Happy Field Day!

Specialties School

Published

One of my favorite things about school nursing is rediscovering all those things I loved about school when I was a little kid. Like Field Day!

Got my ice packs and Band-Aids ready, hopefully I'll still like Field Day after this. ;)

How about you? So much has changed in schools since I was a kid ... anything you loved about school that actually still exists (or you wish it did)?

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Book fairs! I didn't buy anything this year but I love walking through them and looking at everything. I mean, it's essentially just a book store, but bringing it into the schools just makes it feel more exciting, even as a grownup. (Of course, I don't have to set it up or tear it down, I'm sure the librarian is more ambivalent.)

As far as field day goes . . . one of the other first year nurses in my district had a total disaster with hers. I have 3 weeks until mine, so I'm picking all my colleague's brains for tips/tricks. The biggest seems to be giving inhalers ahead of time to those kids who you know have a lot of asthma problems.

Any other advice for that? Do you actually go outside with your kiddos or do you wait in your clinic for problems?

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Fetch, I love book fairs, too!

My school didn't ask me to be outside with them but I wanted to be so I stationed myself out there with gauze, bandaids, alcohol wipes, ice packs in a cooler, and emergency kit including supplies for the diabetics. I have a walkie-talkie so if they need me back inside they can call. I'm also going back in for scheduled medications.

Giving inhalers ahead of time is a great idea. I know a few of mine plan to come in before they head outside.

If necessary/possible (if your field day area is pretty large or you'll have a lot of students out there at one time), I'd see if there can be a second person stationed on the other side to do basic first aid stuff. That way they don't have to walk all the way across the field to get a bandaid. Good luck and have fun!

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Specializes in School nursing.

Well, tonight is prom for my school and I found myself getting nostalgic as I remembered the excitement of my senior prom and talking to students about dresses and hair. Then I put my adult nurse hat on and lectured a bit about drinking, of course. I think some of it clicked :).

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Specializes in School Nursing, Public Health Nurse.

My big kids don't have field day. Besides it's going to be 106 today so I'm hoping no one passes out anyway.

Technology is a big chance from when I was in school. I had my first cellphone my Sophomore year of high school and it was a BIG deal in my family because "What does she need a cellphone for?" Now my 6 year old cousin has an iPhone and I've turned in to my High School Vice Principal as I confiscate phones in my health office. Of course there's cyberbullying too. And cursive writing vs. typed papers. I worked hard in 3rd grade for my cursive exams! All that hard work just to one day sign my name on the back of my credit cards.

What hasn't chanced? The workload, stress, hormones, etc. Given that I graduated from high school less than 10 years ago anyway, I can relate more to the students. When staff asks the kids, "What are you stressed about?! You're a kid" I'm quick to let that they have no idea what some of these kids really go though to survive high school. Given, some of it is over-dramatize in their heads, but a lot of it is real and horrifying.

There is Prom this weekend for one of the schools and then Grad Nite at Disneyland in a few weeks. Unfortunately, the nurse got bumped off the staff list but there's always next year! Why wouldn't you need a nurse for Disneyland? (I know they have Disneyland Nurses but my school doesn't need to know that!)

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Specializes in kids.

I have done Grad nite @! Disney World it is fun! Sorry you dont get to go!

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Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.
Book fairs! I didn't buy anything this year but I love walking through them and looking at everything. I mean, it's essentially just a book store, but bringing it into the schools just makes it feel more exciting, even as a grownup. (Of course, I don't have to set it up or tear it down, I'm sure the librarian is more ambivalent.)

As far as field day goes . . . one of the other first year nurses in my district had a total disaster with hers. I have 3 weeks until mine, so I'm picking all my colleague's brains for tips/tricks. The biggest seems to be giving inhalers ahead of time to those kids who you know have a lot of asthma problems.

Any other advice for that? Do you actually go outside with your kiddos or do you wait in your clinic for problems?

I love the smell of book fairs! I don't know what it is but it reminds me of when I was a child and would go! Our school has one every year and I love just meandering around.

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My only vent about field day: It seems all my kids whose parents have come up with all kinds of physician notes and excuses and/or raised a ruckus with the superintendent's office to have little Johnny or Jane excused from recess or PE (outdoor activity) for the entire year, suddenly recover and must be allowed to play outside in the sweltering heat on field day. Hmf! :banghead: I found this out the hard way my first year of school nursing. I found indoor activities for those students to do and held them inside because they were on activity restrictions. The next day, I had a line of angry parents in the front office!

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Book fairs! I didn't buy anything this year but I love walking through them and looking at everything. I mean, it's essentially just a book store, but bringing it into the schools just makes it feel more exciting, even as a grownup. (Of course, I don't have to set it up or tear it down, I'm sure the librarian is more ambivalent.)

As far as field day goes . . . one of the other first year nurses in my district had a total disaster with hers. I have 3 weeks until mine, so I'm picking all my colleague's brains for tips/tricks. The biggest seems to be giving inhalers ahead of time to those kids who you know have a lot of asthma problems.

Any other advice for that? Do you actually go outside with your kiddos or do you wait in your clinic for problems?

Personally, I stay inside and have the injured come into the clinic because I have pretty severe environmental allergies (pollen, etc.). Sometimes, my assistant will go out with some bandages and send the more severe injuries inside to me.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.
Book fairs! I didn't buy anything this year but I love walking through them and looking at everything. I mean, it's essentially just a book store, but bringing it into the schools just makes it feel more exciting, even as a grownup. (Of course, I don't have to set it up or tear it down, I'm sure the librarian is more ambivalent.)

As far as field day goes . . . one of the other first year nurses in my district had a total disaster with hers. I have 3 weeks until mine, so I'm picking all my colleague's brains for tips/tricks. The biggest seems to be giving inhalers ahead of time to those kids who you know have a lot of asthma problems.

Any other advice for that? Do you actually go outside with your kiddos or do you wait in your clinic for problems?

I would really love the book fairs if they just sold books. At our school there are so many little gizmos and games and "junk" that the books are starting to take a back seat to the toys. I had one of the worst field days in history this year; it was raining so field day became "gym" day as it was moved into the gym. Bumps, scrapes, and wah wahs tripled!!
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