Telemedicine

[Glitternurse]

Hello,

I am new here and a new school nurse. I am an LVN and I am supervised by the DIstrict RN, PHN (she has been a school nurse at different grade levels for most of her career and at this district the past 7 years).we have a small district five k-6 schools and a preschool. The district nurse was on her own until my position was created this past summer and filled (by me) at the end of September. We are paving new paths since we are both new to this situation.

Later this week we will begin using a telemedicine service at 2 of our sites to be expanded to all sites over the next month. I am both excited and nervous about this. Have any of you ever worked with telemedicine. If so do you have any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

[grammy1]

CHILDREN'S Pepto has no bismuth in it, which is what converts to aspirin. That is the one that is safe for kids.

[Julius Seizure]

Seems odd to me that the doc would have the kid palpate his own abdomen when you, a perfectly good nurse, was standing right there to assist with assessment. I guess thats just how they do it?

[WineRN]

So for those following. I did my first telemedicine visit. It went well. The student came in with stomach ache. The exam was interesting to watch. The provider had the student palpating his own abdomen and the student (5th grade boy) was cooperative. The provider ordered Pepto which I gave. I printed out and gave the student his visit summary and sent him on his way. The provider contacted the parent, so that was nice too. I did have several other kids come by during the visit for bandaids and whatnot, so that is a challenge because of privacy issues I can't have the other students in the health office during a telemedicine visit, so I was in and out of the health office treating booboos at the secretaries desk. It's a work in progress, as we get more consents, I expect it will get more challenging, but with a slow start we have time to iron out the wrinkles.

How is this going?! We had a big talk about telehealth at my last district meeting and I kept thinking about you!

[Glitternurse, LVN]

How is this going?! We had a big talk about telehealth at my last district meeting and I kept thinking about you!

It's actually going pretty well. The hardest part is getting the consents back. We sent information home, but parents are still confused about what it is, but it's getting there. It feels so good to be able to do something that really helps the kids to feel better and to stay in school. I have days where i have a wait to see the provider and days I only have one or 2 students. The privacy issue is a challenge since all the health offices are small. I'm learning to juggle, while one student is seeing the provider, I'm keeping one ear open and handing out ice packs and bandaids just outside the office. The students are also learning to wait, which has actually cut back on the frivolous visits. I can tell you there is a definite learning curve, but If your district goes in that direction it is a wonderful tool.