Haijun

Where/how do you store your room-temp meds if you have no climate control? Heat index is well over 100 here and the ac is being replaced. I gave diastat, epipens, PO meds, etc that are all supposed to be stored in 60ish-80ish degrees, but nowhere in the school is in that range.

Perhaps as a compromise, you can call for the big/important/concerning things and send a note home with the student for the minor things. I know some schools do this. It could even be just a generic note that says something like "Your child was seen by the school nurse today for ___________. Please call ####-### if you have any questions."

Let me preface by saying that I am not a district nurse manager. However, I feel that the answer to your question will be "it depends." How big is the district? How many schools? How is the hierarchy set up? What can & can't be delegated under your state's nurse practice act? Urban? Suburban? Rural? Poor? Affluent? Middle class? I know my district manager in an urban small-to-midsize city district likely spends hours & hours each day in meetings & planning. She often has to interview & train new hires. She frequently has to cover for other nurses-sometimes multiple schools & procedures per day. Her phone & email are constant. I doubt she has many work days that are less than 10-12 hours. That said, I'm sure there are many benefits too. Weekends & holidays off. Typically some sort of funded retirement. Likely more vacation than most jobs-even if you do have to work during the Summer. Awesome colleagues. Cute kids.

I definitely feel violated & well, just super sceeved out. He didn't come in my office today (no pun intended, truly) & was actually cleaning for the first time this school year. I am still uncomfortable with just his presence in the halls nearby, so I spent some time in a couple different classrooms for about 30 mins this afternoon when he was there. Our district's janitorial services are contracted out, so my principal can't fire him directly. She does, however, have the ability to not allow him in the building, but has chosen not to do so. This incident may loosely fall under our district's sexual harassment policy. To do that, I would have to report it to my boss (school health) & from there it gets cloudy as the janitor is not a direct employee. I work in a decently large school district, but do not want to get reassigned to a different school. The only current opening we have is at an elementary (I'm at a middle school) that's 50 mins away (vs my current 20 min commute).

I'll try to make this as brief as I can. Since the new school year, I and other school staff have had problems with one of the 2nd shift janitors going through our stuff & stealing things. Previous incidents have been reported at various levels by multiple people. However, this morning it appeared as if this janitor had masturbated in my chair with the hand lotion from my desk. No semen/bodily fluids. Just video of him entering clinic, staying for an hour, and lotion & chair found behind privacy screen, with the lotion open on the cot. I obviously immediately reported this & spoke with my principal & the janitorial supervisor. No disciplinary actions were discussed in front of me, but it was determined that they would keep him out of the clinic, at a minimum. However, at 2 this afternoon, he sauntered into the clinic to use the phone to clock in like it was just another day. It also wasn't until I was faced with him just how incredibly uncomfortable I am with this situation. I love my school, my admins, my kids, but I now feel really uncomfortable being there while he continues to be in the school & my clinic. I don't want to leave my school, but am afraid that if I bring up building issues to my school health boss that I may be the one who has to leave the building.

Thanks! We do have Google, but I'm not familiar with the chat feature. I'll look into it. I am in a district with a high transmission/low vaccination rate. We do have a district mask mandate - but there's an opt-out option. My school has very, very low opt-outs though so we're faring a lot better than those with high opt-outs. I feel for those nurses. 20-40 hrs of OT/week is pretty standard now for them right now. I'm grateful I'm only averaging 10ish hrs/week.

Good things to consider! Thanks. I *think* checking email might be quicker than taking calls. But realize that the reality could be different. It would also be a new system, so there'd probably still be calls mixed in with emails for awhile, so that could complicate things. I've returned to my clinic several times to students puking in the trash can or bloody noses so they definitely will send them for that. But even with call system I've occasionally had some significant sob students & potential allergic reactions waiting in classrooms while I tended to other students with minor things. We are also down quite a bit of staff due to delta, so it seems that this may just be the new normal for the time being. I've forced myself to slow down from the pace I was going a couple weeks ago, as it wasn't safe. Maybe just turn down phone volume so it's at least quieter, push off all charting & covid stuff until after hours & turn my overhead lights off & take 10ish mins mid-day to eat a sandwich & go to the bathroom.

Hi all! I'm looking for solutions on how to create a calmer, less distracted clinic for my middle school of 500 students. My clinic volume has tripled and I have several procedures that take me out of the clinic roughly 10-20 mins of most hours of the school day. Our current system is for teachers to call before sending students. But the constant ringing of the phone & missed calls are stressing me out & making it difficult to focus on the student/s currently in my clinic. I'm also trying to manage multiple calls & emails about the dozens of covid cases & contact tracing we have in between students & procedures. I also have to do actual covid testing when needed & requested (which is often). I spoke with my principal about using a pass system and having students wait on the bench by the clinic. But that system isn't ideal for many reasons & I can see it leading to abuse of passes & discipline problems, in addition to an increase in missed instruction time. We quickly brainstormed & are considering an email system. (Teacher emails me that LD needs to br seen for xyz & I call them to send student down when I'm ready). Thoughts? Downfalls? I also know I need to implement some paper disposition form for students. I used to walk students out to parent, but this year that has been impossible. Our interpreter ends up fetching them more often than not. The volume is very challenging, but possibly manageable (most days --- if I work a bit of OT to chart & finish pressing covid stuff). My last 30ish minutes of shift are typically student-free. However, that's also generally my first chance to pee/eat/drink so I'm not using that time very productively by that point. I also want to note that many of these kids are actually sick, so other than a couple of known ff's & drama queens, the clinic isn't being abused. My APs & school admin have been great about handling/intercepting/stopping visits for non-medical stuff (clothes for dress code violations, care closet items, maxi-pads, requests for water, etc).

Signs & symptoms have been all over the place from asymptomatic, stomach ache, sore throat/'lump in throat' feeling (with throat & tonsils pink, clear, no swelling), chills or body aches with no vs changes, and the typical fever, cough, sob. Our district follows a '1 major or 2 minor symptoms' protocol. Many students aren't meeting those criteria to be sent home, but I am considering calling parents anyway & giving them the option to pick up. However, that could bring on a whole new set of problems.

A few things come to mind: - You have no Dr orders or even parental request for hourly restroom visits. If parents objected & considered it invasive or discriminatory, it more than likely would be your job in question, not the principal's. - Bring up the health safety aspect to your principal. Is it wise to have any student in the same clinic where there are constantly students with covid symptoms and other infectious diseases? - Does this student have an iep or 504? What do they say? Could this student or classroom qualify for an aide who could assist with such things? - Talk with your school health boss about this. Requests like this have very likely occurred before & your district school health likely has a policy or planned response to this request. Good luck!

Check your spam mail folders. They end up there sometimes

They notified us on a Friday last year. I think they're typically released the same day they meet.

Have you gone to your school's VA office? How much schooling are you planning on doing? The reason I ask is you may easily be able to do pre-reqs & your bsn within the time frame of the gi bill. I highly encourage you to go talk to your VA office if you haven't already. The one at my school is awesome! Regarding the entrance exams, do your research. Find out exactly which tests you need for any school you're planning on applying to and what score you need to get in. Prep for those exams. Take them early, very early, so you can take them again if you need to before the application deadline. These exam scores often make up a large part of admission criteria, so prep & study for them just as much as you would your pre-reqs.

A couple things you can do while you're waiting: - locate all your immunization records - look for cheap places to get your imms & a physical if they're not covered by your insurance - don't schedule any imms, physicals, cpr classes until they tell what to do though. **** this is all just fyi. DON'T do anything until told to do so, either in person or in writing**** Here's a brief run-down of what to expect once you get the email. Any dates are guestimates and based off the way they did it last year. It could be different this year. - you'll get an email telling you whether you were accepted or not. - If you're not accepted this year, they'll include the average numbers (gpa, course pts, teas scores etc) of those who did get in. - if you get accepted, there will be a couple attachments. Read those carefully. They have lots of info and requirements in them. The attachments will include: - a form for you to fill out & return to accept your position. I think we had until 19 May to turn in the acceptance letter. (We were notified really late last year ~ 25 April. - an rsvp form to complete and return to say which day you'll attend the program orientation. Last year our orientation dates were ~31 May or ~2 Jun. - either in your acceptance email attachments or at orientation (I can't remember which. I think it was orientation) you'll get info on : -required cpr certification (specific requirements on what classes they accept) - physical (there's a specific form reqd) -n95 fit test reqs - immunization reqs (hep a, hepb, mmr, varicella, tb test and flu shot-- flu after classes start in fall.... This is just off the top of my head. Actual reqs might be slightly different) - how to sign up for classes (pin number & crns--- there's a deadline for registering too. I think we had to register by 5 june). - how to sign up for myrecordtracker (where you'll upload all these imms, physicals, signature pages etc) - how to get background check - how to get your drug test - a ridiculously long list of required textbooks. And you'll get even more once class starts. - where to buy the uniform and its requirements (you may likely have to get it tailored so pant legs/sleeves aren't too long) - a list of supplies you'll need to buy (stethoscope, pen light, bandage scissors) - how and when to get your nursing school id badge - even after you've submitted all the forms on myrecordtracker and they've all been accepted, keep checking myrecordtracker because new requirements like TCPS will show up. some other info you might want to know: schedule : lecture Monday from 0900-1600 with 1 hr lunch lecture Wednesday from 0800-1600 with 1 hr lunch thursday or friday: lab from 0730-1420 with 30 min lunch expect to be there the entire time. There were maybe two times the entire semester we got out more than 5-10 mins early - for the most part, you only wear your uniform on lab days - the last 3-4 weeks you'll go to a nursing home to work with real patients vs in the lab - two lab days in the semester you'll go to do vital signs in the community & to an elementary school to do ht/wt & bps for the school. - you'll have several other assignments (15-ish?) throughout the semester. Some are quick and easy. Some are longer and harder, but overall, they're spread out pretty well through the semester. - Don't miss lab or clinical unless you're dead. Even then, try to schedule your death for a non-lab day. - the first week or two are overwhelming, but mostly because you're just trying to figure out what all is due/expected/where to find that info. - ALL assignments are REQUIRED. You can't just decide not to do a 5 point assignment because it'll take hours & you don't need the points. If you don't complete every assignment, you will not be able to go on to the next semester. - content, overall, isn't that difficult (imo), but you have to stay on top of everything because it's easy to fall behind & difficult to catch up. - testing style is the hardest for most to get used to. Lots of critical thinking and application questions. I had Miss Yantis for microbiology and feel that her style of questions were most similar to what to expect for nursing school questions - instructors are awesome. Lots of different personalities so you're sure to mesh with at least a couple of them. - instructors are VERY dedicated to your success -- as long as you're doing your part. If you're not, well then, may God have mercy on your soul. I've written way too much. Time for bed. I have to be up for clinicals at 4:30 tomorrow.

Hi all. I was in your shoes last year, waiting anxiously for the email there were issues last year & results were about a month late). I'm just about to finish my first year of the rn day program so let me know if you have any questions. Next year chatt state won't have an Lpn program and cleveland state won't have an rn program, so I'm sure application numbers were up slightly. But keep in mind that there were a combined total of just over 400 applicants last year for the ~160 seats for the day and night program (so it sounds like approx the same # as applicants this year). In general, anything over 80 pts has a very good chance at admission and anything over ~86-87 pts is almost guaranteed.