School Nursing

The Relentless School Nurse: What Happened at School Today – Reflections From a First-Year School Nurse

#WhatHappenedAtSchoolToday is a reflection from Miranda on her first year as a school nurse. Her Facebook message caught my attention, you will see why:

Screen Shot 2019-05-20 at 2.36.34 PM
Miranda Eileen, BSN, RN

Reflecting on my first year as a nurse/school nurse. It was everything and nothing like how I expected it would be. So much of what I learned in college did not fully prepare me for the emotional and physical demands of nursing.

-Nothing can prepare you for the first time you have to call the child abuse hotline. Seeing the fear on a child’s face begging to not send them home.

-Nothing can prepare you when you are the only nurse around and you have to make decisions that no one else can make.

-Nothing can prepare you for when your school goes on lockdown and you have a vomiting kid in your office and have to squeeze in a tiny little bathroom with them until you know it was a false alarm.

Sometimes all I do is give a kid a clean new pair of socks and watch their face light up. Sometimes we give them new shoes or a coat and they tell me it’s the first new pair they’ve gotten in 2 years. 

Sometimes all I have to do is give them an ice pack or a pat on the back and reassure them everything will be okay.

I wouldn’t change my profession for anything. I take home a lot of emotions with me, and that’s something I need to learn how to cope with. At the end of the day, these kids are almost like my own. And I was blessed with a staff who supports each other through all the hard times. ❤️

Miranda’s brief bio:
I graduated in May 2018 with my BSN RN, and being a school nurse was my first real job as a nurse. I’m the district nurse at the same elementary/middle school that I attended as a kid!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.