<p>What is it like at school infirmaries? Say, if you get sick, do you stay there overnight or go back to your dorm? What classifies as illness (if you get the flu, will they give you a tylenol and tell you to suck it up and go back to class)? Can your friends visit you? What kind of food is served?</p>
<p>...I just asked way too many questions! XDDD Oh well. Basically, what's it like if you get sick at boarding school?</p>
<p>It depends. If you have a fever they’ll usually keep you overnight. If you just have a cold or a headache they may give you something and send you back (and usually ask you to go back to get checked out the next day). If you’re asked to stay, friends and faculty can certainly visit you. The nurses and other staff people are typically very friendly. The food is not unlike hospital food…</p>
<p>People say the beds at the Exeter infirmary are very comfortable. I’d bet that if you’re sick, you have to stay at the infirmary rather than letting you stay in your dorm room (if you’re missing class).</p>
<p>Good to see you back PEAteacher. :D</p>
<p>Thanks; I’m on and off really. Should have more time during Spring Break… almost there!</p>
<p>While I can’t attest to what it’s like to be a patient at a boarding school infirmary, it was especially important to my husband, a physician, that the best care be available to our child at all times during the school year.
At my childs BS the doctor resides on campus and registered nurses staff the infirmary 24 hours a day. Also, less than a mile away from campus is a 295-bed acute care regional medical center.</p>
<p>INFIRMS SUCK!
the taft one was ****. seriously. i went in with a four-week old cough that wouldn’t go away (literally; i was coughing every two minutes), and all they said was “oh. you have a bad cough.” so i got over it on my own.
if you live in the area and have a fever, they call your parents and they take you home (nice). of course, area means new england.
if you live outside of new england, you get to stay in the infirm.
friends can visit you if you’re not contagious. if you are, they might let the friend stand outside your room and say hi. i’ve been in the infirm multiple time… once with an unexplained fever (related to swine?) and once with sinus infection. it’s uncomfortable, but you get to sleep all day… and do whatever you want as long as you don’t bother anyone.
the food is campus food. they wheel it in from the dining hall.</p>
<p>this is all from the perspective of a taftie. i imagine that it’s the same at other schools…</p>
<p>The beds are so comfortable! It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true! Usually they won’t let kids back to their dorms if they have a fever or are legitimately sick. Some students go there to sleep during the day if they’re really stressed out and sleep deprived.</p>
<p>Andover’s infirmary, Isham, is pretty good. It’s registered as a hospital in the state of Massachusetts and it’s always open. You’re treated pretty well there; I can speak from a wealth of experience - I had swine in the fall and mono all of this winter term. I spent A LOT of time in Isham this term. Beds are comfy and certainly easy to fall asleep in, and food is actually good: it’s not prepared in Isham but rather driven over from Commons and warmed up, if need be.</p>
<p>If you have a stomach complaint or something more than a bit of a headache or cough, they might keep you for the rest of the academic day and if need be through the night. Once you’ve signed in, you’re automatically electronically excused from classes you miss. It’s a fairly streamlined system. Also in Isham there’s a room called the sleeping room - it’s for kids who are too burned out to go to class. I used it upwards of five times this term because of my mono, but I never needed it before then. It has six beds in it, is dark, and really rather depressing because it’s often full of fatigued kids, but it’s been a real lifesaver for me this term and, although I thought the idea sounded ridiculously stupid when I arrived here, it’s actually really smart - especially for kids who are chronically fatigued 100% of the time like me.</p>
<p>That aside, I still don’t recommend going to Isham if you can avoid it - no matter how acceptable the food is and how nice the nurses are, it’s still a place full of sick, tired people when it all comes down to it ;)</p>