LikeTheDeadSea

I had a similar sounding year after some staff shuffling where I got a new building assignment. Halfway through the year I had "had it up to here" with staff complaints and visits that were not necessary. I ran a report of visit amounts and at the next staff meeting very briefly stated the amount of staff visits that have occurred so far that year, and I mention that when my nurse hat is on, I'm required to chart what I'm doing, so even a quick papercut becomes a much more detailed and time consuming task than most would assume. Most were surprised that there was a paper trail of how many times they swung into the office that could be referenced. I also bring up that my budget for the year is less than $3 a child, so coming in to use over the counters regularly is taking directly from my supplies. Budgets are something staff understand. I've said - once I'm out, I'm out. I don't mind helping if you're starting with a migraine and left your purse at home on accident, but regular usage absolutely can't happen. Our procedures actually state that more than 10 med administrations requires a private doctor's note instead of the standing orders. I would lean into that way of thinking, too. As a nurse, I can't in good faith of my license give you medication for reoccurring complaints without a private physician's order to show that this is the prescribed treatment plan.

This varies district to district. In my area, only work as a Certified School Nurse counts for steps. Doesn't matter if you've been an RN for 5 years or 20 years, you only get credit for your time working in the role of a CSN. Some districts will really be jerks about it and not include time working as a CSN out of state. This is not a nurse-only rule of thumb, they do this to teachers and anyone else considered professional staff.

https://www.always.com/en-us/puberty-education-programs-for-teachers-students-and-parents

Messaging you ?

PRN pediatric homecare. (I hold a hard boundary that I'll pick up random weekend days / weekend call outs for the families I am oriented to. I won't commit to an every other weekend schedule or any type of rotation.) I work at a residential Summer camp, as I haven't wanted summers off and that's usually in the $10k ballpark. I've done extended school year programs, too, to a similar $.

We had a girl scout troop start supplying as their community service initiative. I tend to ask the PTO for things that I can't order through our budgets. (ie: underwear for accidents)

I would be clear that any conversation with her is with your "friend" hat on and not your "employee of same location" hat, since essentially you're being asked to discuss her employment status. Maybe a discussion with her direct administrator and someone from HR who can discuss what going on FMLA/ST really means can help her see what her options are clearer.

On particularly rough years, I mention the number of staff member visits during faculty meetings and they tend to drop off for a bit.

This is a tough one, I experienced what has been described above - I asked for acknowledgement of my 4years of school nursing that was in a non-CSN role, and they wouldn't budge me up the payscale at all, I had to start at Year 1. This is public school - I think private schools often have more wiggle room, although their salaries in my area are significantly less than public, so the wiggle room doesn't really help in grand scheme.

If residential, I'd try some good 'ol prune juice as a snack. If no relief, I'd take that kiddo to urgent care to get the private order. I'd suggest that the camp director work on building a relationship with a PCP in the area to get more specific orders for their OTCs, that's what we do. We essentially write the order of things we plan to stock and present it to them a few weeks prior to camp and get their signature on it. Compensation is a couple hundred bucks, but well worth the legal piece of mind.

Did you ask to speak with a nurse that worked there previously? That's usually a great inside scoop. ?

Camp nursing and school nursing heavily overlap, and those that dislike one often dislike the other due to the independence/loneliness aspect. I would not work at a residential camp for generally healthy children that isn't staffed with at least 2 full time nurses and 1 floating nurse. There is a theme within the camp community where staff/counselor pay is exempt from minimum wage in some states with crazy hours and although there is a push to change this in the larger camp community, this view definitely was put on health care staff. Year to year, if enough people say 'yes' to working in understaffed conditions, people become okay with it. Remember than when a camp interviews you, you are also interviewing the camp. Ask them what their health staffing is like and what the schedule typically is. Ask to talk to a nurse who previously worked there so you can get a better idea of what it is like. (If they can't find one - red flag!) Variation is wiiiiiiide and camp nurses are in high demand every year, so you can definitely be picky and find a better experience.

I would request a private order from the camper's pediatrician with their dosing/instructions on it and treat it like I do all private orders instead of a standing order, since the age doesn't align with the standing order parameters.

I consider School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text to be like a bible of school nursing. I would also ask for your district's Health Services Manual, print out any school board policies that impact your office, and get the Communicable Disease information for schools from your local Department of Health.

I gifted myself a thermos that is glittery from Etsy that looks like an Elmer's glue stick and it has my name on it and says "You're the glue that keeps the school together." People always ask who gave it to me, and I'm always honest and say it was me doing some self-care, LOL