Stitchy's mom

When I was a GN (yup, that long ago ) I worked on a floor exactly like that. I didn't know very much to say the least, I was a new graduate, honestly, they don't know a lot, but I digress. I would ask for help and they would just look at me like I'm an idiot. I ended up quitting and thinking long and hard as to whether I wanted to even be a nurse. I always thought of them when we had students or new grads on the floor. I hope I was NEVER like that!

The teachers (for the most part), kids (for the most part) and parents (for the most part) are super where I am. Administration...not so much. I'm probably only going to get a "We'll miss you." on Friday (my last day). But that's okay, I'm going to be able to stay home and be there when my kids need me. And honestly, they'll always need mommy, no matter how old they get. I think that the saying "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." applies here. Grandmom would say that "it's okay, your halo will be a tiny bit shinier."

About a million years ago when I took my board, (we had paper and pencil, fill in the circles) we had our testing over 3 days in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall. By the end of the first group of test questions, I had completely relaxed, because I was convinced that I was going to fail. I had, and still do have, a horrible amount of test anxiety...even now thinking about it I'm getting sick. I ended up passing. Our school did not teach in the same style as the boards. I took a review class and was very surprised by the style of questions. I think that if you study, relax, and pay attention on the floors, you should do fine. I understand not wanting to pay all that money for a degree/diploma and not being able to pass a test to use it. Good Luck!!

I'd call 911 then parents, unless mom or dad was literally in the building. Even then I'd be on the phone to 911 and have someone else paging the parent.

Trying to tell her that I was doing an assessment wasn't working. I tried to explain that several times, but it just didn't work. I don't understand why people think that they are experts in everything. I don't tell them how to teach. Why do they think that they can tell me how to nurse?

A teacher came in with a student telling me that he had ringworm and that mom needed to come and get him...now! I said that I would take a look. I looked at his head and nothing. He had a small area, tinier than my pinky had no hair. No redness. No edema. No scaling, nothing. The area in question looked like the back of my hand. I asked her if this area was what she was talking about and she said yes, this is how the ring worm started last year and that I needed to call the mom now. Well, I didn't think that it was ringworm so I wanted to look it up on the internet. She kept telling me to call the mom (Her exact words were, "No, No, call his mom." with a wag of her finger.) I told her I was gathering information. So she decided to speak to Mr. X (He's in charge when our principal is gone. She came back in and said that Mr. X wanted to see me now. By the way the student was there the whole time (so unprofessional, it was killing me). Mr. X greeted me with (in a very condescending tone.) "Call the mother." To which I responded, "I am doing an assessment, the way I was taught in school. If you do not like it I can leave right now." I said it in a very low voice, his door was open and I don't think the secretary could have heard. He told me not to yell at him...I'm a mom, he has no idea how loud I can be when I am yelling. I told him that I would walk out right now, except I don't want to leave these kids without a nurse. I walked back to my office and continued my assessment. I did call mom to ask her about it, after speaking with the student and finding out what was going on and how the area was being treated. Oh, wait, mom confirmed everything that he said. Non contagious and has been treated for about 3 weeks by an MD. I asked for a note from the doc, but I don't think that I'll get one.

I was 16 and working in a nursing home. I had never seen a member that wasn't attached to a baby. It was really hard for me, but I worked with some really good people. We switched up the assignments so I didn't have both the men, I had the one by the window who had dementia and didn't know anything or anybody and the other aide had the man by the door. We cared for them at the same time and before you knew it, I was very comfortable caring for men. :)

So yesterday I had one of the kids come in c/o SOB. Does she have asthma, yup. Is her inhaler at school, nope. I did an assessment, her lungs were clear, pulse and resp were WNL, she was talking to me without any difficulty, color was better than mine. I had to call grandmom, 30 - 45 minutes away. Do I think she was faking it, yes, but I wasn't going to not do what I could to get her inhaler. Oh, and did anyone leave me one, nope.

I've had a ton of them since school started in August. I don't think there's much you can do, maybe sending a flyer home and hope the parents read it. Is it the same couple of kids or is it different kids? Mine are all over the place.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let a student come in without a paper nurses pass. They should have name, date, time, and complaint. If the kids have a head injury and you don't know their name you can't assess that. Paper passes are great to jot notes on before charting when you have several kids (I went to the bathroom, came back and there were 6 kids in my room with various complaints). Some times kids come down without their teacher's knowledge, if they have a written pass you know the teacher knows. Obviously, if a student comes in with a nose bleed that looks like he/she was hit by a 2x4, treat the nose bleed then call the teacher. Find out EXACTLY what your hours are going to be and if you are required to attend "professional development" for teachers. It doesn't make any sense to me to have to go to these "professional development" meetings when they're discussing how better to teach math. Some principals think that's what we should do. "Professional development" for a nurse should be how to make the Health Office run smoother, safer, healthier, not a better place for math or reading. Find out if you have a budget and what it is. There are going to be tons of "toys" that you'll want, but it's more important to have the gloves and bandages. Keep communication lines open with teachers and parents. Error on the side of telling parents every little thing. Get or make nurses notes home. The older kids might toss them, but charting "Note home to parents." is nice if you get questioned. There's a Sub Nurse thread somewhere here. Look for it and use it as a guide to do your sub folder right away. I had a lot of issues when I started. I ended up handing in my resignation. I liked the kiddie (for the most part) and the parents (for the most part) but those over 21 were too much to handle. I find myself wishing that they would just fire me. Have fun

I chart electronically, but the subs have to do it on paper because they don't have computer access. I also have to tell the subs that health information needs to be locked up. I feel like any nurse whose spend a second in nursing school would know these things and I'm acting as if they don't have a brain cell firing. You can't be a ding bat and get your RN...

Just curious. I thought that it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that if you chart something, you sign it. I had a sub the other day and while some charting was done, it wasn't signed. I'm being told that I should have had written in my sub folder that if the sub charts, it needs to be signed. I feel like a nanny telling other RN's to sign their charts. Thoughts?

Oh, I forgot, are there many jobs out there for school nurses? I don't want to go through getting my cert only to find I can't get a position. Where would I look?

Not fond of the term "Client" either. When I speak of "the ill" they are "patients", but when I chart they're "clients." I know we have to do these things to be "Politically Correct."

Okay, so I handed in my resignation, and my last day is just before Christmas. Now I have to figure out if I'm going to get my cert. I need to take 1 class before I start the program. Part of me wants to, but part of me is saying I have to worry about my kids and while having a little extra money was nice, is it worth it? The SGO's, meetings that last forever, that have little or nothing to do with the health office, not being able to have lunches (my choice, I can't just shut the door on the kiddies), and the rest, do I want to do this? Is it worth it? It this just a "wacky school" or are all schools like this? I don't mind this kiddies so much, not even the parents, but administration... The reason I took the position in the first place was because they had a need and I had the skill. I wasn't looking for a job. I liked being a mommy and was lucky enough to be able to live on my hubby's salary. Like I said, I liked being the school nurse. I liked the kiddies and even some parents. Thoughts?