Bad Attitude.....need support

[Keepstanding]

Hello Fellow School Nurses,

I have been off of AllNurses for quite a while. This is my 25th year as a school nurse and I think I may be on the verge of burnout. I used to love this job, but over the last few years I have very little capacity for BS from Teachers and Parents.

I am in need of some re-assurance and positive support. The kids and the work don't get to me, just the teachers and parents.

Any support you can give me is very appreciated.

Old Bat School Nurse

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I totally get it - Yes- quite a few of our online colleagues hit it right on the head - parenting has shifted to a very defensive, "special snowflake" approach - and yes - Old dude is right - at the end of the day we are here for the children. The requests from fellow staff get multiple and insane at times. Parents call up and expect you to be their child's health concierge so they can save a 10 dollar copay and get frustrated when you end up suggesting that they go to the doctor because we cannot diagnose or prescribe anything anyhow. And while I'm on the subject of parents - they want what they want for their children - be it a phone call for a scratch or whatever, but why is it that in turn that we have to hunt some of them down like we're trained bounty hunters when we need certain forms filled out. Students barge in and want to be seen for their (minor) emergencies immediately no matter what we are dealing with. There are no excuse me's, there are few pleases and seldom thank yous. And we face this all alone.

It's no surprise that we end up feeling fried and under-appreciated.

[nyy2]

Wow 25 years is very impressive! There is a nurse in my district that has been with the district for 23 years and she feels the same way. Society in general has made a scary shift! When I was in school, we never went to the school nurse unless it was warranted. I think parents actually parented their children back then! A lot of the parents we have to deal with are ridiculous! Some of the teachers also!

As the other posters said, I would try to focus on the positives, such as the kids, schedule, vacations, etc. On rough days I think about making a difference in the lives of the kiddos that don't have the best home life and/or need us to advocate for them. Plus getting to see them grow up is neat; at the beginning of the school year it is interesting to see how they have grown and changed. As SchoolnurseTXstyle said, I would also envision the "it could be worse" scenario of the hospital. That helps me every time!

Good luck to you and hang in there!

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

::hugs:: 25 years! Wow! I'm impressed.

I've only been at this 3 years. The amount of 504 meetings I need to attend has tripled since I started. I never get the thank yous I need, but when I do, it is a treasure. I have a few notes a couple of kids have written me over the last three years and I take them out to re-read when I need it.

When my friends ask about my day, I like to refer to this: