How is your office set up/decorated?

[RNlove17]

Just because I'm curious.

What level are you - elementary, middle school, high school, etc?

How is your office set up - where is your desk, cabinets, how big is the space, do you have a bathroom, where in the building is it?

Whats on the walls, and counters? Do you have a lot of posters and papers? Is it bare looking?

Im at a large high school. We are in the front of the building, and the front part of my office is a large desk for my health aide with a door that can close if need be separating us. Im in the larger part of the office (theres also a 2nd secret door to the hallway in my area). We have 2 bathrooms - one for us and 1 for students, a little room for our fridge, a 3rd phone for calls requiring privacy.

We also have a back room which has our scale, an exam table, and vision/hearing screening equipment. Our supply closet is there too. THEN theres a small closet-room with an exam table and sink. I have a large counter with my 1st aid supplies. And 2 very large filing cabinets for health records and things. Our office used to be the attendence office and principal office back in the day.

My office is so bare!! I've only been here a year and a half and part of that time was maternity leave. With my aide leaving, who has been here forever, I feel like I have free reign to "decorate" how I want. Where do you all get posters and things to put up? I dont want to make it cluttered and unprofessional looking but want to make it a warm and comforting place too.

[SnowyJ, RN]

I like warm and comforting. I do not turn on the flourescent lighting unless I have an emergency. I have lamps and a window for lighting.

I decorate seasonally and for Holidays. Right now the theme is winter/Valentines Day. I have snowflakes, snowmen and hearts,

A few health posters and an inspirational poster or two. as well.

I also put up the pictures the kids draw or color for me. They love that.

I spend the whole day here, I like it calming and pleasant. It seems the kids do too. (K-5.)

[loveschoolnursing]

Does anyone else have a bulletin board they are expected to decorate regularly? My board is right by the office and the main focal point of the hallways. I never know what to put up....teachers are so creative.....and Im at a blank. Any ideas? I thought about just the typical health topics for the month....what do you do?

[SnowyJ, RN]

Check Pinterest! Also google "School Nurse bulletin board" cute ideas there.

[kidzcare]

I have a bulletin board about handwashing and a fun one with medical terms and definitions set up like a matching game. Some of the words are:

Pilomotor reflex

Epitaxis

Idiopathic

Afebrile

Cerumen

Like a fun vocab lesson while kids are sitting in my office :)

[100kids, BSN, RN]

I made a big conversation heart box one year for my bulletin board and each heart falling out of the box had a heart healthy tip on it. That was a good one for February. I did a board with a road and a school bus on it and put bus safety tips on it. My friend made me a broccoli man superhero and I wrote good reasons to eat broccoli, I've done the poem sick by Shel Silverstein on my board, and a rainbow with all different fruits and veggies in a rainbow of colors, right now I have a flu poster up that my 6th grade Health class students made. I don't always change it monthly but definitely a few times a year. I also display my student's work from my Health classes on another board outside the cafeteria.

As for my office I am located at the front of the building. I have a desk, cot, small table with chairs, bathroom and a counter with cabinets above it. It's a good size room, I can't complain. To decorate I bought blank canvases and had my sons and my niece and nephews (ages 4-13) come over and each one painted a canvas with something they liked. They are all very different but childlike and fun. makes the office bright. I also do a handprint canvas each year of the kindergarten students and they are lined up on my office walls by year. Each year I use different colors but they are bright and fun and the kids love coming back to see their tiny handprints.

Hope that helps!

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

I actually have the biggest space (sq feet) in the building! Shhhh don't tell anyone!! I have a waiting room with 3 chairs, my office with a sink, a two bed infirmary with an ADA bathroom next to it, another room that I use for storage, and can isolate a kid there as well -that also has a sink, and n ADA shower.

My area has has two entrances, one to the hall and the other to the front desk area.

As for decoration, over the years I have some great photos with kids that I have framed. Nursey things, informational posters, current trends and events.

[bell1962]

I have a tiny office. Sink and counter space, storage cabinents, my desk, 1 cot, a couple of chairs and no bathroom. no windows....

I hang posters (of animals, nature, etc), inspirational sayings,and decorate a bit for the holidays. Not an ideal setting by any means but I try to make the best of it. I'm in a special needs school with kids of all ages.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

My clinic is tiny. It forces me to be well-organized, lol!

As for decoration, I decided early on to go with a Muppets theme. I have a few Muppets themed posters/wall clings, and since I am pretty craftsy, I've also made paper cut outs of a few Muppet heads. Those go up on my bulletin board, which changes once a month when I have time and every other month when I don't. Summer/winter/Halloween safety tips, food plate for March, dental tips for February, that sort of thing. Kids get into the spirit as well - I have some Muppets drawings from kids, and when Subway was giving away little Muppets bags with their kids meals, one of the students brought me in three of them.

This year our new principal encourages us to decorate our doors as well - last year we weren't allowed to put ANYTHING on the doors. So I've been participating in things like Red Ribbon Week door decoration, I "wrapped" the door up like a present for Christmas, that sort of thing. The doors are more fun while the bulletin board is more informational.

When kids lose teeth at school I have them write their name on a blank "tooth" and then they can hang it on a poster in the hallway. Posters last for 2 months - Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, March/Apr, May/June -- and for the last few weeks all five posters are hung up together. It's a lot of teeth! Until then the old posters are hanging up in my smaller room where the cots are.

[AESRMA]

My space is approximately 12' x 12' with a connecting single bathroom. I have a large desk and other large furniture and I have to set my cot out in the middle. I am currently going from a Dr. Seuss theme to an Americana theme. I enjoy decorating my door, it currently has Olaf the snowman with a beach umbrella and a quote about missing summer

Sometimes I find things at teachers teachers, alot on Amazon! And my favorite to get ideas from is Pinterest!!! Just search for School Nurses, School Nursing, etc. School Nurse Doors, School Nurse Bulletin Boards.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

Here's what I did for March last year . . . it was too big for the bulletin board so I just took over the wall!

[SnowyJ, RN]

Forgot to add, I have a desk, 2 cots, a sink/counter, fridge and a table and chairs.

Not a big room, but enough.

Bathroom is adjacent. Sometimes I wish it was closer.

Also a storage room I share with the counselor.