Nit nurse

An article in today's Telegraph "Parents sign petition to bring back the nit nurse" brought back memories. When I was at primary school in the 1960s our hair was inspected for headlice by the 'nit nurse' (or 'nitty Nora' as my mother and aunts called her). As the article says, these nurses were phased out in the 1980s and 90s and responsibility for detecting headlice fell to the parents. When my children were at primary school in the 1990s we used to get regular letters asking us to check our children's hair and giving us the name of whatever was the popular lotion or shampoo at the time.

 

The story concerns a petition signed by parents at a school in Rhyl, North Wales, calling for the return of the nit nurse to combat the perennial problem of nits. Here's the article.

 

The phrase 'nit nurse' is in the OED, dating from the 1940s. The first citation is from the medical journal The Lancet: "The school nurse, known affectionately as the ‘*nit nurse’, resolutely tries to raise the standard of cleanliness".

Comments

[John]

Funny. "Nit Nurse" must be a uniquely British expression. While my own kids were checked in school during the same timeframe, I never heard that expression in the US.

Don't recall hearing it later ('60's) in the BWI either, which seems odd.

[twimomako]

I'm asian and when i searched for nit nurse, this is what i found http://nit-nurse.com/faqs.asp

Makes sense, though. If they really are effective. hazardous ingredients in head lice remedies in the market are freaking me out.

[red bottom]

Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.