New Nurse needs advice and support

[asp40]

Hello to my fellow school nurses. Thanks for always answering my questions. So, my story is that I am a brand new RN, worked as a camp nurse this summe for 5 weeks at overnight camp with other nurses (so I wasnt alone) and now I am starting as the school nurse in a small private school of just over 100 students. I am very excited and of course nervous. I have spent a few days organizing the office and checking supplies. My main concern is that I ahve to teach health to the middle school once/week for about 40min or so. I am terrified. I am going in today to see their curriculum, but I know that middle school can be tough. I am so nervous that they will see it is my first time and they will die of laughter at me. Any advice for a newbie?

[guest83140]

A health class is what we do basically when we talk or teach others about health issues. I would probably find time to visit the classroom beforehand to get comfortable with the environment, setup and tone. Then I would ask to look over the curriculum for that semester. Health classes usually last for one semester, half the school year. 40 minutes is a lot but if you are given great media material (such as videos or a site for powerpoint, handouts, etc.) that would kill a lot of time. It's only one time a week, you can do that! Consider it a nurse lecture to a small group of "interested" students. I know as part of my Bachelor degree we had to do presentations as well as take a speech class. I told myself, " girl you have come too far to let talking to ordinary people block you from your career journey. If others can do, you can too!" Good Luck and practice talking to family, pets, mirror and recording yourself and you will be fine! Practice makes perfect! Be confident, Be you!:up:

[bergren]

Interact with them as much as possible. Keep them engaged. The first day of class collect their anonymous ideas of what they want to learn. My 8th grade health teacher every week handed out a paper that each student had to put a question on and hand in. It lead to some really relavent discussions. He did not always address the topic that week, but would have to prepare and come back later.

Kids want to be healthy - you can provide games and contests. Do a career day. There are some great health teaching resources out there and most are free. I am sure some will get posted here. Look at CDC DASH website.

Topics for middle schoolers:

Reading food labels

Difficulty eating healthy at fast food

Screen time

Sleep

Blood pressure

Safety

Are there certified health teachers in the school? I am sure they will help. Good luck!!

[asp40]

Thanks to both of you for the support and ideas.

It is a small school, so I think each class will only have like 6-12 kids. Actually, there is a new teacher who used to teach health so I am going to go to her for ideas for sure. I took home a few books to help me, and once they get back to me with the curriculum, I think I will feel a lot better (I hope)