Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) – Eight Points to Remember

Here we are. Safe-and-sound doing our day-to-days; work, home, dinner, sleep, and up the next morning to do it all over again. Work is okay. School is okay. And, life is okay. We worry about this and that. We contemplate debt, mortgages, jobs, friends, family and what’s for dinner. Our Facebook feed parallels a life that, for the most part,

6 Tips for the School Nurse to get the most out of SUMMER!

Next year...it seems silly to be thinking about next school year here at the end of this school year. We have 3 days until we...well...until we don’t have to show up to the schoolhouses each morning. On the flip side, we have 70 days until we certified staff start a brand-new school year. But who’s counting, right? This article will be

Motivating Children to Wash Their Hands — Even When No One Is Watching

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Hand washing...really?? Do we really need to talk about handwashing and the importance of handwashing and blah, blah, blah? I don’t know about your nursing school, but way back in 1996, the first return demonstration we ever had to perform as student nurses was handwashing. So, why is this school nurse talking to other awesome school nurses about handwashing? Y’all

School Nurse Christmas Break Survival Guide

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Remember the old days? I remember...oh how I remember. My boss, God loves her, would set out a “holiday dream list” in late September. She would list Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day as “dreamed”-for holiday days to take off. “Number the most important to the least, and I will try to give you

11 Qualities of an Awesome School Nurse

Qualities Awesome School Nurse

11 Qualities of an Awesome School Nurse - Nurses are great folks. And I ain't just saying that because I'm a nurse; I have worked with hundreds of nurses in four different states and in five different “genres” of nursing. We nurses are pretty awesome folks. Sure we are! We can have our fingers tangled up to the third knuckle

70 Days Into the School Year

70 days in

Here we are...the school nurse...70 days in the school year. And, do you want to know something crazy? That’s how many summer days we had this past summer. So, why did these past 70 days seem to have passed by so much quicker than the 70 days of summer? Now, I ain’t sayin’ those 70 summer days were boring and

How to Recognize the Fakers

“Nurse Kevin, I am so sick...I think I am having ‘ana-pol-axis.’ I am very allergic to killer bees...and marinara sauce. Can I have a mint?” Little Jenny has some very concerning “ailments.” She has managed to articulate her reason for coming to see the nurse, clearly...and without pausing...and while suffering from a very subjective case of anaphylaxis, hypoglycemia, and, more importantly,

Pros and Cons of School Nursing

What are the pros and cons of being a school nurse? In other words, “What are the positives and negatives about being a school nurse?” There are lots and lots of positives and...well...only a few “not-so-positive” things. I dare say that there is ONLY ONE NEGATIVE thing about being a school nurse. (We’ll discuss that later.) As with any occupation, there

We’re Going to Be Friends

I love the movie Napoleon Dynamite (I’m from Idaho…all 1.68 million of us like it). It just makes me feel excited about going back to school. After the opening credits, Napoleon quietly awaits the school bus on his first day of school. After getting on the school bus another kid asks, “What are you going to do today, Napoleon?” Napoleon shoots

Peppermints Makes The Kids Smarter and Calmer

Mints. Just about every child that comes into my office gets a peppermint before leaving. I think that passing along a bit of sweetness helps the day go by better. They see it as a treat; I see it as a little bit of extra health care that will help them in so many different ways. Can peppermint make you smarter?