School Nurse STRUGGLE
"We are frequently yelled at. Sworn at. Insulted."
The daily life of a school nurse during the pandemic
T
he requirements for public school nurses have expanded to levels likely no one could have ever imagined due to the pandemic. Contact tracing, quarantines, pool testing, and vaccines have been added to the pre-pandemic duties including medication dispensing, belly aches, playground mishaps and more. What makes matters worse, the nursing shortages, like in other education fields, mean fewer nurses for a much sicker student population.
From September 2021 through the first week of November, the CDC reported 7,428 positive and probable COVID cases in children ages 5-19. Compare that to a similar timeframe last year-and include all of November-and the CDC reported 1,135 cases in that same age group. The 6,000 plus more cases of school-aged children this school year has put a massive strain on the entire public school system, particularly those responsible for taking care of the students and staff in our schools-our school nurses.
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I have 20 years of nursing experience -hospital pediatrics; labor and delivery; community health center; camp nursing; and now school nursing. Being a school nurse during COVID is the most difficult out of all the nursing jobs I have ever held." – Western Maine School Nurse MAINEEA.ORG
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