Why do teachers

Amethya · Oct 9, 2018

I'm sorry if I made it seem like I think you don't love your jobs. I didn't get that sense at all. And I didn't mean anything harsh by it. I am a practitioner thats been in the medical field in different manners - conflict zones and populations suffering from conflict, disaster recovery, emergency, etc., - and in my personal practice I desperately appreciate collaboration and opinions from other practitioners. I see a lot of room, in my practice at least, to elicit advice from other areas because sometimes I feel as though I am in a vacuum, or that I am talking too much with conflict folks or too much with disaster folks.
I saw the title - why do teachers - and I thought at first it would be about nursing school (which I attended in 2009, so I thought maybe I could help) and then saw it go in another direction and it made me think.
I didn't realize interest and advice wasn't wanted from non-school nurses. As someone who values other people's experiences, and would never want to make anyone feel as though they are being berated or judged, I apologize. I am also sorry that seems to happen here a bit. I imagine, based on your response, that you have felt unheard and under-appreciated. As someone who appreciates your work, I am also sorry for that.
That's all I suppose - I assumed a desire to collaborate and share thoughts without judgment (though, it is clear that we didn't direct or write our messages well enough as judgment was felt); I will leave this to the school nurses out there fighting the good fight.
Best of luck ya'll, and I hope it gets better!

It's okay. Thank you for apologizing!

I'm a CMA working at a school, so I come here a lot for advice and I get a lot of support.

I just felt I needed to defend the people that usually defend me when other people outside our side of the forum come in and start to push blame or belittle us in a way. You see a lot of our posts, we start to get lots of unwanted attention from the other nurses and sometimes they get really mean for no reason when they don't understand our struggle.

You have every right to want to share your opinion and I'm glad you did! It's just hard in any field, when you have so much on your plate, in any nursing field or any job to be honest. But the issue we have is that we don't have much support like you guys do at your job. At your job you can turn around and speak with the nurse next to you to help or talk to. Sadly we don't have that, so we use this as our way to get this.

You do an amazing job I'm sure, and once again thank you for commenting! I wish you luck as well at your job!

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Oct 9, 2018

I was actually just walking down the street one day and they asked me to step in to work in the health office. There's no real skill to it so I just volunteer my time and put on about 3 bandages a day while playing Angry Birds on my phone.

Skillz, my friend, skillz!

OldDude · Oct 9, 2018

I understand. It's the same as how EDs get people with stubbed toes and how the ambulance is sometimes a taxi. My point was maybe it's part of our field? I don't want your time burdened by silliness but I suppose I've accepted it as part of how the job works. Again - full awareness that I am not a school nurse and have only acted as a responder and ER assist.

You are absolutely right...and we all know it but we all work alone and there isn't a nurses station or other nurses with which to commiserate and vent to so...here we are!! Appreciate your input.

Bonstemps, EMT-P · Oct 9, 2018

You are absolutely right...and we all know it but we all work alone and there isn't a nurses station or other nurses with which to commiserate and vent to so...here we are!! Appreciate your input.

Of course - and I am sorry if anything came off as insensitive - but wow, that sounds exceedingly isolating as a professional. It is wild that there is one nurse for all those students and the support staff is completely non-medical. Thanks for sharing.

Amethya · Oct 9, 2018

Of course - and I am sorry if anything came off as insensitive - but wow, that sounds exceedingly isolating as a professional. It is wild that there is one nurse for all those students and the support staff is completely non-medical. Thanks for sharing.

I do apologize if I exploded on you. Thank you for your input!

Cattz, ADN · Oct 9, 2018

lmao I'm so dumb. sorry I'm ESL

No way. There are no dumb questions here. That's why we love gather here so much.

linda1959 · Oct 12, 2018

Mine from today . . . a kid I rarely see arrived with a Teaching Assistant and TA says he has a "crick in his neck" from sleeping. Kid has his head COMPLETELY twisted side-ways. I gently get him back into position with nary a grimace, explain why I want him to keep it that way, encourage gentle stretching every few minutes, and give him a small ice pack which I call "the emotional ice pack." Kid arrives back 30 min later and says, "I need something with heat." I say "why don't you just keep doing what we talked about and you will be fine.". He says, "but Ms. so-and-so (aka the TA) said you should have given me something with heat or it's not going to feel better." Uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh------

EnoughWithTheIce · Oct 12, 2018

Mine from today . . . a kid I rarely see arrived with a Teaching Assistant and TA says he has a "crick in his neck" from sleeping. Kid has his head COMPLETELY twisted side-ways. I gently get him back into position with nary a grimace, explain why I want him to keep it that way, encourage gentle stretching every few minutes, and give him a small ice pack which I call "the emotional ice pack." Kid arrives back 30 min later and says, "I need something with heat." I say "why don't you just keep doing what we talked about and you will be fine.". He says, "but Ms. so-and-so (aka the TA) said you should have given me something with heat or it's not going to feel better." Uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh------

I tell those type of staff members that if they know so much about running the clinic, they can cover for me while I eat lunch every day.....

nurseinthenorth1 · Oct 13, 2018

My annoyance lately is the student with a tooth problem.... Yep, you guessed it; we have a loose tooth. Explain to student that loose teeth are NORMAL & HEALTHY and their bodies have everything built in to take care of it themselves.

I do appreciate the point that Bonstemps brought up in that other professionals (teachers/staff) get uncomfortable with things and maybe sometimes don't think through things before sending a kid to us. I've found, as many of you probably have that being patient and getting to know these teachers help; win their trust and respect and they will eventually learn how to help make our jobs easier.

I totally feel the isolation professionally too. Enjoy the comments here and get good chuckles from ya'll. When I first started school nursing I thought some of this stuff I was seeing was crazy and when you learn every school nurse sees some degree of this it makes you feel sane for wanting to pull out your hair some days.

EnoughWithTheIce · Oct 16, 2018

Why do teachers think kids are so fragile??? They act as if every paper cut or tiny glue gun burn is going to kill the poor child......

AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN · Oct 16, 2018

In my LONG tenure:

*Chapped lips

*Spilled water on clothes (6th grader who shoved her way to the head of the line and got REAL put out when I told her she missed a turn on the way to the bathroom).

*Whininess. Finally culminating in the teacher dragging the little darling in for the 5th time and snapping 'He goes home.' Immediately followed by me handing her my phone and responding, 'Fine. YOU call her because she's already told me she's not coming'.

*Sending children who are car riders to the health room at 1445, when Mom is probably already in the parking lot for the most minor stuff.

*and last but not least, the 6th grader who told me 'her tongue was falling off' and presented me with a sandwich baggie with what looked like flattened out thin pieces of grape bubble gum in it. She was a drama queen, wanted an ice pack for her tongue, etc. I sent he back to class and called Mom, who just insisted on picking the little angel up and taking her to the dentist. Irate phone call later for 'not taking the pieces out of the bag and feeling of them'. and apparently I was an idiot for not supplying and ice pack that was probably covered in germs to put on supposedly open areas of skin in someone's mouth.

I told the principal that day that he could handle that one and he was only too happy to agree, lol. He was as tired of her as every other faculty member in the place.

Thank God I have my own clinic now and don't have to put up with that malarkey anymore.

EnoughWithTheIce · Oct 16, 2018

Tongue falling off??? Lord goodness, these kids must lay awake at night trying to think of new excuses. Hope the dentist charged double for that visit!