I'm in my first year as a school nurse (I previously spent 15 years in hospice or hospital nursing) and I am SICK all the time. I've NEVER been sick like this! I spent 2 days out last week with yet another GI bug. I went to Urgent Care for nausea meds and they sent me to ER in an ambulance because my potassium was so low! I'm back at work today but extremely fatigued and still taking oral K+ supplements.
I've used all but one of my personal and sick days being sick this school year and we have 3 more months of school left! I haven't picked up the respiratory stuff, just the GI stuff. I am washing my hands like crazy but STILL! It's awful!
Do any of you seasoned nurses have tips for getting through the first years while my immune system gets used to this onslaught of kid disease? I have been taking Juice Plus supplements daily since August. I have IBS which I think might be why I tend to catch the GI stuff easier.
I don't count on my janitorial staff to clean my clinic. I come in sometimes and my countertops are downright filthy and I know they haven't been cleaned. I have no proof that they even clean the cots, so I clean myself. At the end of the day I clean with Lysol wipes, the cots, countertops, drawer/door handles, my phone, desk, refrig/freezer handles, and the bathroom, but I don't touch the toilet. I spray the cots with Lysol spray in between kids. I keep hand sanitizer with a pump on my desk and use constantly. I was sick a lot my first year, hardly sick this second year. I do have IBS too, I take a daily GI probiotic.
Oh, I wipe down my own cots! But I'm not washing toilets. These custodians get paid way more than me.
Sad, but true.
I wash all my own stuff too (cots, door handles, sink handles, phone, any other commonly touched surface). If the toilet is visibly dirty I will wipe it with my antiseptic wipes.
We have a mat with a blanket that stays in the hallway outside the principal/secretary's office.
I too clean on my own. I don't have students in my "real" office at the D.O. unless I'm testing H&V for a kiddo who is in the continuation school here at the D.O.
But at the other schools, I wipe the tables and chairs down in the foyer of the schools when I'm there. I find myself wiping down the paper towel dispensers in the cafeteria as well.
We have a mat with a blanket that stays in the hallway outside the principal/secretary's office.
I too clean on my own. I don't have students in my "real" office at the D.O. unless I'm testing H&V for a kiddo who is in the continuation school here at the D.O.
But at the other schools, I wipe the tables and chairs down in the foyer of the schools when I'm there. I find myself wiping down the paper towel dispensers in the cafeteria as well.
Can't help myself . . ..
Lol that would drive my principals nuts. I have two cots at one school and one at the other. Last year I had a folding lawn chair before I got the second cot, it was really dangerous lol.
SassyTachyRN
408 Posts
I don't count on my janitorial staff to clean my clinic. I come in sometimes and my countertops are downright filthy and I know they haven't been cleaned. I have no proof that they even clean the cots, so I clean myself. At the end of the day I clean with Lysol wipes, the cots, countertops, drawer/door handles, my phone, desk, refrig/freezer handles, and the bathroom, but I don't touch the toilet. I spray the cots with Lysol spray in between kids. I keep hand sanitizer with a pump on my desk and use constantly. I was sick a lot my first year, hardly sick this second year. I do have IBS too, I take a daily GI probiotic.