Nurse
Karen Cousins, RN
kcousins@lexington1.net
(803) 821-2800
Pleasant Hill Elementary is staffed by a full-time registered nurse, Karen Cousins, and a health room assistant, Latrell Hays. Our health room staff coordinates our health program including visual and hearing screenings, child welfare and acts as a liaison between school personnel and community organizations.
Please make sure that our school nurse is aware of any medical condition (including allergies) that your child has. An appointment must be made with the school nurse if you need to bring medicine for your child to take during the regular school day. Please contact our Registered School Nurse, Karen Cousins, by email or phone to arrange a time to meet with her for this purpose.
If a student becomes ill or if an injury occurs at school that needs medical attention by a physician, a parent/guardian will be contacted and will be responsible for picking up the student promptly. An “Emergency Information Form” must be filled out completely. These forms are provided by our online registration program. This form contains the information that the nurse refers to in case an emergency situation occurs at school.
A sick child does not perform well in class and may expose his/her classmates to childhood diseases.
- If your child develops stomach virus symptoms, please keep them home until they are 24 hours symptom-free.
- Lexington County School District One fever policy states that a child may not attend school with a temperature of 100°F or more. A child may not attend school if he/she has had a temperature of 100°F within the last 24 hours, even if the child is on antibiotics or anti-viral medicine.
- A child may return to school when his/her temperature has been less than 100°F for a full 24-hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.
- If your child develops a fever at school, you or a designated adult will be required to pick him/her up.
- The school nurse does not treat injuries received outside of school.
Parent/Guardians are asked to follow certain procedures if any medication needs to be given at school:
- Parents/Guardians must deliver/pickup medications to/from the school nurse. Contact our school nurse Karen Cousins, RN, to arrange a time to meet for medication drop-off or pickup. Students are not permitted to transport medicine to and from school. Medicine cannot be transported on school buses or daycare vehicles.
- Prescription medicine should be delivered to the nurse by a parent/guardian in a current, properly named, and labeled container from the pharmacy that reflects the current prescription. A district-wide consent form must be signed by the prescribing physician and the parent. A copy of the form may be found HERE.
- Over-the-counter medications may be administered to a student by the school’s nurse if medication is supplied from home with a consent form. A district-wide consent form must be signed by the parent/guardian prior to the school-administered medication. A copy of the form may be found HERE.
- The PHES health room does not keep any over-the-counter medications. Medications must be provided by the parent or legal guardian, and a proper consent form must be completed and on file in the PHES Health room.
- All medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, will be secured in the PHES Health Room and not kept by the student.