intestines, causing signs and symptoms.
You're most likely to contract viral gastroenteritis when you eat or drink contaminated food or water, or if you share utensils, towels or food with someone who's infected with the virus.
Prevention is key, as there is no effective treatment for viral gastroenteritis, except for time.
Ways to help prevent viral gastroenteritis include:
- Rotavirus vaccine. Rotavirus is the main virus that causes acute gastroenteritis in children. In the United States children receive the vaccine in the first year of life.
- Good hand washing habits- wash thoroughly with warm water and soap. Teach children good hand washing habits.
- Do not share cups, utensils, and towels
- Keep your distance from someone who has the virus
- Disinfect hard surfaces in your home if someone becomes ill
Read More:
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Measles
is a
highly contagious
virus that starts with fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat, followed by a rash that spreads all over the body.
The measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected. Infected people can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.
Measles usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104° Fahrenheit.
There have been more cases in the U.S. during the first 3 months of 2019 than during all of 2018. From January 1 to May 24, 2019, 940 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 26 states (and still counting), including Colorado. This is the second-greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since measles was eliminated in 2000. In Colorado, the first confirmed measles case for 2019 was reported in an individual who traveled internationally, according to Denver Public Health.
For tips on protecting yourself from measles when traveling internationally,
click here
.
Read More:
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Tobacco Use By Youth Is Rising
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This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared youth vaping an “epidemic” (Tobacco Free Colorado, 2019). “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado high school students are vaping at twice the national average.” In the 2017 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 27% reported vaping nicotine. In addition, only 50% of high school students think vaping nicotine is risky, compared to 87% who think smoking cigarettes is risky. Both cigarettes and vaping are harmful to youth. However, there is a misunderstanding that vapes do not contain nicotine. When tested, more than 90% of vape products contain nicotine along with dangerous toxins including heavy metals and chemicals (Tobacco Free Colorado, 2019).
To educate our youth about vaping, it is important to have honest and frequent conversations about vaping and the impact it has on their health and brain development. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) states that “young people benefit from conversations with their parents and other trusted adults (CDPHE, 2018). Dr. Larry Wolk, executive director and chief medical officer of the CDPHE said that “fact based conversations can be very productive, and actually change teens’ minds about the risks of vaping.” Knowing and understanding the facts of vaping will help you talk confidently with your teen.
Please see the resources below to start the conversation with your teen.
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Reminder from Douglas County
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Summer travel plans?
Need a new or an updated passport?
If your summer adventures require a new or updated passport, Douglas County wants to make sure your application process is as smooth as possible.
Here’s what to
know before you go:
- Your local Passport Acceptance Agency is a walk-in, no-appointment-required facility located in the Douglas County Recorder’s Office, 301 Wilcox Street, in downtown Castle Rock.
- Please plan ahead and avoid heavy-volume days. When school is out of session you may experience a longer wait-time.
- All children, including infants, must appear in person with their application before it can be accepted.
- Both parents/guardians must authorize the issuance of a passport for children under the age of 16.
We look forward to serving you, happy travels!
Douglas County Office of Clerk and Recorder
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Recipe:
Blueberry-Cornmeal Cake
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Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 8
Recipe from
Southern Living
magazine
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup medium-grind yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups cups fresh blueberries (about 7 oz.)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan. Set aside.
- Beat sugar and butter with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add lemon zest, and beat on medium speed just until combined.
- Stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt;
- add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
- Beat on medium-low speed just until combined after each addition.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan, and sprinkle with fresh blueberries.
- Bake in preheated oven until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and springs back when lightly pressed in the center with a fingertip, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack, and cool in pan 10 minutes.
- Remove cake from springform pan; serve warm or at room temperature.
Your School Nurse Consultants say "bon appétit"!
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Reminders for the
2019-2020 School Year
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- Be familiar with your school's attendance policy.
- Update emergency contact information.
- Complete medication paperwork.
- Update immunizations or yearly exemptions.
- Update parent portal health information.
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