School Nurses

[minkydog]

I'm a school nurse in a middle school of 800 kids and 125 staff. I am busy all day long. I insist on having my 30 minute lunch break--its the only break I get all day, other than my short 2-3 minute potty breaks.

However...I eat lunch in a quiet conference room in the office. I take my 2-way radio with me so I can hear if something happens. The front office staff knows where I am. They take care of minor things while I'm eating--minor cuts, feminine needs, upset stomachs. They do not hesitate to come to me with anything they feel uncomfortable with. I am happy to leave my lunch for a kid's or adult's asmtha attack, head injury, allergic reaction, injured limbs, or lacerations.

The only time I have ever missed something broken was the time I had a kid with a head injury he sustained in a fall at home. I was so concerned about his disorientation, vomiting and altered state of consciousness(and the fact that his parents refused to pick him up Can you say CPS?) that I totally overlooked his broken wrist. Care to guess what the parents focused on the next day? I heard all about that broken wrist. Idiots...

 

[cruisnfamily]

Our middle school does not have an actual nurse. We have a "clinic aide". Which is a job you or I or anybody off the street could qualify for. No medical training necessary. They do have a county health nurse who travels between the schools and does visit a few days a month but is certainly not there daily. I think if goes by the number of kids. There are 660 kids in the middle school.

The high school has 2700 kids and does have a full time actual nurse and a full time aide.

 

[Kath2003]

I've taught at numerous high schools of between 1000 and 2000 students and never have I seen a school nurse. The administrative staff deal with sick children. They are first-aid trained but that's the extent of it. The school 'nurse' visits once a week at lunch and is open for students to go to and discuss health concerns they have, but she doesn't deal with daily sickness, trips, falls etc.

 

[RN4Babies]

Our school district has health room aides who have some basic first aide training. It's usually moms of kids in the school who have taken a four hour "class" the school district offers every year. On days when there isn't an aide, the responsibilities fall to the secretaries in the office.

There's a registered nurse for the entire district (10 elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools, each with about 1400 students). No school district that I know of within a 50 mile radius (including Milwaukee public schools) has had a school nurse in years, thanks to budget cuts.

 

[MM27]

at my school our nurse takes her lunch and prep period back to back. So we tell the kids that they can't get sick between 12:20 and 1:40

If it's an issue that needs immediate attention, the kids will go to the main office and the secretary will either call home, put a bandaid on it, or make them wait in chairs, depending on the situation.

 

[aprilgail2]

School nurses? They still have those?

Our schools (even elementary) have not had school nurses in YEARS. If anything serious happens, they call 911. Vision/hearing screenings are done by parent volunteers. Band-aids & minor accidents are handled by the receptionist.

This is in one of the best school districts in the state of Oregon!

You can't be serious??? No way in heck would I allow some parent volunteer to screen my child for anything!
Our schools all have school nurses and if a class goes on a class trip with any child that has a peanut allergy or any other type illness the school nurse goes on each school trip and a sub nurse is brought in to the school to cover for her.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

All the schools around here have full time school nurses. And if she is out for the day there is a substitute nurse called in to cover for her. In school I remember the nurse eating her lunch in her office or if she was out for a short period of time one of the secretaries would sit in her office for a short period of time. In high school we also had an athletic trainer and she would occassionaly fill in if the nurse was out of her office for a period or too

 

[DisneyJen0504]

Our school nurse closes her office for lunch to the little stuff. We as teachers try as courtesy not to send kids down to her during that time for small stuff.She has told us to send anyone down for any falls, vomit, bloody nose, etc. She stays in her office for lunch for this reason.
She also attends class trips when children have allergies.