BrisketRN

Hello friends—former regular poster turned SAHM here—just saw this story about water beads causing serious injury when ingested & how many ingestions happen at school & I though wowie my old school nurse buddies need this resource! Flyer for Educators There’s more information on http://ThatWaterBeadLady.org

I've had luck by contacting a local allergist (check your students' allergy paperwork). You could also call/email nearby school nurses & ask who they use. If there is a name on the box definitely contact that doctor. Depending on your state there may already be standard standing order paperwork for Epi Pens. Then you can go through epipen4schools.com to get 2 boxes for free. It sometimes takes a few weeks to get them.

I've only called EMS for fainting once because the student was found on the floor (unwitnessed fainting, but hx of fainting) and didn't gain consciousness within a few minutes. Typically I do a once-over for injuries related to the fall, get a set of vitals, do a quick neuro exam, and try to ID the cause (typically they didn't eat yet that day or there was a gross video in science class). If no severe injury, normal vitals, normal neuro then they get a juice box, feet elevated for 20 minutes, a phone call home & back to class.

I like the littles. 1st-5th grade are my favorites. They are little sponges, and I get to come in at an opportune time to teach them how to manage their chronic conditions and stay healthy. The biggest challenge is that it takes them a while to warm up to you.

We do HOTV with our preschoolers and have the teachers practice with them as a playing game in the days before their screenings. We have the letters printed on cards and they pick the card up as it's lit. For hearing exam we "play" the raise your hand with the beep game the day of the screenings. I got to work with an awesome school nurse who has actually made a business out of doing hearing/vision screenings, and she had so many great ideas. For some kids "jump when you hear the beep" or "drop the ball in the bucket when you hear the beep" works best.

This board is the best place to be. I was a relatively new nurse when I started in a school 4 years ago and these folks taught me everything I know!

HAHAHA that'd be a big fat NOPE from me.

You did it @Glitternurse! It is so crazy to look back now and think about August. I feel like we can all tackle anything thrown at us after this chaotic year.

I second this. See if your district/school has any resources for you or check with your state's association of school nurses.

I think in those instances you trust your gut. I ask myself could this person decompensate quickly? How much longer would it take to seek medical attention if they were driven to the hospital vs. if EMS is called? I know at my school our EMS time is 8 minutes, and it takes about 15 minutes to drive to the nearest emergency room. We rarely call EMS for staff. They've typically jumped into someone else's car before EMS would even get here. No point in me calling if the person won't be here anymore.

Ah but don't forget the game changer I threw in a few years ago--oyster crackers.

We're currently looking for my replacement--anyone have some good questions to ask school nurse candidates?

First thing that comes to mind is my favorite story to share with friends from when I worked home health as a new grad. My patient's dog choked on an apple core. I ended up doing the doggy Heimlich and had to do CPR because the dog had no pulse. Actually got the dog back and she was back to normal when I saw her the following week! Didn't chart that one...

We were told to offer guided meditations. If they have a phone on them they can use that and lie down and do a guided meditation or sometimes just allowing them to listen to music can help.

Agreed! My passion is having a roof over my head, food in the fridge, and clothing on my back. Keeps me coming to work day after day.

My kids all use OmniPod Dash. They have great Youtube videos: https://www.Youtube.com/channel/UCgwZ9hRegg6DZXqY4ji60vQ It's really easy to use. They can be programmed to have different basal rates at different times of the day along with different carb ratios at different times of the day. I am assuming the parents will already have that all done when they drop the kids off. So all I'm doing is typing in the exact grams of carbs for each meal/snack and then typing in BG level. The machine does the math for me and I press submit to get the bolus going. I can also put in a bolus of my own choosing if appropriate. Right now all I really help with for the kids is finding grams of carbs for food items and double checking that they've typed in the correct numbers. The only hard part is putting the pods for the insulin pump on. It can be tricky, and I actually have never done it. The few times we've had a disconnect we either ditch the pump for the day and use back up insulin or parents will come put a new pod on.

22 for me! All in-person, all year. This year has been a whirlwind!

Made me think of an event 2 weeks ago. One of my known drama queens tripped in the hallway--the sort of trip where most kids would get up quickly and pretend it didn't happen. Instead she sprawled herself across the hallway and then our janitor started yelling "OH NO ARE YOU OKAY?" She turned the dramatics up more. A small crowd formed around her. I had to tell them all THREE TIMES to go away. As soon as the crowd dispersed she was completely fine.

Agree with those above. Go to admin. That's infuriating that the teacher believes they have the authority to go over you, around you, and scare a parent. Wonder how they'd feel about you barging in and scream-teaching over them during a lesson?

Not in NJ but at a private school. We are required to follow all of the same medication administration policies as public schools. Contact your state dept of health and school board of education. Maybe check out NJ Association of School Nurses website? They look to have a lot of links and resources.

Awesome job! Congrats! I'm not surprised that you passed--you're always a beacon on knowledge for me.

I'm at a K-12 school, and this is the relationship I have with most of our secondary staff. The elementary staff know me more personally (maybe it's because I work more closely with them and communicate more often?), but I feel your pain. The kids are great though. The little ones always have a laundry list of questions for me ?. What's my favorite food? Is that a picture of my dog? What's his name? What did I do over Winter break? What Winter holiday do I celebrate? Who's my favorite Pokémon? But maybe they're just trying to get out of class...

Colgate for toothbrushes/toothpaste. Warning: they will send mass amounts. Crazy amounts. My first year I ordered 100 and was sent 600 over a 6 month period. https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health-education/program-kits

To be fair, my school doesn't "do" teacher appreciation week, but last year on May 6th our kindergarten teacher rallied some of the elementary classes to make zoom videos of the kids screaming "Happy Nurse's Day!" I cried like a baby, at home of course. That teacher left after her maternity leave this year, so I'll probably be entirely ignored like I was the 4 years before that. Always forgotten...unless I'm trying to eat lunch in peace.

I did similarly, but I had parents phone me and I ran it outside right in front of the school. We were afraid to let anyone inside. I gave 2 days, 4 hour time slot. Everyone made it work.