bluebonnetrn

I have had EMS give the parent a choice on a 2nd grader with retractions and sats in the 80s without oxygen! Bologna! (Turned out to be a post-flu pneumonia) And another case with a 7th grader HR in the upper 190s to 200s for >30 min with a known previous cardiac history. They gave mom the choice and mom said no to EMS and THEY LEFT HER THERE WITH ME IN THE CLINIC. I was furious Needless to say... I don't trust a lot of what EMS does

YES! - I had a nurse parent stand in my office and say to my face "oh, I should get a cake job like this" ? yes, she did

For the most part my parents have been incredibly kind, understanding and grateful. They sometimes express frustration but it is clear that they are just venting and it's not directed at me. There have been a few jerks but only a few. I feel like the parents have been more grateful this year than ever before (or perhaps they have just been more expressive about it) and for all of the crap this year this part has been really nice.

I COMPLETELY AGREE! I am there to evaluate if they are stable or if they need medical attention. If they want proof of substance abuse they need to do lab testing. That said, our district makes us do the assessment as part of their evidence gathering for the student's discipline hearing. I hate it that they use us to provide "evidence". It's wrong for so many reasons. We had to take a "DiBrep" assessment training given to us by a state trooper (in other words, not a clinical person - I don't need two hours on how to evaluate nystagmus hmmm-mmmm thank you). It has very little medical value, gives absolutely no proof whatsoever of substance abuse or not and is used as someone already said for establishing probable cause on the side of the road. Yet we have to do it. And every single last friggin' time one of the admins will ask me "So did they take something? What did they take?' And EVERRRRY time I explain to them that this assessment tells me squat. We use a different form but it has all of the same information that was linked in the PDF files above. To make it even better I have even had to do these assessments on someone TWENTY FOUR hours after they had taken a ew sips of tequila. ummm....OK..... not sure what you think this is going to do 24 hours after the fact. It's a dumb waste of time and puts us in a bad spot.

NSV (non school victory) My hair mysteriously changed from straight to curly (yay hormones!) and I have been learning how to care for naturally curly hair. Big learning curve!! I am proud to say that I have finally got a routine that leaves me with somewhat decent hair so I don't look like I am homeless. I have even watched a few hair care videos while sitting at my desk ?

YUP! All of this. Before we had kids back in person I had some time to get my clinic super organized and take care of some cleaning/purging/organizing tasks that had been neglected. So that was nice. But now it is all of the above. Even though I have less visit numbers per day each visit is a much bigger deal and taking more time. I find myself with very little down time.

Yes, I am also having to call and check on any student absence due to illness whether they are in person or virtual. Our kids can choose to do virtual even if they are an in-person student. I think we are getting a lot of "I don't want to do school today" illnesses and we are also getting a lot of "oh they weren't really sick" explanations after they realize they will be excluded from school. Are they telling the truth? I have no idea. It's going to be like this all year... and I am already tired

We use our Dr's orders as the IHP. Asthma Action plan = care plan Food allergy action plan = care plan plan Seizure plan = care plan The only ones that I write up are the T1D kids and if they have some other unique/unusual situation.

the wisdom that comes with hindsight!!

I understand your anxiety. Your observations are spot on! However, school nursing is a very high level of autonomy. The normal, daily stuff you could learn and manage. But when the SHTF it's YOU and a bunch of teachers... I would not have had the ability as a new grad. Very carefully consider that choice and perhaps buck up and get the hospital experience first. You will be a better all around nurse for it. Good luck and best wishes!

YUP! At the end of February I had 2 N95 masks (one for me and one for my assistant) The next week our director asked for a supply count in the clinic and my masks were GONE. Someone did steal them and the most likely person (easiest access and knowledge of supplies in the clinic) was the custodian. But could I prove it? no

Here is a great screening tool to share https://www.sanantonio.gov/Health/News/Alerts/CoronaVirus

Just curious - what do your office hours consist of? Are you assessing students? Are you doing some teaching? Just talking and listening?

So - I really don't see how we need to be "trained" to screen people. We already do that. We already triage people. -"You're fine, go back to class" -"You should go home and let mom and dad take care of you at home" -"You are sick and need to be seen by a doctor" - "You are really sick and need to go to the hospital" OR we provide necessary interventions until EMS arrives We already do this people and this situation is really not any different. I can't tell someone if they have strep but I can tell them if it's something that should be checked into further. In this case we just add a few extra questions: Where have you traveled in the last 14 days? Have you been in close contact who has tested positive? Other than that we are all still checking the same things: temperature, respiratory status, symptoms, medical history From there, we already know how to shuttle them in the right direction.