Introduction

Hello!

Michael Haase with his wife and two children.

My name is Michael Haase, and I have been a registered nurse in the state of Ohio for ten years. My journey as a school nurse began officially at the start of the 2019-20 school year at Lake Ridge Academy in North Ridgeville, Ohio, but I had been a substitute for the nurse at the school for five years prior. When I was in college at The University of Akron, I originally could not decide between the nursing and education paths, and ultimately chose nursing because it blended both careers in many ways. As a school nurse, I have the opportunity to provide both healthcare and education in the same position, so I have found a great place in my career and enjoy what I do immensely.

Prior to being a school nurse, I spent my career mostly in the hospital setting. The majority of my years were in emergency medicine and surgical intensive care at Southwest General Medical Center in Berea, Ohio. Leading up to these specialties were rotations in orthopedics, perioperative care, and hospice case management. The experience in emergency medicine has provided a solid foundation for my school nurse practice, as the arts of both triage and community health both serve as useful tools in my successful transition to school nursing.

An extra motivating factor in my career as a school nurse is that the school for which I work, Lake Ridge Academy, is home to my wife’s kindergarten class. She has been teaching at the school for thirteen years. Additionally, my daughter is in first grade at the school this year, and my son will begin attending kindergarten in the fall. I have a unique opportunity here at Lake Ridge to not only establish an important and satisfying career as a school nurse, but also to practice at a school in which I have a deep investment. I have seized the opportunity at the school to bring my family closer and also to ensure that the health and safety of the school is under trustworthy care and supervision.

Of course, unbeknownst to me when I started, my career as a school nurse was immediately put to the test of all tests when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. We had to close our doors in March of 2020, which was quite hard. However, the school administration embraced my experience as a nurse in the field and my enthusiasm for the school’s success, and I was invited to participate in the school’s “GoForward Team,” which was responsible for drafting and enacting schoolwide policies and procedures in regard to mitigating the risk of COVID-19 at the school. And as of March, there is no evidence of spread here at the school.

Michael in his school clinic with his daughter, Penny.