NurseBeans

Consider locking up your toilet paper as well...word has it you can't get a single roll at the Walmart!

These comments used to irritate me until my sister sent me a picture of a flyer from one of her childrens' schools, it basically said they would pay substitutes a little extra to sub for the "health office". Which it is called because they do not have a nurse per school, they have a nurse per district and then just whoever wants to work the health office in the school...she then proceeded to say she might do it...despite the fact that she gets woozy when I mention blood or scabs or vomit. She had no idea she might encounter those things. It really is just that not every school in the country has an "actual" nurse, and people don't realize what we do. Having said that, as a substitute school nurse now, somehow my name made it on to the list of district-wide subs for teachers. The first time I got a call to sub in a classroom I actually said "OMG no, I'm just a nurse! I can't be in a classroom!"

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you are 1) not a school nurse, 2) not a nurse or healthcare worker of any kind and 3) a parent who has recently been investigated for child abuse? Maybe because of a report by a school nurse? Just a guess. Anyway, no one I know enjoys making calls to CPS. It's a minimum 45 minutes on hold, then a long, boring conversation with an investigator, then paperwork on top of that, all while other students stack up in my office waiting to be seen. Nevertheless, I call whenever I have a "suspicion" or "little feeling in my head" (your words) because that is exactly what my job is. It is my responsibility to "be nosy and help" (your words). If I am correct and you are a parent who is being investigated for suspected abuse, I am sorry you and your child are in that situation. But let's please not suggest the school nurse should be punished/suspended/terminated if they are wrong in reporting SUSPECTED abuse. We call when we suspect abuse. Period. It's the LAW, and it's called mandated reporting.

When I worked elementary I drafted a letter I liked to give out when they do their kindergarten assessments (May and June). It included all the basic information the parents wouldn't necessarily know, like when to keep your kid home, why the nurse may call, what the immunization and physical requirements are, the importance of letting the nurse know about allergies, etc. Often the parents who had used daycare or preschool were very well informed but it seemed like the parents who had kept their kids home from birth to 5 were very much caught off guard by some of the basics (like please don't send your kid in when actively vomiting). Many of the parents didn't even realize there WAS a school nurse. So the letter was a good means of introduction to the nurse and the whole school environment. I mean, I'm pretty sure no one read it but I could always say I had tried to inform.

Until this year they were supposed to keep hoods down at all times here...this year they do not care. Having said that, the older nurse I work with has a conniption every time a kid walks in with a hood up. She feels that it is disrespectful, which I noticed is the feeling among most of the older teachers as well. I get that, but the building is pretty cold. If I really need to assess something that is covered by the hood I ask them to remove it. Never had any resistance. Honestly I don't feel disrespected by a hoodie half as much as I feel disrespected by some of those same older teachers who think all I do is pass out band aids. It's whatever.

That orange spray we used to use in the hospital...think it's called Citrus II

UGH--artificial nail nurse visits? Unless it's bleeding, and unless you are in fact a nail technician, that needs to stop now. She has had a week to take care of that at home and hasn't--so the visit is nonsense. Put a stop to that. In general, any visit that becomes a daily thing, ask what they do at home or are doing at home for their issue. Frequently the answer is "nothing". So "nothing" is what should be continued. Call home and put a stop to it. In my experience, anything the kids can help themselves to is abused. I keep as much out of their own hands as possible. We do a self-serve band aid, deodorant, pad/tampon station at the front of our office and tell the kids to grab and go. Those get abused a little but I'm never going to tell a kid she can't grab extra pads. Many of them don't have a supply at home. Similarly, although I never tell someone they aren't having a headache or stomachache, I do frequently say "sometimes there's nothing to be done for this". It's the truth. Do you throw tums at every stomachache you have? Or tylenol at every headache you have? Probably not. They shouldn't either. As far as refusing to leave without something, that's a behavioral issue and hopefully you have support from admin...the students should never tell you what you will do for them. I have heard more than once as a student was walking out the door "I HATE her!" Oh well. Still have my job ?‍♀️

This frustrates me...because as much as I understand having to work and not wanting/being able to leave work or take time off work, isn't it one of those things you have to consider before having children? Like, you may have to pick them up at some point...so you may have to make arrangements or hell, even switch jobs to accommodate the kids. I know I have switched jobs, dialed back hours, switched shifts, even changed my nursing specialty because the school is not a daycare. I really think that's the issue at hand, they think the school owes it to them to handle their kids for 6.5 hours.

I am on the East coast so I can't speak to LA, but I can say I had to pay for my own credentialing/certificate. It was through one of our local universities. I also had to pay to take the Praxis because we are on a teacher's contract. Than about a year later they made the 1300 dollar course free online and discontinued the Praxis for nurses requirement. I may have said some bad words when they told me. But yeah, the cost and the pay cut are worth it to me. I spend summers with my kids instead of them sitting in childcare or camps they don't care for.

You know, I had thought this too, and the other nurse I work with said the whole situation is giving her weird vibes. The student has a clotting disorder according to mom, and she told me early on this year that her father had died from a blood clot. She gets anxiety every time she has leg pain because of it. But my admin says she spoke with dad and he is going to be at this meeting tomorrow...maybe it's step dad, maybe the student and mother are big fat liars, maybe something else. But it's all weird and I hope we get to the bottom of it. Either way, she has a diagnosis and I am going forward with a 504 unless mom says otherwise.

2 nurses, 900-1000 students we really are lucky!

Thank you all--I have not been able to speak with parent or doctors yet. Admin had come to me to see what her story was regarding truancy, and all I could say was she has no 504 but she has had this condition and chronic absenteeism since first grade (she is in seventh now). She has skipped around different districts and it looks like she is doing it due to the truancy issues, and I think she hadn't been anywhere long enough to get a 504 started. I just wasn't really sure I could do much in a 504 beyond bathroom access, which admittedly she already has established. Which could also be the reason she has no 504. Lots of unanswered questions with this kid (and parent), I just thought I would get my ducks in a row.

Ok, I have a middle schooler with interstitial cystitis, which I know is rare for the age group but from the looks of it, she has had issues since early childhood and is a chronic truancy problem. I'm sure not all of her absences are due to her medical issues but that's neither here nor there. I was trying to have a discussion with parent about a 504 and besides unquestioned and quick access to a bathroom, I cannot for the life of me imagine what to put on a 504. Anyone have anything to add? I really want to get this kid to attend school more often and my only real tool is the 504.

I don't still have a copy, but from what I can recall, it was pretty much "send child to nurse if any c/o pain or any witnessed fall/bump/impact". Like, be more cautious with this child than the rest. No other restrictions were desired from her physician.

I feel like if you are asked to keep track, then you should absolutely be checking rosters. Otherwise they need to keep you out of it. Best believe it would come back to the person tracking things if something went wrong. I would either start pulling kids or get rid of the responsibility since they aren't allowing you to do what needs to be done.

I am a bit late to the party here with a comment, but we have two nurses here (MS, 900 plus students) and last year we saw...brace yourselves...150 students a day. Yowza...the other nurse has been here quite some time and she would put out an entire snack buffet for the kids, she had closets full of clothing, she would let them come in and fix hair and/or make up, she would let them come in and JUST. SIT. AND. TALK. Not a student in crisis who needed counseling, mind you, but just come in and visit. Well by June I had enough and had come to the conclusion that what I was doing wasn't nursing, so I left the job. Circumstances are such that I find myself long-term subbing in the same school, in the other nurse's position, and the new nurse's mentor came in and absolutely demolished the clothing and shoe stash, and is teaching the new nurse not to feed them, not to give them mints or cough drops or lip balm or bottles of water...we see maybe 30 a day of legit health problems. And this new nurse is AMAZING and we work well together and I am so so sad that I am but a sub and will have to move on eventually but that is another story for another thread. The point here is, they are like cats. If you offer food and clothing, they will show up in droves. If you just get rid of stuff like clothes and shoes and your answer every time is "I don't have any", they will stop showing up and you can focus on actual nursing. The teachers are slowly getting the message. Patience.

Agree with this. Maybe just make sure your head is not one of the rollers. As far as the zen, I have learned to do as Old Dude suggests. Control what you can, let go of what you can't, enjoy the little things the job has to offer (like lunch with your little one).

This one goes back to my days in the OR: I am scrubbed to assist a surgery that is either a new type of procedure or it is a mean surgeon I have never worked with, but either way I am confused and disoriented, and I keep contaminating my field and the trays are complete nonsense, and the circulator keeps opening more and more stuff I either recognize and don't need, or don't recognize at all. And then usually anesthesia is yelling about some sort of catastrophe with the airway. Ugh. My husband calls it working the night shift.

I've just recently come from a K-4 to a middle school, 7-8. I have to say, I love these older kids. They are funny, you can have a conversation with them, some of them are very reasonable and you can work with them to keep them in the school for the day. Some of them are less reasonable, and some of them are still very much small children (with helicopter parents to boot). Middle school kids are all over the map when it comes to development, which makes it more interesting to me. And the emotional turmoil...holy schnikes!! I was feeling guilty about really enjoying the different age group when a teacher informed me that teachers do the same thing; they might teach 3rd grade then move to the high school and love it so much more. When you find your age group, you find your age group. Having said that, high school...gross. Would never go to the high school personally. Too much drugs and drinking and even more drama and relationship weirdness amongst the kids. Yuck.

Well, you have a legitimate infection control concern with it being flu season and LD being healthy, and only being there for a nap, which does not need nursing supervision. I would try to see if there is a reason he can't nap somewhere else. If the only reason he comes to your office is because you have a bed, well then they need to find a cot or mat so he can sleep elsewhere. Unless he NEEDS a nurse to observe him napping, he can be somewhere else with this. Having said that, I would frequently allow children to nap in my office if they just needed sleep, but if it is everyday I would try to find somewhere else for little man to go. You can't tie up your few resources with a non-nursing issue. And as a parent, I would be irritated if my child were put in the nasty germy nurses office every day just to sleep. It's asking for trouble.

From the OR world...don't finish your cases too quick or you WILL get someone else's work! If you go get one suture, just grab two. If you grab one you WILL drop or contaminate. All redheads wake up from anesthesia like wild animals. Actually that one may be scientifically backed, not sure... From the wild, wonderful world of school nursing, don't say the Q-word, don't mention a FF, don't mention a crazy parent by name or they WILL walk in the door that day! And if you wear nice new scrubs to work and actually do hair/makeup, you will get puked on. Or peed on. Or both.

You are correct about school nursing being desperate and paying poorly. But I would really not recommend it for a new grad nurse. It takes a few years of clinical experience before being able to function alone, responsibly and confidently. In my state 3 years of supervised clinical experience is REQUIRED to apply for school nursing positions.

I'm going to suggest school nursing because although it is not NOT nursing (really, we are real nurses, I swear) it is so different from inpatient nursing that it might be a better fit. And psych experience will dovetail nicely into dealing with the HS population. They are almost adults if you don't like peds... Lots of administrative work, if that's what you're into.

I let parents know because it is their responsibility. I can and have called doctor's offices and know one local peds office will fax me records and two others will not. They don't feel as though I am a provider caring for the child and feel like it is a privacy violation to send me immunization records. I feel like the peds offices should know what is required to register for the local schools. They do not. For me the issue arises with lead testing. Our state says we need proof of a blood test, surrounding states say a risk assessment is good enough. The peds around here all seem to think a risk assessment is enough. They say the kids are good to register, the school nurse says no...you can see how this conversation usually goes with a parent.

I give ONE. I bought sugar free mint ones that the kids don't like as much and I figure, they're just nasty candy and when my supply is gone for the year...it's gone. I do point out to the non-coughers that they haven't coughed since entering my office. about 95 % of the time this will result in a fake, half-hearted attempt at a cough. This is purely for my own amusement as I'm going to hand over the cough drop anyway. Oh, and I never give one to the same kid two days in a row. I tell them they can bring their own and no one is frisking anyone in the halls for contraband cough drops. I did have a kid today who came in for a cough drop, I gave it. He came back several hours later asking for another and I asked if it worked earlier. He said no, and I asked "why would I give you another when the first one didn't work?" He was stunned that I didn't just hand over the cough drop. But seriously, if something didn't work, do you try it again or move on to other intervention? Even a KN can figure that out.