Advice please.....I have so much anxiety about this

[donna88]

I am a school nurse and my district recently implemented a program that requires a crisis team at every school. This involves drills throughout the year that the nurse is responsible for. Being new to the district and school nursing I asked my boss for help. The majority of the nurses in our district were nervous about this as well. My boss proceeded to say "it's not rocket science" and "if I have to come help you then I have to help everyone." I reached out to some of the other nurses in the district to get their opinion because I was shocked that she would refuse helping on such an important matter. She just sent me an email demanding I stop all communication to other nurses and come to her only from now on. How could that even be ok? Peer support is so important to succeed and survive in nursing, especially as a new nurse. I need advice as to what you guys think and who to reach out to for guidance. There has to be something that is evidence based that supports the importance of having your peers to reach out to.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

So are you just expected to run the drills? How about in the event of an actual crisis? What is the organizational structure then?

I say practice as if it were an actual emergency.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

So are you just expected to run the drills? How about in the event of an actual crisis? What is the organizational structure then?

I say practice as if it were an actual emergency.

Which using the NICS structure, puts your principal/admin at the top of the chart, not you!

[bell1962]

That is exactly what we do too. This should be a written, district wide plan based on Federal guidelines.. not the nurse's responsibility to create.

A lot depends on what kind of crisis we are talking about.

If medical, you should have specific policies in place. At my district we have a Health committee that writes policy.

If Behavioral. again we have policy written by our Crisis Intervention team. I am a member of that team, but I do not write policy. The team consists of the Principal, Psychologist, Sp. Ed teacher and Counselor.

As for other crisis teams, we also have an emergency response team that would respond to disasters, active shooter, etc. HuGE list for that team. We meet every few months. Again, policy written at District level.

"Drills" for a number of issues are held throughout the year, but are NOT under my jurisdiction. They follow set rules and policy written with guidelines from Federal agencies. (Homeland Security, FBI, etc.)

I hope you aren't expected to write and institute policy by yourself for any of these sorts of teams.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Which using the NICS structure, puts your principal/admin at the top of the chart, not you!

National Incident Command Structure

[GmaPearl BSN RN]

That's Farawhine. Not Farawan.

Sorry Far, I was distracted when typing last night. Love how you made lemonade out of my lemon :)

(spiked with a little bourbon please)

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

::hugs:: OP. The principals and top admins run the crisis planning and drills at my school. They ask for input if health related from me, but that's it - I do not write the policy, it is written by an admin based off information/help provided by the state. We are running an active shooter drill again this week (we run 2 a year per state guidelines).

I'd be anxious myself if I had to write the policy and conduct the drill...

[tining, BSN, RN]

Any policy change or implementation should begin at the top. When all of the t's have been crossed and i's dotted - THEN the Lead Nurse gives everyone the information. Not: 'you are required to do this drill without any guidance.' Seriously she should not be in that position if that is the way she delegates.

[SnugglePuggle, MSN, RN]

Crisis planning aside, if I were in your situation, I would probably have more anxiety related to my bosses attitude. Seriously ?!? Discouraging, or even forbidding, you to consult with your fellow school nurses is outrageous. And belittling you for asking for her guidance in the first place ?!? Not conducive to supportive working environment.

[vikivail26]

I am sorry your boss was not willing to help. I work under an RN who would do anything to help me. It is hard to not have a fellow nurse on campus. Sometimes I need a 2nd opinion. Peer support is so important. That is why I like this website.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Ya, so the Emergency Planning Committee is headed up by a former teacher.....who just makes me nuts. Lack of notification, we have been talking about a disaster drill for YEARS now, never gets done.

And now my super want input from the EPC re the use of Narcan in our district. Some of these people have NO medical knowledge but lots of opinions!!!!!!! Some are super privacy freaks and worry about what the public will think about us having access (may make us look like we have kids we are worried about) well DUH!!! yes we do!!! look at our recent drug use data.....

Rant over...for the moment....

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

I'm not a school nuursr, but it seems your leader would encourage communication amongst your peers to ensure uniformity across the board and brainstorming. Sounds like she is unsure of policy direction...