School nurse hacks

halohg, RN · Oct 15, 2016

-Set up field trip bags by bus

-Have a mini school roster, broken down by class and gender for fast look-ups if elementary ages.

-Place sting relief pad under a band aid for longer relief.

-pre-set up vaseline in medicine cups when weather, turns cold and the visits are fast and furious for chapped lips.

-Cross promote any science fair health-themed project with rewards and use project for health office display

-Google images of rash for identification

-set up expectations to teachers and administration on what is and what is not a valid reason for a school nurse visit.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2016

Homemade reusable ice packs = sock a cheap sponge in water, drop into a baggie, and freeze.

Eleven011 · Oct 17, 2016

Peppermints and saltine crackers (although I prefer club minis) cure most tummy aches

Cattz, ADN · Oct 17, 2016

* Learn Immunization requirements for your state and be comfortable with them. Have State Resources available at your fingertips. One of the resources that I refer frequently is "Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases in Schools and Day Cares." Here is the link to the Missouri one, so you can get an idea of what is in it. http://health.mo.gov/living/families/schoolhealth/pdf/Communicable_Disease.pdf

* Get comfortable with talking about Head Lice. Soak up and learn frontwards and backwards the science based info. and absolutely DO NOT allow teacher and parent hysteria to mess with your Professional way of handling it. Be a listening ear and a trusted resource to teachers, parents and students .http://www.idenify.us.org is a great resource for all things bugs.

* Be buddies with the Secretaries, the Lunch Ladies, and the Janitors. They usually have a really good idea of what is going on in the school climate. Learning to be a part of and survive in the educational setting, is the KEY to survival.

* Learn which parents are the more difficult ones that want to know every time their little snowflake comes to see you.

* Be Professional, open, honest, and know that it is ok to not know the answer to every question that will be asked of you. It is ok if you don't know every potential side effect of a random staff members Grandaddy's new heart medicine. Or what the rash on a kiddo could be that has been there since Friday night. To put that into perspective in the education world: Just because someone is a teacher doesn't mean that they know how to work Algebra II problems or that they can recite the Gettysburg Address, or can name 3 poems written by Edgar Allan Poe .

* Sharpen up on assessment skills (Asthma, Concussions, Belly issues, Headaches ) and learn which kids are Frequent Flyers and how to deal with them. And remember that we are here to help keep kids in the classroom where they can learn, but if they are sick, they are sick and don't need to be at school.

* COFFEE is a must for school :) (Maybe that is just my opinion) :yes:

* For boo boos that don't need and ice pack, but you know the student won't be able to move on with their day, I give them a cool, damp paper towel to hold on it, and tell them when it isn't cold any more. It will feel better and they can just throw it away. (this saves the child from missing more classtime bringing back and ice pack that they didn't need in the first place.)

* Keep copies ahead of time of packets for Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Diabetes, Seizures. Whatever else you might have. So you can grab them quickly when needed.

* Be consistent and enforce the policies and procedures. Even if you hear about how they have never done it that way, or they have always done it this way...blah blah)

* End of May, June, July, and part of August.......... I think you will figure out pretty quickly what to do during these wonderful months. :woot:

BeckyESRN · Oct 17, 2016

A life hack that I recently discovered: use dental wax on the end of the tiny eye glasses sized screwdriver to hold the even tinier screw in place while you line it up with the frame. Made my life so much easier!

MHDNURSE · Oct 17, 2016

I made mini first aid kits for each of the classrooms with ice packs and band-aids. Amazing how many visits that cuts down on.

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Oct 17, 2016

A life hack that I recently discovered: use dental wax on the end of the tiny eye glasses sized screwdriver to hold the even tinier screw in place while you line it up with the frame. Made my life so much easier!

I have used floss to hold them together as well.

Kittery · Jun 19, 2017

Not really a nurse hack but I just realized I can use the EpiPen containers (after the pens have expired and been discarded) to hold thumb tacks or other small items/sharp stuff.