WineRN

I'm at a k-5 and maybe it's because like the above mentions, I talk with my staff so often since the littles are always getting hurt, we know each other better. How involved in you with school things? I feel like the more they see you outside of the health office the more human you become. I volunteer for a lot of our school time and some afterschool events, I help at arrival and dismissal and I send my staff not-so-serious things from time to time. It could also be a building culture thing. Some principals just don't bring a "family/friendly" feel and others do. Pre Pandemic my building would have monthly happy hours and quarterly events (wine and painting, BBQ etc)

CONGRATULATIONS!! That test is definitely a tough one!

I'm the odd one out here but I would talk with the teacher the next morning when kids weren't around if possible and see if maybe the student was having a bad day or hard time in class since your assessment showed they were fine medically and the parent was confused at the situation too. Some teachers respond well and might fill you in (maybe student failed a test or is in a group project where they don't like the others or something is going on at home or they were just interrupting the class non stop etc) and then you can explain that all medical issues really need to be sent home through you so that way everyone is on the same page since this parent was so frightened. Other teachers could be jerks if you approach them and then I'd go to admin. I feel like it always looks good that you at least tried to approach the situation with a cool head and tried to reach a resolution without going to admin first.

I do similar to the above where we share the list of high and low risk symptoms and request testing for any high risk and more than 1 low risk. I've had a handful of positive, ALL started with low risk symptoms

Amazing job! They are lucky they have you there to save lives!!

I agree with so much of the above. Just hold on! I feel like every day since it's gotten warm here I've been having more "normal" interactions with my students and staff instead of being the "COVID news bringer" that I was in the Winter and fall. I'm lucky to work in a building where we are at 100% fully vaccinated for all full-time staff and nearly all part-time staff has received at least 1 dose which makes me feel a little more hopeful that this Summer and fall will be more normal and I won't feel like I'm on call 24/7

Two in my building BUT they weren't at the 14-day mark from their second (One was 2 days out and the other was 11)

I might throw in a little scare tactic about security. Word docs are not a secure form of charting. If anyone gets access to your computer or if a virus attacks your computer those files are at risk and FERPA is a BIG deal. Or if the computer crashes and you lose an entire day of charting, recalling a whole day of assessments from memory can lead to incorrect record documentation. That being said it sounds like you are doing your best in a pretty tough situation so the above is NOT a judgment on you! As other's said, frame this in a student safety lens. EHRs allow for better data collection so you will be able to really support the students you serve while maintaining safe and secure documentation.

I love SNAP. It was made specifically for school nurses. You can pull data reports on everything from med administration to visit log information, it has a lot of templates which save time and it's pretty user friendly

I work at a school. Child comes in with a fever and dry cough so I call home. Parent answers and immediately says "It's probably COVID because his babysitter had it". I asked when the last time they saw the babysitter and parent responds "This morning. She's with them every morning and for an hour after school. She's not *THAT* sick and we figured we are all going to get it eventually anyway so we let her watch the kids." I asked "Just to be sure I understand...Your baby sitter reported to you they had tested positive for COVID but felt OK so you let them watch your children and then you sent them into school?" Parent: "Yes...What's the big deal?" We had a secondary case from this one go into a household where one of the parents is going through chemo.

Well looks like you can ambulate on your own!

I second this. I just caught up on a thread and part of me wants to tell you to stay just so then if this IS a malicious attempt by your supervisior she does something else to give your lawyer more ammo to bury her in the dirt. And if it isn't and it was just a med error that needed to be reported, then it all blows over and you are safe. Maybe he was sleeping in his later classes and that's why the audit was done?

I went from adults to school nursing and it is a BIG adjustment dealing with both your students and their parents. The other big adjustment was being the ONLY medically minded person in the building. You don't realize how different a nurse thinks until you are trying to reason with a teacher who is convinced someone with gas needs to see a doctor. I can't comment on Cali, but I like the suggestion above of shadowing or see if you can maybe even sub first? I LOVE school nursing, but it really isn't for everyone. People come into this role thinking it will be "easier" compared to other nursing specialties and then are blindsided and burn out when they realize that just because it's not as physically demanding most days, it definitely is a busy field with little to no help.

This is what my district uses regarding COVID http://wupaarc.wustl.edu/COVID-19-and-Children/Algorithms-for-Clinicians-and-Schools/-School-based-Algorithm

We are hoping to travel a little but I have two littles and a bun in the oven so I'm just looking forward to backyard adventures in the pool and in the garden. I will do the NASN virtual conference though because work just offered to pay for it (woowoo!)

Super exciting!! Sending all the positive vibes your way!

I had an older man get so mad at the doctor while I was in the room he pulled out his IV and then his cath...with the ballon still inflated. His scream and the fountain of blood and urine still haunt me over a decade later.

60!

Amen to this. I will say the warm weather has brought in a bunch of my regular friends who fall at recess, eyes swell with pollen and outdoor PE injuries which has been a welcome distraction from my COVID detective life. We have a parent group that banded together a few months ago and refuse to report why their children are missing school because they are trying to lower our district COVID numbers. Unfortunately for them, they don't realize that most kids still come to me and start the conversation "Mom said not to tell you but...me and dad had COVID"

Thanks for the input! I feel like the MSN would open more doors in the world of nursing. But since school leadership positions are not nursing-based and would involve so much more outside of that world, I am leaning towards healthcare leadership so I would have a broader base to support the whole school community.

how do you like emergency management? I always thought that sounded interesting! ?

Hey All, I decided I want to take the leap and go for my masters to get on that higher payscale that's offered where I work. Most of the other nurses go for their MSN in Nursing Education but honestly, that's just not for me. My dream goal is to one day lead a group of school nurses as a Director of Health Services/ School Nurse Administrator on a school district level or even be a state's school nurse liaison someday. I'm going back and forth between getting an MSN in Nursing leadership or just a regular MS in Healthcare Leadership. The latter would be a lot faster for me to complete and doesn't require a in-person capstone course, but then I wonder if that will look odd in the future when I'm applying for those bigger roles that I didn't take the MSN route? I have my BSN and NCSN already. Any input?

I think I've shared before, but I totally went into this role thinking it was going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy but BOY did that lemon squirt me in the eye right from the start lol I always say that this job was not what I expected but it is so much more and more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.

I didn't get any deodorant this year! I usually get little samples for the boys and girls

I recently passed and I thought it was appropriately hard, kinda like boards were, so I didnt know for sure if I passed but I didn't think I completely failed. I used the second edition of School Nursing : A Comprehensive Text by Janice Selekman and I feel like a lot of the questions came right from there.