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
Inspiration
Inspiring stories from the school’s health office.
70 Days Into the School Year
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,
School Nurse’s Guide Back to School
School Nurse's Guide to Back to School Today is day one of the new school year. Today, after getting to school and getting hugs from some of my favorite people, I mosied back to my office to start digging out of the pile that usually accumulates after a summer of school cleaning and office organization. Summer is over...I am sad...but also
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
Getting “Much” of the Children
I’ve been nursing for almost 20 years and have never been able to find a specialty of nursing that I love until I showed up as a school nurse. Christmas after Christmas, holiday after holiday, weekends, evenings, nights, doubles, split shifts, on-call shifts, and extra shifts, I have worked them all. And now here I am...Nurse Kevin...school nurse for 1100
Cause I Ain’t Got a Pencil
A Short Tale of How I Have Begun to Understand the Children About this time during my first year as a school nurse, I had just finished working 78 days in a row without a day off. I thought being a school nurse would be great! But you know the old saying, “If it’s so great, why isn’t everyone doing it?”
School Teachers vs. School Nurses – 3 Reasons to Listen
Two teachers came to visit me today. They were polite as they approached me with a few questions. At first I didn’t know what to think; I didn’t feel like they were teaming up on me, the school nurse. But I did feel they were attempting to “tread on thin ice.” Funny thing is: My ice is pretty thick. “We wanted
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
The Richest School Nurse in the Whole-Wide World
My second year of being a school nurse is coming to an end. It’s field day at our elementary school and after today, we only have 4 more school days left. Like last year, I kinda don’t want the year to end. There’s the day-to-day routine that is ironically never “routine.” My ice chest is packed with ice packs, my