Question about School Nursing

Nurse ABC · Jul 14, 2014

Like the ER, you never know what your day will be like but here's what it's like for the most part. I get to work at 7:30 and go to my office. I unlock all my cabinets and go fill up the ice bucket. I say hi to the secretary and principal and chat for a sec. I turn on the computer and bring up email and get my mail. Then by that time the doors are opened for students to come in the building. From then on, I alternate seeing kids for visits (everything from med passes, diabetic checks, first aid, and mostly lots of vague complaints like stomach aches, headaches, etc) and answering the phone, checking email, and doing my computer work. There's LOTS of desk work! Everything from entering immunizations, screenings, care plans, health problems, Medicaid billing, etc. Then somewhere in there we have to work in vision screenings as they come up. Lots of lice checks, calling parents to notify of things, etc. I have to be the bad guy and threaten (and sometimes actually) exclude kids because they don't have immunizations needed or dr visits after repeated requests. Have to call CPS occasionally. Lately, lots of potty accidents which take up lots of time either finding clothes that fit or getting a hold of parents to bring something. We communicate with dr's offices a lot trying to get right paperwork for med orders parents can't seem to manage. Also, have to teach some classes and arrange for guest speakers, conduct staff wellness programs, go to student meetings, teach staff how to handle student emergencies, put out little fires all day long that are no big deal to nurses but freak teachers out like bedbugs, snot, lice, stinky kids, etc. It's so much less stressful than the hospital but we are still very busy. It's not usually life and death busy. You have to be flexible and able to prioritize and have a few balls in the air at once all the time. (Like the ER!) You don't have to have everything done by the end of the day. What's not done is sitting there waiting on you the next day and even though we have deadlines, unless it's serious, the deadlines are more time frames and several weeks long. If you live for the adrenaline rush go elsewhere. Your biggest rush will be getting called to the playground and even then it's 9/10 times nothing major. You will have broken bones, chipped or knocked out teeth, black eyes, low blood sugars, seizures, etc but again, it's not life and death. The hardest part of this job is the teachers (their lack of understanding abt what we do and say) and parents (either the over-protective but more often not the neglectful ones that like to give you a hard time for insisting they do what should've already been done.) I enjoy establishing relationships and working with the kids, the laid back atmosphere of the school environment, the schedule (it's awesome), and I love when I help a student get something they needed whether it's shoes, a new coat, glasses, medical care, or whatever it may be and you see the look of appreciation on their faces (we live in a lower income area). It's not perfect (the low pay, mean and lazy parents, some teachers, feeling more like a social worker than nurse, frequent flyer students, lice over and over and over, etc) but I like it!