What Does Our School Nurse Do?

Everyone recognizes this door, right?


But do you know the lady whose office is behind it, Nurse Laura, and what she does at Indian Springs every day?


Laura Jennings, RN, is our school nurse, of course, but her job involves far more than just taking temperatures and handing out band-aids.

Nurse Laura has been at Indian Springs for 8 years. As the school nurse, Laura is an employee of the Sullivan County Health Department. She is contracted out to the Board of Education to serve Indian Springs Elementary. We are lucky to have Nurse Laura all to ourselves. Some school nurses must cover two schools every day.

The role of the school nurse has evolved over the years. School nurses have taken on more and more responsibility in terms of helping children with chronic health issues remain in school. In this vein, our own Nurse Laura does a variety of daily procedures at Indian Springs such as catheterizations, blood glucose checks, and feeding tubes. She also administers all prescription medications and treats asthmatic patients by doing peak flow meters and giving inhaler and nebulizer treatments. Administering these treatments for chronic conditions are a high priority for Nurse Laura each day.

In addition to these procedures, Laura also gives all over-the-counter medications, treats injuries, and follows up on all accident reports. Laura keeps track of all the medical conditions and allergies of the people who work and learn at Indian Springs and works with the cafeteria staff and others as needed to make sure everyone stays safe. Her role involves participation on the disaster preparedness team at ISE and she also chairs the Health and Safety committee for the PTA, where she tries to teach a health/safety topic to the students each month. Laura also works with families with financial difficulties to obtain medication and health care. She oversees the medical aspects of school events such as Grandparents Day, Mega Party, Field Day, Walkathon, etc. This is only an abbreviated list of what Laura does at ISE each day - whew!

Since she has been at ISE, some of the more serious issues Nurse Laura has dealt with are staff with strokes, a staff member with a heart attack, a grandmother who fell and fractured her hip at grandparents' day, serious cuts, broken bones, and teachers in preterm labor.

As you can see, Laura is VERY busy and plays a huge role in keeping everyone at our school safe. We are very thankful for her!

Now, you might ask, what goes on in the Red Cross Clinic located near the Nurse's office?

Stay tuned for an upcoming post to find out!