Pediculosis Capitis
Included In This Lesson
Study Tools For Pediculosis Capitis
Outline
Overview
- Infestation of head hair and scalp with head louse (lice)
- Transmitted via personal items or contact with scalp
Nursing Points
General
- Spread by direct contact with infected person
- Anyone in direct contact should be examined for infestation
- Unrelated to cleanliness
Assessment
- Itchy scalp
- Presence of bugs or nits (eggs)
- Nits are white ovals that are firmly attached to hair shafts
- Movement seen in hair is best indicator of presence of bugs.
Therapeutic Management
- Medications
- Permethrin 1% Cream
- 2 applications
- OTC
- Resistance can be a problem
- Permethrin 1% Cream
- Manual removal
- Use fine toothed comb to remove daily
- Preventing Recurrence
- Soak all hair care devices in boiling water for 10 minutes
- All linens should be changed daily
- Toys and linens should be sealed in plastic bag for 2 weeks prior to reuse
- Avoid sharing hats
Nursing Concepts
- Infection Control
- Tissue/Skin Integrity
Patient Education
- Psychological stress and embarrassment are common. Teach that anyone can get lice it doesn’t have anything to do with age, socioeconomics or cleanliness.
- Avoid sharing hair brushes or combs
- Avoid direct contact with infected person
- Wear gloves when helping someone remove nits
- Second treatment 7-10 days after initial treatment is key to ensuring ac ure.
- Daily removal of nits is essential after use of medication to ensure effectiveness.
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ADPIE Related Lessons
Related Nursing Process (ADPIE) Lessons for Pediculosis Capitis
Transcript
Hi there! In this lesson we are going to talk about Pediculosis Capitis – or head lice!
So I´m just going to warn you now that your skin is going to be crawling by the end of this lesson. Mine already is from prepping the lesson so get ready to join me.
Head lice is a very common problem for school-age kids. The bugs infest the hair and scalp and then lay their eggs. Then it’s all transmitted to other people through contact – usually through personal items like toys, hats, coats, hair brushes. So the first picture here is of the lice bug. The second is of a nit or egg attached to the hair follicle.
The primary complaint or noticeable symptom is just itching. When looking closely at the hair you may be able to see movement from the bugs, but usually what people find are the little white eggs attached to pieces of hair. There´s no fancy test or diagnosis here just visual detection of bugs or nits.
If you suspect lice or are a school nurse checking the heads of kids then make sure you wear gloves!
So what do we do if someone has lice. Most medications can be gotten over the counter now and the most commonly used is Permethrin 1%. It requires 2 applications- the second one being 7-10 days after the first.
So if we can treat it – why is it so common! Honestly guys, I get a message once a week from my kids school about lice. This is because it takes serious vigilance to get rid of these determined little bugs. There is some evidence that the bugs are becoming resistant to the medications so in order to really make sure they are gone parents have to manually remove the eggs after killing the bugs with the medications. The eggs can really hang onto the hair follicles so parents need to use a fine tooth comb daily until the eggs are definitely, 100% gone. So that’s how you get it out of the head of 1 kid.
Then you have to try and get the eggs and bugs off all hats and scarves and coats that are piled up in a classroom. Obviously, we can’t just spray the whole room with pesticide so all the linens and clothes need to be washed in hot water. Hair care devices need to be soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes. And anything that can’t be washed needs to be sealed in a ziplock, sealed tight bag for 2 weeks! So you can see it’s not actually an overnight solution.
Kids and parents can get really embarrassed by this diagnosis – so it’s important to tell people that head lice can happen to anyone and it’s not at all associated with cleanliness or socioeconomic status.
Your priority nursing concepts for the patient with pediculosis capitis are infection control and tissue/skin integrity
That’s it guys! Head lice is a super straight forward diagnosis. Your key learning points for this lesson are to First, know that it’s a common parasite in school age kids that is usually spread through contact with infected personal items. Second, remember that it is treated with medications like permethrin 1%, but that it can be really tough to get rid of, so meds need to be followed by manual removal. Third, educate kids to try and prevent any bullying and embarrassment.
That’s it for our lesson on pediculosis capitis.. Make sure you check out all the resources attached to this lesson. Now, go out and be your best self today. Happy Nursing!
Rina’s NCLEX Study Plan 2026
Concepts Covered:
- Endocrine System
- Studying
- Urinary System
- Tissues and Glands
- Nervous System
- Circulatory System
- Medication Administration
- Hematologic System
- Skeletal System
- Digestive System
- Respiratory System
- Emergency Care of the Cardiac Patient
- Reproductive System
- Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders
- Basics of Human Biology
- Muscular System
- Sensory System
- Communication
- Legal and Ethical Issues
- Basics of NCLEX
- Prenatal Concepts
- Prioritization
- Fundamentals of Emergency Nursing
- Documentation and Communication
- Delegation
- Community Health Overview
- Factors Influencing Community Health
- Concepts of Mental Health
- Test Taking Strategies
- Note Taking
- Substance Abuse Disorders
- Behavior
- Concepts of Population Health
- Concepts of Pharmacology
- Health & Stress
- Labor and Delivery
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Microbiology
- Depressive Disorders
- Postpartum Care
- Emergency Care of the Trauma Patient
- Emotions and Motivation
- Growth & Development
- Intelligence and Language
- Psychological Disorders
- State of Consciousness
- Respiratory Disorders
- EENT Disorders
- Infectious Disease Disorders
- Integumentary Disorders
- Neurologic and Cognitive Disorders
- Hematologic Disorders
- Cardiovascular Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Renal and Urinary Disorders
- Oncologic Disorders
- Anxiety Disorders
- Cognitive Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- Personality Disorders
- Psychotic Disorders
- Trauma-Stress Disorders
- Bipolar Disorders
- Developmental Considerations
- Psychological Emergencies
- Somatoform Disorders
- Perioperative Nursing Roles
- Preoperative Nursing
- Central Nervous System Disorders – Brain
- Lower GI Disorders
- Peripheral Nervous System Disorders
- Cardiac Disorders
- Integumentary Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Noninfectious Respiratory Disorder
- Postoperative Nursing
- Respiratory Emergencies
- Intraoperative Nursing
- Disorders of Pancreas
- Urinary Disorders
- Neurological Emergencies
- Central Nervous System Disorders – Spinal Cord
- Renal Disorders
- Infectious Respiratory Disorder
- Sexually Transmitted Infections
- EENT Disorders
- Shock
- Cardiovascular
- Shock
- Disorders of the Posterior Pituitary Gland
- Endocrine
- Disorders of the Thyroid & Parathyroid Glands
- Gastrointestinal
- Upper GI Disorders
- Liver & Gallbladder Disorders
- Neurological
- Respiratory
- Hematologic Disorders
- Acute & Chronic Renal Disorders
- Disorders of the Adrenal Gland
- Immunological Disorders
- Oncology Disorders
- Female Reproductive Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Trauma
- Vascular Disorders
- Male Reproductive Disorders
- Newborn Complications
- Disorders of Thermoregulation
- Neurological Trauma
- Integumentary Important Points
- Multisystem
- Emergency Care of the Neurological Patient
- Emergency Care of the Respiratory Patient
- Prefixes
- Suffixes
- Fetal Development
- Terminology
- Proteins
- Statistics
- Med Term Basic
- Med Term Whole
- Basics of Mathematics
- Basics of Sociology
- Pregnancy Risks
- Labor Complications
- Newborn Care
- Postpartum Complications
- Understanding Society
- Adult
- Dosage Calculations
- Adulthood Growth and Development
- Learning Pharmacology