So, I went to have lunch with my son on Monday, and he was at the nurse. He's averaging about 1 trip a month to the nurse, but never gets sent home. I'm not sure if he's a hypochondriac in the making or what (though he was sick one of those times).
Anyway, I found him in the nurse's office, by way of his classroom. I walk in, two happy meals in hand. The place is packed, and the kids are eyeing my meals. There are probably 6 kids in there, and two employees, plus one para with a sick kid. My kid's not even been looked at. They can't figure out why I'm there. You can see it in their eyes, "Did we call her already?" So I tried to explain. That whole explanation came about 5 minutes after I walked in though, because they were busy!
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, my mom volunteered in the nurse's office. I don't remember there being a real nurse at the school, but maybe there was and she was a helper. The nurse's office at my elementary school was a room off of the main office with tile floors, a small desk, and a doctor's office cot-type thing. That's it.
The modern nurse's office seemed quite different. First of all, there seemed to be an actual nurse. Now, I don't know if she was LPN, RN or what, but she looked very official in her scrubs. Plus, she has a paid helper. I can tell she's paid by her nifty name badge. Frankly, it looked like she needed all the help she could get. The office had 3 doctor's cots in the main room and a couple of chairs, though it was a little crowded. Plus it had two separate rooms. I guess if you're really sick, they isolate you in there. Who knows? Anyway, I was impressed with the layout set aside for the school nurse.
The good news is, paid assistants mean no volunteer requirements in the nurse's office. I would hate that. I don't like touching people anyway, much less sick kids who I'm not biologically required to serve.
What does the nurse's office look like in your school? Is it plush? Do you volunteer there? Are my memories of kiddie nurse's office way off? Who knows? You do. Comment.
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Our nurses office is a lot like the one you described from your childhood. It has one teacher's desk, one chair, a cot and a bathroom. Our nurse is full time, but I'm not sure of her qualifications. Lucinda Ingram use to be a school nurse, she told me they get paid about the same as a starting teacher.
ReplyDeletei haven't seen ours yet and i hope i never have to!!
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