Just need a safe space to place my frustration and growing sadness.
This week is teacher's appreciation week, and I get it... teachers greatly outnumber us in the building. Teachers are getting lunches, picnics, gifts, etc. every day this week. But Nurse's week is the 6th-12th this year and NO mention of it has been made at my campus. Counselors got their week, assistant principals had treats and gifts catered in for them, even school clerks got their appreciation day. But me, the nurse? I'm a background character I suppose.
The cherry-- a counselor just sent a school-wide email that reads: "Not only are you the teacher, but the co-parent, the parent, the nurse, the confidant, the advisor, and so much more."
That's funny... I don't recall any of our teachers having any inkling of knowledge about the pandemic we weathered this year; the one that school nurses were at the forefront of. I didn't see any teachers providing sick care to kids throughout the year.
I've been subtly trying to remind a few administrators that our week is nearly here, not in a way that says "hey don't forget to recognize me!" because I think that's tacky, but wow I just wish someone would say "thank you" especially after the year we've had. ?
Is anyone else's school doing anything to celebrate you this week?
Teachers don't educate us one every dimension of their profession. Using that logic, why should we recognize Teacher's Appreciation week?
All of us attended educational programs but yes, I agree, that I do not know every fact/activity/dimension of their profession. We support teachers, yes, because they are well, teachers....With Covid your role increases exponentially.
I took post Master's classes with teachers and answered a lot of questions about "what are the responsibilities of the nurse. with young children...we didn't know nurses did that!" I could only give information about 'child life' in the hospital.
At my college I was responsible for collecting vaccination info including titers for our new students. Since they were already adults going to class, but not clinical (where the health record needs to be complete) they blew me off. The dean was no help in establishing the last day to get them in.. Checking CPR cards is hard but not as hard as the students cannot go to clinical with out a current CPR card. I am positively sure you have the same frustration.
My cousin created her school nursing job with creating her job description, outcomes and evaluating measurements for a Catholic school.. She and the school are very happy with the knowledge, skills and attitudes she provides.
I am sorry if I offended and my apologies that I have. I have always been active in highlighting aspects to my job to help other professions appreciate my work. And yes, I will post a poster on Nurse's Week on my office door--not expecting presents (let's face it...now one gets them)but to say "I am here, I am part of the organization, I mean something to you."
Sorry again. I just have a different philosophy than you.
What nursing provides is a positive thing, not discipline. Why would a asst. principal make a poster about how good they are on writing disipline referrels.? Be real.
I was the sole nurse for a Boys and Girls Club in the 70s. I made the most of the job, going into the different areas of the club to offer basic health assessment and dental assessment, did presentations as well as being there for the outcome of fights and other physical altercations.
I think if you read the posts here you will find that the hospitals do the least possible for nurse's week. I think we had an ice cream truck come once.
Putting up displays may be time consuming at first but when you use the same pictures etc. every year it gets so much easier. Just add one or two new things to refresh the display.Ask a teacher to help.
I guess you haven't asked for a bulletin board. Do you have a DOOR to put graphics on?
You do not need a whole bulletin board.
No effort = no recognition.
1 or 2 will add up to more. I really don't understand the thinking that someone should recognize me for my efforts when they probably do not understand all the dimensions of my role...especially in the last 2 years.
This was never meant to be patronizing. I started out just trying to reflect back what I was reading and show how you could help others recognize your importance to the organization. From your answers I learned you do not want to put out the effort to educate your peers and your peers are not going to recognize you if they don't know all the dimensions of your profession beyond
I am quoted by mistake. Nevertheless, I think there is serious misunderstanding of our role... just my .02
Nevertheless, I think there is serious misunderstanding of our role... just my .02
I am sorry you were misquoted, Would it be possible for you to give a good reference for your role. I truly want to learn. There are so many dimensions to nursing and if a nursing student asks about school nursing I would like to refer them to an accurate description of the role. And yes, at our college we have many graduates who seek this role. Do you think it would be beneficial to add a unit on school nursing to the 'Nursing Leadership' course?
I am sorry you were misquoted, Would it be possible for you to give a good reference for your role. I truly want to learn. There are so many dimensions to nursing and if a nursing student asks about school nursing I would like to refer them to an accurate description of the role. And yes, at our college we have many graduates who seek this role. Do you think it would be beneficial to add a unit on school nursing to the 'Nursing Leadership' course?
School Nursing defined
School nursing, a specialized practice of nursing, protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. School nurses, grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice, are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student-centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potential. Adopted by the NASN Board of Directors February 2017.
We are often the ONLY medical person in a building full of educators and students. The ratio a can be as high as 2000:1. Imagine that. awe triage illness and injury all day, case manage kids with medically complex situations. IE trach care, suctioning, foley care, toileting, meds etc.
All those involve mountains of paperwork that we chase from day 1-day 180. Permission forms, asthma action plans, allergy action plans, diabetic care plans. And for all those, we also do individual health care plans.
Some students have 504 accommodation plans that we plan the meeting, write the plan with the family, get it to the teachers and make sure they execute it.
Students who require an IEP need periodic vision and hearing screening evaluations. So do the kids who are appear to not be listening or able to comprehend what they are reading. A call from a teacher starts that process.
Ensuring safe egress from the building for a child on crutches or in a wheelchair evaluation falls to us. as well as directing facilities when there are bees nests or other issues impacting respiratory function.
I could go on and on...
This year, on top of everything else, we became the public health leaders in our buildings. Many nurse worked right thru the remote teaching the teachers did. I'll not diminish what they did at all. But often their ability to be back in their buildings is because of OUR HARD WORK. All last Summer and this while school year, we are doing contact tracing and working with families. Hours and hours on the phone trying to keep sick kids out of the building.
So, when it comes to school nurse Appreciation, please know we often do not get lunch or even a bathroom break. Not all of us are in unions, where teachers get prep periods and a guaranteed uninterrupted lunch. If we are a bit prickly about getting lumped in with teachers, maybe this explains things a bit more?
As far as including this career choice in your leadership, sure, why not? But I would caution a new grad to not jump in without some experience. There certainly are nurses out there who have done that and done it well. But in my experience, it is the older nurse who has had a previous career or extensive life experience. in fact, in order to become a certified school nurse.
School Nurse Certification
A BSN is required as well as meeting the clinical practice requirements of a minimum of 1,000 hours that have been worked within the three years prior to taking the test. 1000 hours is roughly equivalent to the hours worked by a full-time school nurse who works at least 6 hours/day for a school year of 180 days documented by a note on letterhead from your supervisor or district official. See below for more information about clinical practice requirements.
What you have written gives me a great appreciation for the job and all it's complexities. I was not aware of all you do besides the basics. I wish all school nurses. Happy Nurse's week and best wished for a great Nurse's day.
I am happy to learn about the multiple roles nurses provide and Frankly, I did not know all the responsibilities of school nurses.
Quote
As far as including this career choice in your leadership, sure, why not?
A leadership course combines many roles RNs can do, besides the hospital. The course is not just steering student nurses to hospital roles. Your complex nursing role would be an important area for student nurses to plan for their career jobs after developing a record of working under difficult situations with a variety of patients.
I am celebrating what you do today and wish you all the best.
What you have written gives me a great appreciation for the job and all it's complexities. I was not aware of all you do besides the basics. I wish all school nurses. Happy Nurse's week and best wished for a great Nurse's day.
I am happy to learn about the multiple roles nurses provide and Frankly, I did not know all the responsibilities of school nurses.
A leadership course combines many roles RNs can do, besides the hospital. The course is not just steering student nurses to hospital roles. Your complex nursing role would be an important area for student nurses to plan for their career jobs after developing a record of working under difficult situations with a variety of patients.
I am celebrating what you do today and wish you all the best.
Glad I could be of help! Cheers to a great weekend!
I am sorry if I offended and my apologies that I have. I have always been active in highlighting aspects to my job to help other professions appreciate my work. And yes, I will post a poster on Nurse's Week on my office door--not expecting presents (let's face it...now one gets them)but to say "I am here, I am part of the organization, I mean something to you."
Thank you for your apologies, and I accept them. I apologize too if I came off brash in my replies.
To reiterate my point, I guess I just don't believe it takes having intimate knowledge of a person's job duties to celebrate and appreciate them on designated days/weeks. I used the example earlier of the AP not to specifically highlight "discipline," just that that was one facet of their job. But my point is that I don't know every single thing that, say, a speech therapist does-- does that mean they aren't worthy of being celebrated for what they do for the community? Is it their responsibility to educate me about their job duties before I can say "Happy speech therapist day!" You don't have to answer those questions, just something to think about.
I don't know how to multi-quote different posts into one response, but here are some thoughts about other responses of yours since yesterday:
You mentioned that you were a nurse for a Boys & Girls club in the 70's. I'm sure that was valuable experience. As someone educated above, I hope you can see that our jobs as modern-day school nurses don't equate to that. I'm glad that you have a better understanding of what it is we do. Most believe we just hand out bandaids and ice packs.
You mentioned that you'd like to add a sub-section of school nursing to your leadership classes. My bachelor's program actually required a community health didactic and clinical, and I did my clinical in a school health office, where I was introduced to school nursing. I even precepted a nursing student from my same alma mater during his community clinical last year (before Covid). He said it was a valuable learning experience! Nursing students don't have to love school nursing as an option for them, but it'd be helpful if they were introduced to it so they understand that there's nursing outside of inpatient floors. I hope your program does consider adding it in somewhere!
Thanks again for opening up your mind and trying to understand where I was coming from. Cheers!
Specializes in school nursing/ maternal/child hospital based.
2 hours ago, NutmeggeRN said:
School Nursing defined
School nursing, a specialized practice of nursing, protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. School nurses, grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice, are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student-centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potential. Adopted by the NASN Board of Directors February 2017.
We are often the ONLY medical person in a building full of educators and students. The ratio a can be as high as 2000:1. Imagine that. awe triage illness and injury all day, case manage kids with medically complex situations. IE trach care, suctioning, foley care, toileting, meds etc.
All those involve mountains of paperwork that we chase from day 1-day 180. Permission forms, asthma action plans, allergy action plans, diabetic care plans. And for all those, we also do individual health care plans.
Some students have 504 accommodation plans that we plan the meeting, write the plan with the family, get it to the teachers and make sure they execute it.
Students who require an IEP need periodic vision and hearing screening evaluations. So do the kids who are appear to not be listening or able to comprehend what they are reading. A call from a teacher starts that process.
Ensuring safe egress from the building for a child on crutches or in a wheelchair evaluation falls to us. as well as directing facilities when there are bees nests or other issues impacting respiratory function.
I could go on and on...
This year, on top of everything else, we became the public health leaders in our buildings. Many nurse worked right thru the remote teaching the teachers did. I'll not diminish what they did at all. But often their ability to be back in their buildings is because of OUR HARD WORK. All last Summer and this while school year, we are doing contact tracing and working with families. Hours and hours on the phone trying to keep sick kids out of the building.
So, when it comes to school nurse Appreciation, please know we often do not get lunch or even a bathroom break. Not all of us are in unions, where teachers get prep periods and a guaranteed uninterrupted lunch. If we are a bit prickly about getting lumped in with teachers, maybe this explains things a bit more?
As far as including this career choice in your leadership, sure, why not? But I would caution a new grad to not jump in without some experience. There certainly are nurses out there who have done that and done it well. But in my experience, it is the older nurse who has had a previous career or extensive life experience. in fact, in order to become a certified school nurse.
School Nurse Certification
A BSN is required as well as meeting the clinical practice requirements of a minimum of 1,000 hours that have been worked within the three years prior to taking the test. 1000 hours is roughly equivalent to the hours worked by a full-time school nurse who works at least 6 hours/day for a school year of 180 days documented by a note on letterhead from your supervisor or district official. See below for more information about clinical practice requirements.
There you have it. Have a great weekend!
Thank you for writing this out. So many times, when I speak to my friends that are still at the bedside, they think I sit around and pass out band aids all day. You described so well, just a tip of what we do. I wish more people understood!
Oh man! I didn't realize that most of us were on the same boat!
I have NEVER gotten a recognition from the schools in my 6 years. I thought this year it would be different because we have a whole new admin team. They took the secretaries out for lunch , they made food for the teachers, but nope, got NADA yesterday. Zip.
Like you said, I don't want to be tacky and say "appreciate me", but it would be nice. Especially because this year has been CRAZY
With that said, our student council decorated my office with a "we love our school nurse" banner that really made me happy. They did this 5/5, so I think they did it just because, not necessarily because of nurses day.
My admin kept asking why my office was decorated if it was my birthday or something... IDK.
HR did send up all emails saying home much they appreciated us, so I guess that's nice. But it would be nice getting a recognition from our actual school ya know?
I have a nine year old son and I’ll just say that the kids certainly appreciate the nurse! He’ll say “I went to the doctor’s office today” when he means “I visited the school nurse.” He’s only been a handful of times in his school career but she always performs magic.
Thank you for writing this out. So many times, when I speak to my friends that are still at the bedside, they think I sit around and pass out band aids all day. You described so well, just a tip of what we do. I wish more people understood!
You are welcome! Actually, the words that are in a italics that are copied and pasted from the NASN website!
londonflo
3,002 Posts
All of us attended educational programs but yes, I agree, that I do not know every fact/activity/dimension of their profession. We support teachers, yes, because they are well, teachers....With Covid your role increases exponentially.
I took post Master's classes with teachers and answered a lot of questions about "what are the responsibilities of the nurse. with young children...we didn't know nurses did that!" I could only give information about 'child life' in the hospital.
At my college I was responsible for collecting vaccination info including titers for our new students. Since they were already adults going to class, but not clinical (where the health record needs to be complete) they blew me off. The dean was no help in establishing the last day to get them in.. Checking CPR cards is hard but not as hard as the students cannot go to clinical with out a current CPR card. I am positively sure you have the same frustration.
My cousin created her school nursing job with creating her job description, outcomes and evaluating measurements for a Catholic school.. She and the school are very happy with the knowledge, skills and attitudes she provides.
I am sorry if I offended and my apologies that I have. I have always been active in highlighting aspects to my job to help other professions appreciate my work. And yes, I will post a poster on Nurse's Week on my office door--not expecting presents (let's face it...now one gets them)but to say "I am here, I am part of the organization, I mean something to you."
Sorry again. I just have a different philosophy than you.