Is it like this every school year?

[VgsNrs]

Hello,

I am brand new to school nursing, I was a PICU nurse for 10 years prior. I am sooooo not used to all the admin paperwork, spreadsheets, emails etc. I work at an independent school with about 500 students. We require an annual physical and medication form (even for OTC meds) both signed by doctors as well as updated shot records. Our "deadline" for submitting was 8/11 and i STILL have less than half of students turned them in! Is this common to chase parents to submit paperwork?! I am killing myself staying 2 hours after each day trying to organize, log in paperwork turned in and corresponding with parents to PLEASE send them in or please get these shots! So stressed...am I alone or should this get easier? Thanks for any feedback!

[OldDude]

peacockblue gives good advice...chill...don't believe anything you didn't see with your own eyes or hear with your own ears...student health and safety is top priority...procedures, policies, rules, papers, etc., really don't matter comparatively speaking. Just be vigilant for the students and be ready to "snatch kids from the jaws of death; one kid at a time!!"

[JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN]

Student care always should be first, obviously. Peacock made a great point. My school had a policy where there was a 20 day grace period from the first day the child was in school to get any necessary paperwork (which in MD was just immunizations, everything else was "desired but not required") and if they weren't in compliance by then, they were excluded from school until they at least had proof of an appointment to get immunized. This really kicked parents in the butt and I never had to exclude anyone. Had a few close calls!!

If your school doesn't have a policy like this, I would suggest bringing it to the attention of your supervisor to see if you can get one written. It's pretty useful when it comes to the important stuff.

[grammy1]

Our students don't start if they don't have immi's, physicals not required yearly. Emergency medical cards are what I had the hardest time with. Last year our principal let me institute a policy that if it wasn't turned in no sports, field trips, or extra-curriculars of any kind. Best thing we ever did, only had 2 not returned out of about 700 kids. One of the two turned his in the last week of school so he could participate in the end of year celebration!