Lunch

My office staff cover my clinic while I eat. They'll grab me for anything major but they give meds & take care of minor issues.

That's the way to go - you're likely not going to get a break unless you have someone physically covering your office. I make myself available while i eat for true emergencies and to administer medications that can't wait (inhalers mostly... kids wanting a prn tylenol for a headache can come back in 20 minutes while i eat - i am positive they will survive). On occasion the students and teachers can sometimes learn that period 6 or 7 or whatever is the nurse's lunch and don't bother going down there then, but that's a rare school that can master that concept - for your own sanity, it's better to push for coverage. And don't feel guilty about it - the teachers all get their lunch - it's practically a sacrament to them.

This is always a tricky subject! It been many years of advocating for myself and my nurses. Although we get paid for our lunch, I try take a lunch at a set time and keep reminding students/staff of the time. I try to schedule lunch before/after noon med times and recess. This might mean you may be eating early or later in the day but at least you get sometime. What makes or breaks this is your support staff. The secretaries at my current school is very supportive and will only get me if it is an "emergency". It took me a long time to get comfortable with saying "please come back in 20 mins" if someone comes in for stomach,sore throat, headache (unless they are really green ). It is also helpful that if you can actually leave your office, go to the staff room etc.

Good Luck and although all of us have no problem advocating for our students, we need Advocate for ourselves which can be very difficult!

Michele

I learned the hard way-the only way to get lunch is to leave my office and take it. Everyday at the same time (1:00 so it's after any noon meds), I turn the lights out and close my door and head to the faculty room to eat lunch. The secretary knows that I am available for emergencies (and I have had to define what constitutes an emergency a few times) but for anyone else she can take a name and I will go see them after lunch. I am so thankful I started this because before then I NEVER got a peaceful lunch! I have to leave my office if I am in there they will find me. LOL! Good luck!

Oh, lunch. I try and eat either before our actual lunch period or after because due to meds and visits, I could never actually eat during the lunch period. But, it seems every time I try to sit down and eat, a student comes in! I once had a student come in while I was trying to eat around 1:30 one day and she was shocked I was only eating my lunch then (2 hours after the actual lunch period). She told me that wasn't right and that I needed to eat earlier. From her mouth to everyone else's ears...:)

I try to take my lunch after 1pm when the students are done with lunch. I will call the office and let them know I'm on lunch but available for emergencies. At one of my offices I try to leave because if I eat in my office students can still see me because I have a window on my door. I can't lock it from the inside and once I did try to put up a screen in front of my door with it closed. A student decided to come and push my door open without knocking. He pushed it open a little and when he realized there was something behind the door he pushed harder and knocked my screen over. He just looked at me while I'm eating my lunch and said "Oh my bad. I'm feeling dizzy". I was really irritated and told him that was inappropriate and he can go to the main office. He's a frequent flier and is going to end up calling home anyway. So basically, leave if you can. Even if you have to eat in your car.

I also go with the last lunch....have been for 20 years and still I occasionally get called for the headache that has been going on since 9:00 am....frustrating....

In my building the front office person feels (and acts accordingly) that kids needs to be tended to immediately, emergency or not. It is how she parents and how she works.

She, on the other hand, gets out of the building for 1/2 hour everyday. I am salaried, my lunch is paid, her time is hourly and she does not get paid.

She resents that she is not paid if school is cancelled/early dismissal etc. She gets paid if she stays to the end of the day, but not if she leaves early (they need to use vacation time). I feel bad but we all made choices in life and my choice led me to a salaried position that i love, so I deal.

I eat lunch at the end of the day. (Around 2pm) when recess is over. I do not close the office. I will often see students during that time, but generally they are preparing to go home. i do eat a protein bar around 11AM because i need it!

I found that attempting to close the office for 1/2 hour at lunchtime was pointless. Constant knocks on the door, etc. Just not worth it. As others have mentioned "lunch" is also recess time and bumps and bruises are inevitable.

I find it hard to get a 30 minute break. We start recess at 9:45 and it continues till 1:00 - so lots of bumps, bandaids etc during that time. Someone from my office will cover me if I need it but it ends up being more of a hassle so I don't bother them. I usually end up just eating my lunch at my desk between seeing kiddos. I tend to have down time early in the morning or late in the afternoon so I don't complain about not getting a lunch break.

Ok, the picture is sideways. Oy vey.....but this is one sign of TWO that I put out front of my clinic door when I take lunch. The other is a door sign and it says, "Clinic closed, please go to front office." Students will bang on my door like there is a fire during my lunch. Next year I will have a different plan of where I eat lunch. It sure as a cats butt ain't gonna be in my clinic. For those who are germ-a-phoebes.......I do wipe my desk down first. :-)

HOLY SMOKES!! My picture was too big!! Somebody delete my post and I will repost picture again! Haha! Oh my.

This is such a dilema for me as well! At one school I can put a sign up and lock my door but kids still try to get in and then I'll hear teachers reading my sign out loud and tell the kid to go to the office like the sign says and next thing I know the secretary is unlocking the door to come in and get a bandaid (which clearly is NOT an emergency) so I get interupted anyway. So most of the time I will go down to the teacher's lounge and eat with them which works most of the time because they are nice/friendly to me.

My other school I cannot shut and lock my doors because there are two doors and the teachers/principal uses my office as a walk-through from main office to hall. If I leave the secretary and principal will cover my office. If I stay and try to eat they won't. If I go to the teacher's workroom the teachers in that lunch period want to discuss issues about kids and what I can do or they won't really talk at all. Either is uncomfortable for me. Plus, if the staff sees me in there they start sending kids to me in there so at this school I am allowed to leave and I do. I get in my car and leave most of the time.

It's nice to get out of the building and away from everything even if only for 30 min. However, it's up to me to make sure I get a lunch. No one will notice if I haven't left to eat because I've been too busy. The other day I literally didn't have a moment free to leave. If that happened all the time I'd work it out with my principal to get an aide to cover if needed. We don't get paid for our lunch and we don't get reimbursed for working so I try to make sure I get lunch. Besides, no one would want to be around me if I didn't get to eat!