Treatment of Head Lice

Purpose

To ensure that head lice are treated at the earliest opportunity reducing the risk of lice spreading to other guests/staff.

Procedure

• Wash the hair as you normally would and apply conditioner.
• Comb through the hair over a light surface e.g. a towel or sheet of paper, start with an ordinary comb and separate the hair in to small sections.
• Then use a fine-toothed comb or bug buster comb to comb through the hair one section at a time.
• Start right at the scalp and comb right through to the ends of the hair, this will unhook live lice.
• Check the comb for live lice between each comb stroke. Remove lice from the comb prior to combing the next section of hair.
• If no lice are found the head is free of lice at this time.
• If lice are found then this should be reported immediately to the RN on duty.
• The RN will contact the pharmacy regarding the best treatment available.
• Use the treatment as per manufacturer’s instructions.
• The process should be repeated for up to two weeks.
• Combing removes the lice but not their eggs. This is why the process needs to be repeated every 3-4 days to remove new lice as they hatch.
• Check for eggs as fresh eggs will be on the shaft of hair near to the scalp. Eggs further down the hair shaft are old ones that will not hatch.
• If after two treatments separated by a week the guest should be informed that on return home their GP should be contacted.