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School nurse describes role helping students stay in class, arranging vision care
Summary
A school nurse described how on-site medical care, community partnerships and help with childcare paperwork let students access school and health services, citing vision clinics and support for teen parents.
School Nurse (unnamed) said her work goes beyond basic duties, helping students stay in class and access care: “What makes my role more than just a job? I look forward to coming to work every day. I'm compassionate. I enjoy seeing the kids. I enjoy coming to work to work with all the staff.”
The nurse told meeting attendees that medical needs — medications, procedures and treatments — mean some students could not attend school without school-based health support. “Also, some of the children, because of their diagnosis, they have medications, they have procedures, they have treatments. Some of those students wouldn't be able to come to school if they didn't have a school nurse,” she said.
She described partnerships that bring specialized services to students. “One of the most rewarding experiences that I have had, we partnership the school district with other partners. And so the Lions Eye Institute and also the Bucks, the Glazers, They've come to my school. I pick up the kids,” the nurse said, describing on-campus vision care and follow-up transportation to appointments.
The nurse said students who receive on-site screening and care sometimes leave with corrective devices. “I take them out to the bus. They see the doctor. They get glasses. When I take them back to the bus to get their new glasses, they're so happy. They get to pick out the frames,” she said. She added that restored vision can be an immediate academic benefit: “They can see again. That's rewarding to me.”
She also described helping students in a teen parent program remain enrolled. Speaking of that experience, she said she assisted with enrollment paperwork and contacting daycares that the district helps pay for so young parents could continue at their neighborhood schools.
The nurse framed her work as team-based: “All of us chose to come here. We all work as a team, and I feel like it takes a village.” The remarks focused on day-to-day support roles rather than any proposed policy change or formal action recorded in the transcript.
