This week we had the pleasure to work with New Albany Plain Local Schools where we were able to play school nurses for the day. Four of us were assigned to separate buildings including the Early Learning Center, Primary, Intermediate, and High School. It turns out that school nurses do a lot more than give bandaids and handout ice packs (although, many students still came in for those).
Community clinical is more fun when you carpool!
I was assigned to work with Nurse Joy at the Early Learning Center where the Pre-K and Kindergarten students have tons of fun and learn so much. Our day started off pretty bloody as a Pre-K student came in with a busted, bloody lip that was an aftermath of pushing a classmate on a swing and it backfiring, hitting her in the face. Crisis was averted as we applied some pressure with gauze, rinsed with water, and provided some handy dandy ice. That was probably the craziest thing that happened today, other than that, everything was very chill and steady.
Nurse Joy explained her day to day process which included monitoring a student’s diabetes where we would give her insulin (if needed) during her snack time and during lunch. Today, the kiddo’s sugar was declining faster than our liking before snack time and we gave her a pick me up Starburst (4 g of carbs) to bring it up. Nurse Joy also administers medications that are needed such as inhalers and ADHD medications. She is also responsible for hearing and vision screenings in the beginning of the year and keeps track of all of the vaccinations that are needed to attend the school. With her background in trauma nursing, she is the person to call for any medical emergency such as seizures (this happened this year) or broken limbs (I saw many students with casts). Teacher and faculty CPR training was taught by her, as well. Overall, she is an incredible asset to the school and everyone loves her!
Very fun visual for the kiddos at the clinic!
I forgot how germy kids can be! Most of these kids are snotty, coughing everywhere, and covered in dirt from recess. One major health concern would be how fast communicable diseases could spread in the classroom. It made me wonder how teachers and nurses handled the COVID outbreak. Nurse Joy definitely mentioned how it was a very tough time and it consisted of a lot of COVID testing, contact tracing, and keeping track of quarantines. Sustainable Development Goal 4(Quality Education) states that ,”The pandemic caused learning losses in 4 in 5 og 104 countries studied.” This is why it is important to keep very sick kids at home to prevent an outbreak in the school. It will prevent many students from missing school and protect the teachers, as well. Kids are also notorious for trying to home from school from “tummy aches” and other excuses to miss class. Nurse Joy did a great job at comforting these students giving them options to use the bathroom, enjoy a snack, or simply rest in the clinic for a little bit. She didn’t send any kids home and this will definitely protect their learning.
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and it was very nostalgic for me as I haven’t been inside of a school (that wasn’t a college) in a very long time. Seeing all of these kids with very oversized backpacks having fun learning was cute to see! It was great to be on the nurse’s side of the clinic and not the student. I never knew how much a school nurse did for students and what they put up with. Nurse Joy was very patient with the students that came for very simple things. Although, I am on the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care track, I learned a lot from these kiddos and Nurse Joy that I will take to practice with me in the future.
The school focuses on mental health and emotions for the kids