This year I want to leave my school nurse office to have lunch in the teacher's lounge or another room that is not the clinic. Any suggestions on how to make that actually workout? My principal supports me and agrees that I should be able to close the clinic.
Last year , I would eat lunch in my office, I closed the door and had an aide (office) stay in the clinic. This didn't workout too well, most days I would work during my lunch due to high volume of students coming in. I know realistically I will be interrupted from lunch for serious/emergency situations but I would like to be able to have at least 20 min of uninterrupted lunch on the days that there are no serious injuries or emergencies. Even with the aides help we would end up seeing many kids for injuries and vomiting, everything seems to happen during lunch /recess. I see about 25-35 students per day. I forgot to mention , the aide retired and they did away with her position.
What should i do different this year? I am thinking I should start off by letting the staff know that I will have a set time for lunch and not to send any students unless absolutely necessary. But how can I cut down on clinic visits during lunch and recess??
Avoid taking lunch at the busiest time. I usually go when kg has recess around 11am. They seem to need me less than other grades and they usually have aides that are helping out. Plus I get hungry early. Some of our district nurses go around 1pm when all recesses are over.
Secondly, your principal needs to find coverage for you whether it's the principal, secretary, or some designated aide to hold down the nurse's office. You are probably not paid for your lunch so if they don't cover for you and expect you to keep handling "emergencies" they're going to need to pay you for extra duty. Stand firm. Do you think any teachers or aides would put up with that-heck no!
Third, leave your office and go hide. I leave the building. We have emergency plans in place when nurse not there so I'm allowed to leave. If you can't leave explain what they may bug you for. The problem is, everything is an emergency in the school. Bumped head, bloody knee, etc. Say you will only see a child who is unconscious, having a seizure, having trouble breathing, etc and stick with it! Everything else can wait or be treated by someone else while you eat. Once they learn what is really important they won't try and bother you so much at lunch. One school I couldn't leave so I went to teacher's lounge. I did get interrupted at times with questions of what they should do (let me see kid, call home, have kid return later, etc) but only once or twice the whole year did I need to actually leave my lunch. Even then it wasn't a true emergency but it was just easier for me to handle. I've found you really can't stay in your office and work quietly without interruptions because those kids are like a dog sniffing out hamburgers, if they even think you're in there they will knock and knock and even go find someone to unlock the door for them! It's happened too many times!
Finally, start the year out taking a lunch every single day, even the first day, no matter how busy you are so they expect it. If you let them take advantage of you they will! Good luck! Everyone deserves a lunch break-that's why they made it a law!
I might be wrong. But I think the law is that you can take a lunch if it's safe for patients (students) for you to do so. However, the employer has to pay you if you don't get to take your lunch because you are working for free during your unpaid lunch break time and that is not kosher with Labor Boards and whoever all has a say in this issue.
God forbid you would ever refuse to see a student and the kid deteriorates.
The wise Principal would have a secretary or someone sub for you for that precious break time. Could you propose this? That sub can do a little triage. Head Trauma or other serious-seeming situation? You get called back.
If I were Principal, I would not let you leave the grounds and you would have to be available by radio at all times. If I had to pay you something for that I would. The District or school is telling parents it has a nurse so there needs to be a nurse.
What does the nurse (presumably) who hired you think about this? Will that person go to bat for you? What does your employee handbook say about lunch?
I gave up my lunch time this year. Rarely did I have a day where my lunch was not interrupted. Instead I leave at 2:30, 1/2 hour earlier than my normal work hours. Perfect timing for me as now I do not need to procure after school care for my child. I eat a hardy breakfast in the morning and have a lunch snack at my desk.
My supt said I have to take a lunch break and I can do so any time between 10 and 2. That being said, if I do, I get behind and leave late at the end of the day which I don't want to do. One of the reasons I took the job is to be done with my day early. So I won't get paid for the half hour lunch break I am supposed to take and don't, or I take the break and go home a half hour later. So my choice most days is to work straight through.
Leave the clinic and take lunch. The break is important for you as a clinician. We worry and feel guilty and the staff uses that. True emergencies and meds are one thing when you are onsite. Scrapes and other minor first aid are another. There are many instances there is no nurse on duty at schools and the world keeps spinning: before care, after care, after school activities, sporting events, concerts, etc. That's what trained delegates and EHPs are for.
When deciding not to take lunch...Ask yourself if any of the teachers, Aides etc. would skip a lunch break every day. They wouldn't in my school! With regard to students being sent to you during that time..Ask yourself again, how many teachers and staff tutor students during lunch every day. Hmmmmm...They take the break because they need it, and so do we.
Took me a while to get to this point, but I close my door and have lunch each day. Sure, it gets interrupted at times, but staff is learning to respect that time. I also can't leave school 1/2 hour early because I have to stay in case of a bus accident.
I work a great portion of my day with special needs kids. Those aides are adamant about getting every single minute of break time. Taking a lunch break is working out great for me this year. I grab my two phones and go sit in my car, weather permitting. As for those 15 minute breaks I'm supposed to be getting...I've been calling the staff restroom The Breakroom (that is supposed to be funny...). It's the furthest one from my office that I could find!
I am taking a lunch this year! And I will document for days that it gets interrupted. My asst superintendent gives a very unbelieving look when the nurses report (in our quarterly meetings) that we are unable to get a lunch in. And his reply is that we should take it. When we say we get called back for non emergent situations he stays mum. So I will be documenting the reasons I get called back... it's been going well so far! I've taken a lunch 3 days now (other days I had meetings and too much paperwork so I lost track of time) and I haven't been called back.
The funny part was when I went to tell the secretary I was taking a lunch, she did a double take and said "Good for you!" I haven't even tried to take a lunch for the past 2 school years... let's see how it goes!
i had to fight in this district to get a lunch the first year. One principal agreed that i was indeed entitled and told me to lock my door - the other would hunt me down or call my closed office for minor mundane complaints. I took a light hand in threatening a union action (but not too loudly - not tenured, could have still been replaced for basically any reason they wanted for a nurse who was much lower on the pay guide) and got a covered lunch. Now i'm quietly making waves to get more clerical help - it's slowly working- i went from 1 period 3 days a week last year to 1 period 5 days a week this year. not much, but progress and better than nothing.
I have a question about leaving the nurse office to have lunch.
Every student that comes in to my office has to be charted on electronically, my job. When I leave the office for lunch, I come back and the secretary hands me scrap pieces of paper with names and conditions. I have to find the kids and recheck them to chart.
So how does your charting get done on the students when you are gone to lunch. I have no other help except the attendance secretary that sits by my office and she answers the never ending phone calls.
Well it's my job to electronically chart on every student I see or treat. If I don't see or treat them I don't chart on them. The only ones I call back down are any that are injured badly like a head injury, possible sprain, etc. I don't call them back down for headaches, stomachaches, minor boo boos, etc. The way I see it is if they feel bad enough they'll come back down on their own anyway. There's no rule that says any student who wants to see the nurse gets to and that I have to assess and chart on them. My trained help knows they initial on medication they give and they sign their name on pass slips and what they did which I file.
Kooky Korky, BSN, RN
5,216 Posts
I might be wrong. But I think the law is that you can take a lunch if it's safe for patients (students) for you to do so. However, the employer has to pay you if you don't get to take your lunch because you are working for free during your unpaid lunch break time and that is not kosher with Labor Boards and whoever all has a say in this issue.
God forbid you would ever refuse to see a student and the kid deteriorates.
The wise Principal would have a secretary or someone sub for you for that precious break time. Could you propose this? That sub can do a little triage. Head Trauma or other serious-seeming situation? You get called back.
If I were Principal, I would not let you leave the grounds and you would have to be available by radio at all times. If I had to pay you something for that I would. The District or school is telling parents it has a nurse so there needs to be a nurse.
What does the nurse (presumably) who hired you think about this? Will that person go to bat for you? What does your employee handbook say about lunch?