There are school nurses across the country that are being asked to provide their own PPE. I am trying to see how widespread this practice is and how school nurses are responding.
I received this anonymous message from a school nurse:
I have a question regarding PPE. Is it commonplace to be asked to sign off on guidelines that state we are responsible for supplying our own PPE? I have also been told that my district has a stock of surgical masks but there is not enough for clinic staff to use daily. I feel uneasy electronically signing off when it clearly states staff are responsible for providing PPE on their own.
Is your district asking you to provide your own PPE?
Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN), currently in her 19th year as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. Robin is the Legislative Chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association. She is proud to be a Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellow and past Program Mentor. She has been recognized in her home state of New Jersey and nationally for her community-based initiative called “The Community Café: A Conversation That Matters.” Robin is the honored recipient of multiple awards for her work in school nursing and population health. These awards include, 2019 National Association of School Nurses President’s Award, 2018 NCSN School Nurse of the Year, 2017 Johnson & Johnson School Nurse of the Year, and the New Jersey Department of Health 2017 Population Health Hero Award. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing, where she teaches the next generation of school nurses. She was presented the 2018 Rutgers University – Camden Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for Part-time Faculty. Follow Robin on Twitter at @RobinCogan.
View all posts by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN
2 thoughts on “The Relentless School Nurse: What Would You Do?”
I work for a Charter and they are providing all PPE for me. It is difficult to find, but we have placed orders and I am praying they all arrive before school begins. Many of our orders placed in March were cancelled by the manufacturer, so now we are down to the wire.
We are being provided PPE but still on order. I’m in IL. Isn’t it the school that has to provide PPE for a safe work environment? I would look into that and get my facts to show them. Providing our own should not be the case.
I work for a Charter and they are providing all PPE for me. It is difficult to find, but we have placed orders and I am praying they all arrive before school begins. Many of our orders placed in March were cancelled by the manufacturer, so now we are down to the wire.
We are being provided PPE but still on order. I’m in IL. Isn’t it the school that has to provide PPE for a safe work environment? I would look into that and get my facts to show them. Providing our own should not be the case.