Staff Needs

[ana010]

Do you all have staff members who require as much or more time and attention as your students? I just had a staff member in crying to me because she felt targeted. What?!? See your therapist! I will take your bp, etc, but I don't get paid enough for this. Thankfully a student (with a known arrhythmia) busted in needing to call dad.

This happens weekly with a handful of staff members. All have known health concerns and I am required to see staff too. I have told several they need to see a therapist, no that they have listened.

Anyhoo! I feel slightly better having vented.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Sweet Baby Moses...

You don't get paid enough. She needs to go to HR or the EAP. I'd say the school counselor except we know darn well it does not work that way...

I would do what I do with the frequent fliers - make the visits brief, professional, with limited gain. Perhaps that will extinguish the behavior?

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

I luckily have not had too many issues with staff health stuff other than stupid requests to fix glasses, though in the beginning of the year, a staff member was having a panic attack, compounded by changes in her BP/psych meds. SOOOO outside my wheelhouse. We were able to narrow down the issue to a reaction between two of her meds and she is doing much better now.

I have more problems at the private school I work for, where on-campus faculty and their families treat our health center like an urgent care or an in-person triage service...

[RatherBHiking, BSN, RN]

Oh my gosh yes! My first day at this school this teacher comes in and starts listing all her health issues and medications she takes and then proceeded to update me every single week for several long minutes on her bowl issues and how she was doing. I never once asked. She's since retired but when she stops by the school for a visit guess who she updates on her health issues?!?

I also have staff who ask me to check their blood pressure occasionally which is fine but it doesn't matter what I'm doing they expect me to drop everything and help them. If I say it will be a few minutes they get all huffy. They're like well I'm on my planning period and I won't have time later. Well I don't get a planning period and if you won't have time later it's just less work for me!?

Also, I have so many teachers questioning my decisions with kids yet they think I can diagnose them with just a few little pieces of info. ? They also seem to think I have memorized every lab value off the top of my head and what it means if it's not normal. I am shown every bump, bruise, wart, boil, etc as if I'm super excited to see it. ? I'm always saying you should check with your dr about that!

I love it when teachers come in and complain of feeling sick and ask me to "excuse" them. Yeah it doesn't work like that.

I don't mind trying to help a little but it does get exhausting after a while. I swear so many teachers act like kids themselves!

[guest464345]

I have to say, this was the most confusing part of the job when I started as a school nurse this year. Staff members would barge right in while I was with students, demanding Neosporin or eye drops or chapstick, or to have their blood pressure checked, or for rubbing alcohol, or to ask me to clean out their ears (!) or rule out fractures....seemingly with no awareness of the room around them, and seemingly under the impression that I'm a no-cost PCP with xray vision, running a bunch of side gigs in personal services.

These are my favorite responses, with the most patient voice and sincere smile I can manage:

1) Hmmm, not sure what to tell you. That (fixing glasses, sewing torn clothing, chapstick procurement) is not really a nursing skill, you know? But I'm sure you'll figure it out.

2) That is something you should really discuss with your doctor.

3) Students have to come first unless there's a life-threatening emergency. But I'm glad to talk to you when I have down time (translation: never)

After a few dozen broken-record repetitions of these answers, I think they grudgingly accept me as OK with the kids but "not as helpful as the last nurse" for their personal care needs. Hey, it works for me.

[RatherBHiking, BSN, RN]

13 hours ago, laflaca said:

I have to say, this was the most confusing part of the job when I started as a school nurse this year. Staff members would barge right in while I was with students, demanding Neosporin or eye drops or chapstick, or to have their blood pressure checked, or for rubbing alcohol, or to ask me to clean out their ears (!) or rule out fractures....seemingly with no awareness of the room around them, and seemingly under the impression that I'm a no-cost PCP with xray vision, running a bunch of side gigs in personal services.

Oh my, the ears just yuck! Yes all my staff thinks I have a supply of pain meds, tums, neosporin, tampons, cough drops, etc for THEM even though I'm not allowed to have them for the students. Then when I say I don't have these items the principal says we need to get them some? I'm like they are ADULTS! I carry my own stuff and they can too! It's part of being an adult! And NO it's not a free clinic but yes they sure think it is! I'm like if I were able to do all they want I wouldn't be working here and I'd be getting paid a heck of a lot more!

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

My very first job as an RN was as a day camp nurse; The camp director was also the president of the YMCA that ran the camp and would basically take the summer off from the Y in order to run the camp (conflict of interest much?). As such, even though this was a day camp, he moved to the camp and lived in a cabin on campus (that i'm pretty sure he had built for him...).

He tried to get me to do his personal laundry.

[RatherBHiking, BSN, RN]

41 minutes ago, k1p1ssk said:

He tried to get me to do his personal laundry.

Oh heck no! ? How awkward to!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, k1p1ssk said:

He tried to get me to do his personal laundry.

"Not a nursing skill. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

[CampyCamp, RN]

1 hour ago, k1p1ssk said:

He tried to get me to do his personal laundry.

I don't even have time to do my health room laundry during the week at camp. If I can snag an empty washer, I can, but most weeks, I take it home with me. (I'd rather use my washer on my time when I can toss it in and go on with life than sit there and wait for their slow machines.)

[tining, BSN, RN]

On 5/8/2019 at 8:53 AM, k1p1ssk said:

He tried to get me to do his personal laundry.

EEWWWWWWW.

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

At the beginning of the year (my first SY), I had a teacher and admin worker come into my office and relay their entire health history, in great detail, to me. The teacher told me that the previous nurse would take a daily BP and monitor his cardiac med administration (RN kept it in her office and dispensed it daily to him, along with this vitals check). The staff member took no meds, just wanted me to be fully up to date on her myriad health issues.

Look, I know the school nurse is serving the whole community, but a couple of 50-something y/o able-bodied and A&O adults can admin their own meds and take their own daily vitals. It's called participating in and managing your own care. My 86 y/o grandparents do it with their heart meds ?

INTERESTINGLY.... both of these individuals were let go at the start of the year after a very poorly-timed round of lay-offs (week 2 of student SY). I couldn't help but wonder if part of the reason was the drama-queen personalities. IF they had stayed with me over the year, I would have instructed the teacher to purchase an easy-to-use wrist BP machine, and advised him to keep his meds on his person.