Down time (HA, sure...)

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.

I know that down time is super infrequent in our business, but if you find yourself with some, what do you do to pass the time?

I ask because I had a lull last year where sickness was at a minimum, and recess was often indoors, which meant fewer injuries. It lasted a couple of weeks, and during those weeks, I averaged 8-10 visits per day, including meds.

With all of my paperwork done and no screenings to do, I was left twiddling my thumbs. I offered to help in the office, but that has been poo-poo'd due to our union contract.

Do you have podcasts you like that are "kid friendly", or an activity/website you particularly enjoy that wouldn't seem too inappropriate for a school setting? I feel like I can only do so much Sudoku before my brain gets fried! I tried knitting last year, but when I did get a visitor, it was tough to figure out where I left off if it was in the middle of a row!

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Specializes in School Nurse, past Med Surge.

I do the daily SET puzzle, I come her & read different forums, I help in the office,

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i just peeked at the set game out of curiosity...? i think i need a lesson.

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Specializes in School Nurse, past Med Surge.
7 minutes ago, Flare said:

i just peeked at the set game out of curiosity...? i think i need a lesson.

You have to make sets of three items that either have all qualities (shape, color, pattern, number) alike, or all qualities different.

So today, one set is one green open squiggle, two green solid squiggles, and three green striped squiggles. They're all green, they're all squiggles, but they all have different numbers of squiggles, and they all have different patterns.

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.

I love SET! I forgot about the daily puzzle online. My best friend and I have a lot of card games we love that no one else does, and SET is one of them, though I never owned it (Phase 10 is another, though not able to be done solitarily); When my husband's grandfather passed away, I found it among his belongings and was pleased to find that no one else in the family wanted it. Great idea!

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audio books or regular books, I'll watch semi-educational things on YouTube

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Specializes in school nurse.

If things are really chill, I ask if I can read to the kindergarteners for a bit, or I do an impromtu health class if the teachers allow...

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.
16 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

If things are really chill, I ask if I can read to the kindergarteners for a bit, or I do an impromtu health class if the teachers allow...

Our teachers would shoot daggers if I asked to do that on a whim... Their schedules are so packed they get PO'd if anything extra is added in without their prior knowledge.

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Specializes in school nurse.
15 minutes ago, k1p1ssk said:

Our teachers would shoot daggers if I asked to do that on a whim... Their schedules are so packed they get PO'd if anything extra is added in without their prior knowledge.

That's a shame. My teachers actually treat it like an impromptu break...

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Last year towards the end of the year I brought some of my kindle books up using the amazon website. It was "field trip week" and pretty dead in here. I know I have to make myself look busy (on the computer) or admin will swing by and find some ludicrous task to hand me. That's how I became the photo copy girl.

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My. Ingest problem with down time is that I could do nothing for hours (n the second I leave the office, someone needs toileted. Or they are paging me on the walkie asking where I am. I think there is a senser on my chair!

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.

I read/respond on here, or I will read my NASN journals.

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