Safe, Effective Care Environment
38. A school nurse receives a call from the parent of a child diagnosed with chickenpox. The parent asks when the child may return to school. What is the best information that the nurse should provide to this parent?
. Children with chickenpox may return to school once all of the lesions have scabbed over.
. The child may attend classes after being on antibiotics for 24 hours.
. It is recommended that the child remain home until the fever has subsided.
. Once the child has a positive varicella titer, school attendance may resume.
Test-Taking Tip
Look for answer options to eliminate when you know that they cannot be correct. If you know that chickenpox is caused by a virus, you can eliminate Answer 2. Answer 4 can be crossed out if you recall that a titer only provides information about the child's exposure, not a risk to others. Of the remaining two choices, you can eliminate Answer 3 since many illnesses are contagious during the prodromal period when fever may or may not be present. Therefore, fever is not related to communicability, and the best answer is Answer 1.
Content Area: Child Health, Infectious Disease; Integrated Process: Nursing Process, Implementation; Cognitive Level: Application; Client Need/Subneed: Safe and Effective Care Environment/Safety and Infection Control/Standard/Transmission-based/Other Precautions
Safe, Effective Care Environment
.
Answer 1 is correct because the child is not considered contagious once all of the chickenpox (varicella) lesions have crusted. Answer 2 is incorrect because antibiotics are not effective against chickenpox as it is a viral infection. Answer 3 is incorrect because a child with or without fever but who has open lesions is still considered infectious. Answer 4 is incorrect because a positive varicella titer indicates that the child has been exposed to varicella, not that the child is no longer contagious to others.