NurseB14

I have rarely posted on AN, but I was so moved by this story I felt I had to. I am not a school nurse, I'm an LVN, but in Nov of 2015 my daughter handed me a suicide note she had written. She was 13. This wouldn't be the first, for the next year she would struggle with severe mental illness. I can't express how grateful I am that she handed me that note and that I didn't have to read it after she had attempted it, or even been successful. We knew something was wrong and we had been trying to get her to open up, until finally I yelled at her that I was badgering her because I loved her so much. She ended up hospitalized twice and wasn't able to go back to school. She tried, but it was too stressful, as that was where a lot of her troubles were most pronounced, and we couldn't get any support for her there, no counselor or administration offered us anything, and we went to each of her teachers and asked that they at least look out for her if she were to leave the room. But it was like we had two heads, no one wanted to talk about it, that my daughter might attempt suicide while at school. I asked them to please talk to the kids that they aren't alone, that there are other options, there is help out there. Again, nothing. I ended up leaving my job to stay with her 24-7, and we finally see a light at the end of the darkest year of our lives. She is doing better. You saved that girls life. You got her to help. You comforted her when she needed it most. As a mother I have to say to you Thank You. And thank you for telling the administration that the way they dealt with this is not ok. We should be talking about it everyday. Because it affects all of us either directly or indirectly.

I can't even believe this is 2015 and I'm reading this. So instead of working forty hours a week, managing THREE kids, and having a deployed husband I should just- what? Fall apart? Sit at home and wait for him to come back so I can restart my life? Is it a juggling act? Some days yes, but I'm proud to say that we have only dropped a few balls, and they weren't major. Yay us! I did have to wait some time at our new duty station to find a job that was the right fit, but I did. I found a great employer, actually a veteran owned small business, but I'm proud to say I do work everyday and haven't had to be "accommodated" more than any other employee! At the beginning of the deployment I did have mini panic attacks about keeping it all together, but with careful planning and good childcare, none of my fears have come to fruition. I wish you the best of luck, and I think you dodged a bullet!

Guess what you'll be when you float? The charge nurse! I was a full time float nurse at my first nursing job in a LTC facility. I floated to all the halls except one (I didn't feel I could handle it) and I was the charge nurse for the night, second shift. It seems counterintuitive to be a float as a new grad, but the only thing changing on each hall is the residents, and if you get a good report and have the regular CNA's who know the residents, you'll be alright. Plus I oriented on each floor with the regular nurse and I was able to take good notes on how the residents take their meds, etc. I learned more than I could have imagined there. Good luck!