Eleven011

Happy Halloween All!! I want to let everyone know that I am leaving my school nurse job ? . I started 10 years ago when my youngest son was in 2nd grade and he is graduating this year. This job has been perfect for being able to be where my kids are and being able to see them and help them so much along the way. But they are all adults now and it is no longer worth the low pay and taking 2nd and 3rd jobs just to makes ends meet. I'm going to step away from nursing all together (at least for now) and take a local job in a county office. I will make more money there and have the same hours, except for Summer (which was really only important when my kids were little). It's been great being here for all the support that you fellow nurses give to one another!! I'll stop by now and again ?

I made one once with a title that said "Say "BOO" to the Flu" and then I had little ghosts all around that said things like "wash your hands" and "sneeze into your sleeve", that kind of thing.

My school has about 600 kids K-12th grade. The OTC meds trickle in throughout the year, but by the end I probably have 20-25 different ones. Most are tylenol or motrin, but I do get anxiety meds, cold meds, itch creams, etc.

No, kids are not permitted to carry medications on them. That said, I'm not the tylenol police and if a high school student has a bottle in his backpack, I'm not going to push it much. Our policy is that if parents want their kids to have access to OTC meds during the school day, they can bring in a supply to me, fill out a permission slip and then I can give it to them upon their request. Otherwise, its icepacks/water for headaches, salt water rinse for sore throats, ect. Parents can also bring up a one time dose to a student if they want to without any paperwork.

We don't keep any OTC's in stock for PRN use, so we certainly wouldn't keep any specialty ones. I think that is asking a bit much.

I start inservice tomorrow - 8/15, and kids will be back 8/23. My last child is a senior this year, so this will be my year to decide if I want to keep doing school nursing or move on. We will see how the year goes! When do you all start school?

I get lumped in with Teachers too. I did have the Kindergarten class color me pictures and then all come squeeze into my room to recite "Thank you for taking care of us". It was nice to be appreciated, even by a gaggle of Kinders ?

I can't speak for every position, but for the majority, we don't give vaccinations in our office. However, I do check the immunization status of all incoming Kindergarden, 6th grade and New to district students. I call and encourage parents to get their children vaccinated, and send home information from our Dept of Health about required vaccinations. My school expects me to a high percentage of compliance with required vaccinations. It is a good portion of my job. Like the previous poster stated, if your views don't align with your state requirements or your schools beliefs, you might not be happy in a school nurse position.

I have pretty much the same office set up - back door to the office, front door into the main hallway. I only shut the main hallway door if I am gone, or at lunch. I can't imagine opening and shutting it all day long! I don't understand safety reasons? People have to be cleared to enter the building through the main offices, so its not like there will be meandering visitors out there. And if its to keep students out....if they knock....I'd let them in?? Not sure of the reasoning there.

I've had several different side jobs over the years. For 3 years, I was the supervising nurse for a small assisted living facility. I could do my work in the evening or on weekends and the administrator took care of things during the work day. At other times, I was PRN at a local nursing home. I would pick up about one weekend a month, then fill in for vacations in the Summer time. I took a break from side jobs when Covid hit, mainly because of all the extra work at the school, I was exhausted! But also I didn't want the extra exposure and some places had a "only one healthcare job" rule. But this Summer I'll be back looking for something again!

I find a lunch time that works into my schedule and then let all staff know what time I will be on lunch. I hang a sign on my door (with a picture for the littles), shut and lock it. There is a back door that staff can access should they need to come in. I eat in my office by choice because I usually watch netflix or something while I'm eating. I still will answer my phone and respond to emergencies, but for the most part, staff are good about respecting my lunch. They will quietly come in and say "I'm just going to grab an icepack.." or some such thing. The secretaries will help students call home if they need to. I get enough uninterrupted lunches that I don't fret too much about the ones where I have to attend to a vomiting or bleeding student!

Today has been easy, and so fun to see the littles costumes - and even some of the big kids! Tomorrow will be a whole new ball game ??

I always go along with spirit/Pep days which are usually jeans and school themed apparel. For special days/weeks, like Homecoming or "I hate Winter" - I do a scaled back version. Backwards day is easy with scrubs - so is Mismatched day. Crazy hair day is fun. For Halloween, I have an orange tshirt with a black pumpkin on it that I wear with jeans or black scrubs. Pajama days I usually do "lounge wear" type stuff. Sweats and a relaxed T or sweatshirt. Not a full on pj, but much less casual than jeans. The only issue I've ever ran into is if I have to run an unexpected errand or something after work LOL!

I am the only school in my district, PreK - 12, and I am the only staff for the health dept.

Covid started here in March of 2020 when our school closed down. I spent that Spring/Summer doing temp/health checks on school staff cooking/delivering meals to students. SY 20/21 we were fully masked all year and I was testing and sending home sick kids all day long. SY 21/22 was less masking, but more testing. Tons of exposure to covid positive kids. It finally caught me in May of this year - with 2 days left in the school year!! I was more pissed off than guilty because I love end of the year, plus I had a lot of stuff to do to close out the year! But as a general rule, I do feel guilty being sick, as we have trouble finding subs also, but I'm rarely sick. I'd for sure test yourself so you aren't spreading it around - and hope you feel better soon!!