Life in the day of...

Whenever I tell people my profession, most people usually say something along the lines of "That's great that you have flexible hours" or "I bet you could be making alot more in the hospitals" and most are a little unsure of what a school nurse does.

The first statement is very true- for me my job comes second to family/personal life so of course I would rather have a job that allowed me a normal schedule, to be home in the evenings, weekends and holidays.

The second statement is really not so true- it depends on how much a nurse wants to work. I have one friend who prefers more days off so she works only 3 days a week - and another friend who would rather make more cash so she works 4 NIGHTS (typically earns more per hour) a week. It all comes down to how you want to spend your time, and that will determine how much more you can make working in a hospital.

I thought I would share what a normal day looks like (in a middle school of about 1,000 students).

Arrive a little before 8 a.m- get the clinic ready for the day (unlock cabinets, turn on computers, make a to-do list, check emails)

School doors open at 8:30 so I usually have 2 or 3 parents come that want to talk to me about something (immunizations, their child is on a new medicine, etc...). I enjoy getting to practice my espanol~

Kids start coming in for their morning medication at 8:40. After this, I walk down and check the blood sugar on one of my special ed students.

9-11 is usually a time where I see lots of clinic "traffic"- stomachaches, headaches, sore throats are the top 3 ailments, but I also see lots of minor sports injuries (jammed finger, sprains/strains). If the student has no temperature they may rest on a cot for a few minutes and return to class. Sore throats usually gargle salt water and get a mint. There might be a couple of genuine sick kids out of the bunch that come during this time so I make parent phone calls and doctors referrals.

11-1 is another heavy time for distributing medications. I have 4 Type 1 diabetics at my school and they all check in at lunchtime and we calculate their noon dose of insulin. If the sugar level is too high or too low we have a protocol that we follow until a stable number is reached. I have about 10 kids on ADHD medication, a few kids on inhalers.

After 1 pm is usually a time to play catch up on odds and ends- lots of charting, typing up letters to send home with kids who are behind on their shots, and planning for different things. For example, this week Im giving a hygiene lecture to the girls PE classes so I've been working on a powerpoint presentation. Head home around 4:15

Throughout the week I usually have a few interesting cases- cleaning wounds, counseling, elevated blood pressures, rashes, lice etc...

I also work on hearing/vision/scoliosis screenings throughout the entire school year. This is one of the biggest roles of the school nurse, as we often are the only ones to catch if a student has a debility.

On a typical day the clinic sees about 30 kids not counting those on mediciation. Some days are slower, some busier (the most we have seen in one day was 65). I actually think my job is pretty exciting- I love that I can maintain a bit of a routine but at the same time I never know what the day is going to hold.

The great thing about my profession is that all of my nursing friends and I LOVE our jobs- because we each picked the environment that we most enjoy and thrive in.

Here is a link to my school: http://cfbstaff.cfbisd.edu/field/

(I have a web page- look under Staff--> Administration-->Counselor