Astocker93

When my kids come in for meds and just say their name or what they take or demand things, I make them stop. I say something along the lines of, "I"m good, thank you! How are you doing? How are classes?" and wait for a response. It makes them slow down and remember that manners are actually important. Luckily, most of my kids are pretty good, but there are always a few...

I answer to my administration, of course, in terms of paperwork and preparation, but short of that... it's just me. My staff answers to me, but in terms of medical decisions, the only person I'm concerned about answering to is the insurance company and possibly the DOH if something happens. I'm very lucky in that if I have a medical question, I've got a lot of friends with different scopes of experience... not to mention that with my medical problems, I see my doctor once every other week or so, and he is more than happy to answer any of my questions (talk about lucky me).

2 weeks to a month is more than fine. You have to take care of yourself, and you'll be a better provider for it (not to mention the wonders it will do for your health, mental and otherwise). I think it's very wise to realize your limits and do what you have to do! I'm also very glad that you love your school nursing job! Let us know how everything goes.

Hey Alex, Thank you SO much! We always contact the parents, but the protocols are always a nice backup for when we really feel the child needs to go home or be evaluated, but the parent believes otherwise. I don't want treatment plans or anything- that's so far out of my realm of knowledge I'd revoke my own license =p But yes, I just want to develop a written document with clear instructions and resources, if necessary. I really appreciate your response! It's going to be so helpful as I work on this project. I feel like it would be beneficial for the staff to know who to contact, and my staff to know what to do, exactly, when something happens. Again, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Hi folks! I work year-round running the health center at an outdoor education site. In our standing orders/policies and protocols, there is no mention of mental health whatsoever. In the last six months alone, we've found two students with disordered eating habits, half a dozen who were self-harming, and a number more who were likely struggling with their own mental health issues but had nobody at home who ever noticed (mood disorders, anxiety/panic disorders, etc.). I am meeting with our director this afternoon to discuss a handful of things, including updates needed in our standing orders and protocol. This is something I feel should be included, but I'm not sure if that makes sense or if I just seem to be overreacting (since earlier this week I had a student tell me he wanted to kill himself). Does your facility have standing orders or written protocol for how to handle mental health difficulties as you come across them? At the very least, I'd like to have Mental Health First Aid as part of our training. Does this seem reasonable? Thanks, Amanda

Every Wednesday!At first, my staff laughed at me, but now I can see more folks wearing pink on Wednesdays... and we've got an order in for pink t-shirts that say "That is so fetch."

I'm an EMT working in a clinical setting- I'm the only medical personnel at my education facility, and so I do far more in terms of medication administration, processing, initial triage for incidents, etc. If I ever have to send a student off-site, whether in an ambulance or with a teacher, I print out the student's health history/forms so that the EMT/paramedics have it en route to the hospital for treatment decision, and so that the hospital or treatment center has access to history, allergies, etc. until a parent arrives. In emergency situations, I record vitals and write them on a sheet of paper as soon as EMS has taken over control of the situation. It's hard to hear, "Please treat this student... I have no information for you."I live and work in a tiny town and usually see the same response crew if we activate EMS, and I've been told multiple times that they appreciate my preparedness for them and that it makes their job easier. But, as we all know, it can also be hard to have the time to print out or make a copy of a student's history, and it's definitely rude of them to say that just because you don't have a kid's file right on-hand that you're not the nurse. Honestly, in that sort of situation, it's frustration for all parties.

Yes! We buy 8-10 of them for the summer, even though the kids bring their own.

JustBeachyNurse, I will give that a shot! Thank you.

Hi big Al! I appreciate the thought, but unfortunately, everyone on our medical staff is EMT-B or below, so nobody is even certified to administer epinephrine that way. Thank you for the reply, though! I'll be talking to my director about what the best way to sort out this issue is. MrNurse, That's a really great idea. I'll definitely check it out, and let you know how it goes. Thank you! Jolie, Thanks for the response. I'll definitely give that a shot as well!

Hi all, A few months ago I started a new job running the health center at an outdoor education site. The site director wants me to find ways to cut down on costs for Epi-Pens, but we don't qualify for school assistance programs or insurance benefits (since we as the camp do not have health insurance). Do any of you have any experience with this? What did you do? Thanks! Amanda