YOUR Childhood School Nurse memories

Specialties School

Published

I was a total frequent flyer, especially in 4th and 5th grade. My parents had recently divorced, I was in a new school and my mom was never around so I needed TLC. We didn't actually have a real school nurse, it was the secretary and she would take a temp and give you tylenol or call home. There was no triage system or anything. My mom could never actually come pick me up so I would just sort of hang out in the office. I think now I am SUPER strict b/c I assume they are all malingering. My own DS who is in 6th grade goes to his nurse a lot and she and I commiserate via email all the time, LOL.

I do remember once in High School though, I was getting my aura before a migraine and I knew I had a narrow window to get home. The secretary tried to send me home, but My mom insisted they put me in a cab and send me to her office. I think she thought I was faking (I wonder why, LOL). I always vomit with migraines and sure enough, just as the cab pulls in front of her office building, I hurled ALL OVER the cab. God bless that lovely cab driver who was super nice about it and felt terrible for me.

Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..

I have been grateful to my gym teacher for the last fifty years for saving my hand and quite possibly my life.

I'm sorry that happened, and what an awesome act of kindness made by your teacher and doctors. And I must say, I love the way you tell stories. You have a very eloquent way of writing.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I'm sorry that happened, and what an awesome act of kindness made by your teacher and doctors. And I must say, I love the way you tell stories. You have a very eloquent way of writing.

Thank you!

Ruby Vee!!!

*tackles you*

Specializes in Pediatrics, school nursing.

I went to Catholic, and later public school, in south Louisiana, and we never had a nurse. If you felt bad, you went to the office and they called your parents to pick you up. What is strange is that I looked on my high school's website today, and even now, 25 years later, it doesn't appear that they have a school nurse. That's really odd to me in this day and age!

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Ruby Vee!!!

*tackles you*

Big hugs, and then you have to help me get up from the ground.

We only had a nurse come in for screenings and vaccines. Other than that, it was the school secretary.

Like some others, I remember my family lining up for the polio vaccine on the sugar cube.

Specializes in school/military/OR/home health.

It's been the law in my state for many many years that each school has an RN, no matter how small the student population. Having said that, I can't remember the face of even one of my school nurses. I know I vomited on the kid next to me in first grade, but the rest after that is a blur. I went once in high school because I felt nauseous, and she let me lay down for 10 minutes and then kicked me out. I still felt sick, and even a little bit of questioning would have told her that I was on an antibiotic and then she would have been able to educate me about side effects...but she must have been too busy.

I was a healthy/hardy/sturdy kid and never thought of trying to get out of school via the nurse. And frankly, my mom let me make my own decisions regarding school and my own health quite young.

I remember the giant vat of Iodine the nurse in elementary school used for cuts and abrasions (of which I had probably thousands during elementary school). It smelled, it burned when she applied it and then it itched like crazy. I always went home and washed it off, picked any gravel out of the scrape which the nurse never bothered to do and then applied peroxide (which I guess is a no-no now) which healed it up practically right away.

In middle/high school my guidance counselor told the nurse that I was a faker because I mentioned that I had frequent headaches. I was going through my migraine phase and they got pretty bad sometimes. But the counselor didn't like me because I had to go to her office once a week because of severe bullying. Anyway, one time in 8th grade I was nauseous and dizzy but wasn't allowed to go to the nurse because of my "history of faking" illness so I stood up to go to the restroom and threw up all over the classroom. Turns out after I called my mom and left school without permission plus a trip to the Urgent Care that I had a severe case of samonella.

+ Add a Comment