Moms Who (still) Care!

MOMS WHO CARE

Tomorrow will be Moms Who Care day at the high school!
This day of the week is highly anticipated by quite a few students.
Last week was the first day of this school year the 

room was open and there were at least 55 student visitors!

Today I was asked to give an impromptu interview for our local city newspaper.  

Along with pictures... UGH- I much prefer being the one who takes the picture :)  

I certainly hope I gave the information the readers will be looking for.  

I truly believe in our Moms Who Care program and could promote the program for hours, 

but I knew my time was limited today!  Now that I've had a few hours

to replay every second I was with the interviewer I am having a lot of those

 "Oh, I should have said this or that" kind of moments... You know what I'm talking about!

I supposed the article will be out in a couple of weeks-

about the same time I will have another awesome surprise for you! Stay tuned....

I will leave you with my recent Moms Who Care video... 

I currently LOVE making these Animoto videos... and I'm not getting paid to say that :)

another school year...

I can't believe another school year has started!  

The summer months really do seem to fly by!

I am blessed to have a job that I enjoy going to each day.

The students and staff that I work with  make my days brighter; they make me smile!
I hope you are looking forward to another great year too?
I would love to hear about some goals you've set for yourself.

Good luck getting through another year of helping students with illnesses, injuries, 

and emergencies, meeting deadlines, writing plans, attending meetings, 

following up on emails & phone calls, completing vision & hearing screenings, 

performing drug tests, referring to counseling programs, 

coordinating dental clinics, providing flu shots, 

promoting health and safety, teaching CPR, ordering supplies, 

being nice, caring for others, listening to others, 

and all of the other things we (school nurses) do throughout the year!

Gather some amazing school nurse office decor items here!

School Violence

What is School Violence?

School Violence is actually considered a public health problem.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2010 
828,000 nonfatal school violence incidents 
among students aged 12 -18 years of age!

In 2011 5.9% of high school students sampled reported missing one or more days of school due to fear either while at school or on their way to/from school.
While 20% reported being bullied on school property during the last 12 months!

How can I help?

School Violence Resource Links

CDC Division of Violence Prevention

CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health

STRYVE

Stop Bullying

Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence

Illinois School Violence Tip Line

Bullying...

BULLYING is a form of SCHOOL VIOLENCE...

As a school nurse, you might be one of the first school employees to suspect or learn about an act of bullying.

Bullying which results in physical injuries can be some of the most obvious attacks.  

However, many forms of bullying cause emotional  and other health related complaints.

The health related symptoms (psychosomatic symptoms) can go unrecognized 

for a long period of time until they are related to a bullying situation.

Some of the health related complaints caused from bullying include, but are not limited to:

As a school nurse YOU CAN HELP!

1. Gather Information... Collaborate with other school employees (administration) to determine if the situation qualifies as a form of bullying.

2. Be Supportive... Support the student being bullied and support all bystanders while the school administrators properly address the student bully according to school policy.

3.  Educate... Education students and staff on bullying, prevention, and responding!

These steps are outlined in greater detail on the Stop Bullying website!

Here is a small list of online (anti)bullying resources:

PBS

Education

Stop Bullying

Stop Bullying Now DVD

Bullying

Kids Health

CDC

STRYVE 

Information used from the above sites was used to create this blog post :)

Where do I take my full sharps containers?

+this post contains an affiliate link+

COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

Looks like our sharps container is FULL!

Nearly seven years ago I asked the local fire department 

to dispose of full sharps containers for the school district.

We typically fill one large container per school year and so they kindly agreed.

Saving your school district money is always a good thing.

Working with the local fire department is a great form of community collaboration!

THANK YOU :)