The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
In a lot of ways, a day in the life of a school nurse hasn’t changed much from past generations: Scraped knees, upset tummies and the occasional headache keeps most days interesting, even if they never seem to unfold exactly as planned.
“We get all kinds of things,” said Billie Maxwell, a registered nurse at Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock. “It can be pretty unpredictable around here.”
While the majority of situations are minor, the Booneville native and 1972 graduate of the University Medical Center nursing school in Little Rock, has had to address more serious injuries in her seven years on the job — broken bones suffered from falling off the monkey bars, to be precise.
“Once they let them out for recess, you never know what you’re going to get,” she said.
But unlike bygone days, many of today’s school nurses are also on the forefront of health education in their respective schools. In addition to meticulous record keeping to track individual students’ immunization records, allergies, medicines and other data, nurses take the lead in coordinating medical action plans, educating staff and even coordinating health events for the wider community.
“Officially, I’m only here Mondays and Wednesdays, but I’m pretty much here every day for something,” said Jennifer Shelby, a registered nurse at Immaculate Conception School in Fort Smith. “I love every one of those kids. I really do.”
“If I’m needed, I’ll stay late or if I’m home they can call me and I’ll come up here,” said Charity Luyet, a licensed practical nurse at St. Joseph School in Conway. “I can honestly say that I see each and every one of these kids as my own.”
Such devotion is not unique, nor is it one-way. Not all Catholic schools in Arkansas have an on-site nurse, so those that do inspire a particular kind of affection from the student body and fellow staffers.
Of the diocese’s 28 schools, eight report having a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse.
“I’ve had parents call me outside of school. I have staff asking for my best medical advice. “I keep telling them, ‘I’m only a nurse!’” Luyet said “But that’s the best thing about this job, we’re a family.”
The nurses said the number of children on daily medications these days is one of the biggest changes over the years, making record keeping one of their most important responsibilities in order to keep up with what students need to take and to ensure drugs are dispensed accordingly.
Another big area of responsibility is tracking students’ food allergies and ensuring protocols are in place to help avoid exposure to allergens or for dealing with an episode.
“I’ve got emergency packets posted in 10 different locations around the school, in case someone comes in contact with peanuts or whatever,” Shelby said. “Everybody knows the kids here and they know the ones who have allergies. The teachers and I work hard to educate parents on what they can and can’t bring in for a party.”
Shelby, a native of El Dorado, received her nurses training at Baptist School of Nursing in Little Rock, graduating in 2000. For 13 years, she was a surgical nurse at Baptist Health before moving to Fort Smith where she alternates between her job at the school and as a home health care nurse.
Shelby is also at the forefront of community health as head of the school’s annual immunization clinic. Last year, the two-hour clinic dispensed 400 flu shots to students, faculty, staff and anybody else who asked for one, free of charge, thanks to donated materials and vaccine from Mercy Hospital Fort Smith.
“We do a drive-through clinic; parents can just stick their arms out the car window as they drop off their child and get a flu shot,” she said. “We see a lot of elderly people who have a hard time getting out of their house or who don’t have insurance. It’s open to anybody.”
Luyet, who grew up in Fairfield Bay and received her training from the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton in 1995, has also been active in health education. As a certified CPR instructor, she’s trained half the teachers in the life-saving procedure, an effort that continues through her twice-monthly courses on the subject. In addition, she’s also conducted training courses for the school’s automated external defibrillator (AED).
“We’ve got one of those machines on every campus and in the gym, of course,” she said. A number of staff members, including the school’s sports coaches, are trained in their use. “I’m 100 percent confident in the staff to know what to do in an emergency.”
She’s also trained a cadre of much younger cadets to help her respond to emergencies.
“On the elementary campus, in kindergarten through third grade, I have two students who are my emergency responders in every classroom,” she said. “They’re trained to push the intercom or notify a teacher in another classroom in the event something happens in their classroom or out on the playground. It’s a little extra help for me and a responsibility the students are very proud of.”
As the only medical professional on site for the roughly 400 elementary, middle and high school students, she runs the gamut on age-appropriate classroom talks, too.
“It starts with a talk about the very basics, you know, washing your hands after you use the restroom,” she said. “I give talks to the fifth graders on body changes and last year I invited members of the police department to talk to the ninth through 12th graders before prom on drinking and driving.”
Luyet and Shelby feel additional responsibility for the health of the student body from the fact that both have children who attend their respective schools. Maxwell, who converted to Catholicism in 2002, feels a connection that goes to her first career in medicine, which spanned 33 years at the local Veteran’s Hospital.
“Most of them were older men who needed you to take care of them or just be there to help them. When you care for a person like that for 15 or 20 years, you develop a real attachment. Today, when I run into them someplace, it’s nice to see them and say hi, just like when I see one of our students and they run up and give you a hug. The kids look to you to take care of them the same way those patients did.”
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