What would your dream clinic look like

Published

Specializes in Med Surg, School Nurse.

What would you like your clinic to be like if you could choose any design features you wanted. Need some ideas before this Monday. My school is being rebuilt and my principal wants my input into the clinic. I have no idea the square footage or anything. I don't know what to ask for. I like the clinic design I have now but what I would really like as part of the clinic would be a small sound proof or almost sound proof room where I could do hearing screenings so I wouldn't have to leave the clinic to do them. Does anyone think that would be strange to ask for. I have a terrible time finding a quite place to do my hearing screenings. It seems like it would help save time if you are screening both vision and hearing at the same time since I usually screen vision in the clinic.

Tell me what you like about your clinic and what you don't like. This is the only clinic I have had and would really appreciate some input from some of you guys.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, School Nurse.

I am still hoping that someone will respond and give me some input.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The Illinois Resource Guide for

Healthy High Performing School Buildings has a section on school health offices and is available for download:

http://healthyschoolscampaign.org/ilhhpsb/

For other things, Illinois Resource Guide for

Healthy High Performing School Buildings:

http://healthyschoolscampaign.org/ilhhpsb/

http://www.papersubmission.com/SNIPresentation/4%20Planning%20School%20Health%20Facilities-%20What%20School%20Nurses%20Should%20Know.pdf

Articles on recommendations for constructing school nurse offices

were in the June 2005 issue of The Journal of School Nursing. NASN

members can access these articles online from the NASN website in the

journal section

* Cooper, Leslie. 2005: New Construction, Renovation and Remodeling: What

School Nurses Have Learned From Planning New Health Office Facilities. The

Journal of School Nursing: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 170-175.

* Mosca, Nancy W. 2005: School Nurse Work Environment: Ingredients for Safe

and Effective Practice. The Journal of School Nursing: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp.

129-131.

* McKibben, Cynthia S., DiPaolo, Sonja J., Bennett, J. Scott. 2005:

Recommendations for Constructing School Nurses' Offices Designed to Support

School Health Services. The Journal of School Nursing: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp.

164-169.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, School Nurse.

Looking for someone out there who receives The Journal of School Nursing that may have these articles. I am not yet a member but I need to be. Thank you bergren.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You can join online http://www.nasn.org or call the NASN Membership Department tomorrow toll-free at 1-866-627-6767

https://www.nasn.org/default.aspx?tabid=156

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nursing.

I would love an office with "stations", or different areas for different functions. A counter next to the sink for first aid, with cabinet storage above, would be great. A tall bookshelf for storage. At least 2 cots with a divider in between. A row of child's chairs for kids waiting to be seen or screened. A separate area for screening. Locking closet for med storage. Two adult size chairs across from my desk for parent/teacher conferences. Storage, storage, storage.

This will never happen at my school, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What purple scrubs said plus a full bathroom!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in mostly pediatric psychiatric/cd.

I would love a closet to store medical records and extra supplies in. But, more than anything, I would love, love, love to have an enclosed area made of windows that my office/desk would be inside so that I can make confidential phone calls without the entire clinic full of kids listening! Our high school nurse has this & I'm so envious.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, School Nurse.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful ideas. I met with the building planner. It's going to be good. I will have a separate storage closet, a large testing room with acoustics, a sink in the clinic and a full bathroom. It will be located across the hall from the office. It's going to be a large clinic. And possibly my own tempature control. I couldn't be happier. Wish me luck through cause I have 81 asthmatics and they will be tearing down 1/3rd of the building at a time and building on top of what they tore down. That ought to kick up my asthmatics really well. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I subbed in 3 districts before I took this job in an elementary school and saw some wonderful additions to nurses offices! I also as in some woefully inadequate spaces (mine currently is the WORST - 1 cot for 600 kids!).

The things I would love to have right now besides more space include one of those eyewash "bubblers" attached to the plumbing in the sink so that all the student has to do is lean into the running water. I would also love a magnifiying light for splinters and lice checks. An isolation room (especially now! Don't even ask what I am doing with ILI kids....). I would love a cot that can be raised to a decent height to do personal care on my g tube student. Two seperate work areas - one for business/ one for treating kids.

One school I worked in had a "diabetic room" - it was a back office and each diabetic had his or her own cabinet with a long counter under them. Taped to the cabinet was the treatment plan with telephone numbers for reaching the parents. The cabinet held all the testing supplies, snacks, and the each student's log to record blood sugars. It was a wonderful set up! I'm pretty sure this set-up could work well for asthmatics too!

Our district middle school is 3 years old and when I have to go there for meetings I feel like I am in School Nurse Disney World!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nursing.

The diabetic room is a fantastic idea, especially for middle and high schoolers who are mostly self-care.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion