Overwhelmed with paperwork...

hi there ! yes, the begining of the year paperwork is tremendous for sure. once you get it sorted and filed away, then things will get to normal (whatever that is ) ! lol

is this your first year as a school nurse ? please don't throw in the towel. it will get better i promise !

praiser :heartbeat

September/October are the worst. It takes me that long just to get organized for the year. So much of it I would do ahead but you can't because the you have to wait till the students are there and the computers are updated for the new year. This year we are still plowing through the new immunization regulations from last year. I wish parents would just get them done or sign that they don't want imm. Supposedly they are not allowed to start the first day of school if they still are not up to date, but I don't know who is going to stand at the door and stop them. (not me!!)

Add to that the potential problems with H1N1 and it's gonna be a wild year!

nope this is not my first year, i love my job and have been a school nurse for 9 years. it just seems like this year is crazier than ever. h1n1 doesn't help matters but maybe that will get better. it kills me when you send papers home to parents to be signed with specific notes and they come back unsigned or half way filled out! this drives me absolutly bonkers. i guess i am a little anal retentive about some stuff, but in the end it means double the work for me. argggggghhhh!!!! i decided that i was gonna work smarter, not harder... but to no avail.

i agree that it does get better toward oct. it seems that after that you kinda get in the swing of things and the year goes smoothly.

"Paperwork, I didn't see any paperwork. My kid would have surely returned it to you. You must have lost it. No I didn't get that letter you mailed me, the post office must have lost it.":banghead:

I am aware of districts that have put all health and registration forms on the web, interactive forms that the parents fill in online and he nurse does not have to "enter" them, but just needs to view to verify the dates.

Is anyone here using that kind of system?

I remember having to do all that paperwork !!!! Setting up new files for all the new students, updating files, making sure immunizations are compliant, sending home appt. forms for immunizations clinics, sending home allergy and health procedure forms, making sure all doctors orders are in for meds, sending home health surveys, and the list goes on. On top of the paperwork, having to make sure all the rosters are set is a whole other case. Then with hearing and vision and dental screenings, that can also push one back. Now with the flu vaccines, its going to be a busy year. BTW I miss working in school health. All the paperwork and business kept me on my toes !

I am aware of districts that have put all health and registration forms on the web, interactive forms that the parents fill in online and he nurse does not have to "enter" them, but just needs to view to verify the dates.

Is anyone here using that kind of system?

We have talked about that type of thing but do not use one. One question we keep coming back to is what type of paper file would we have on the students in the event of a building evacuation. We keep copies of our emergency information cards in a locked file in a "to go" bag so in the event of an evacuation, we could just grab meds, the bag and go. If you had everything online, would you still need to print a copy?

You would be able to access all the files remotely and there would be a backup server off site. I would think you would only need the files for the most medically fragile, and they should be prepared anyway if they had a 911 call. You could also have them on a flash drive?

You could print a copy of daily meds once a month to go with your grab and go, but each medication container would also have the drs orders. If you are evacuating, it would be an emergency, and you would be getting the kids back to their parents as soon as possible.

One issue that has come up with H1N1 is that in the event of a school closure, what are you doing with the daily meds? The parents may need to have the meds returned to them if the closure is extended? What types of provisions have people arranged for that? How are you arranging for pickup?

Martha,

These are good questions. In addition to here, they should be posted on the listserv.