Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #25 Cathy Meyer-School Nurse

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Episode #25 Cathy Meyer-School Nurse · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, the proud superintendent of Auburn School District, Dr.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Alan Spacotti.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: And the Recess is one of our great tools to tell the stories of the people and the programs that make Auburn such a great place to be and make Auburn School District really sing.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoy being able to introduce people from all corners of the district in different roles, students, adults.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Today's going to be a really fun one.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for joining us.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: This episode, we're happy to be joined by a school nurse.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to learn a lot about what happens in the nurse's office and what it takes to become a school nurse and all kinds of great things.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Our school nurse is Kathy Meyer.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Kathy, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for having me here today.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad to have you also.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I have lots of questions about your journey into the role that you fill and what you do as a school nurse.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: But we're going to start with my favorite question.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Who was your favorite teacher and why?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite teacher was a gentleman by the name of Mr.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Cooper.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was a high school science teacher who really fostered a love of science and gave me the foundations to becoming a nurse, as well as just building up my confidence.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the things he taught me was the motto remember to keep the big things big and the little things little.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been something that's stuck with me all through these years and continues to be a part of my life today.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is great advice.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I always enjoy seeing uh how somebody's favorite teacher uh helped them out.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes there's some relationship to the subject matter or uh something related, and uh it's interesting.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously you don't have a nurse as a teacher, but a science teacher, uh, you could definitely see some relationship there, and keeping the the the small things small is great life advice.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: So there you go.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you uh downloaded this podcast and you're listening, you are already a winner with the thought of the day, and I think we all should do a little bit more of that, and the world would probably be a happier place.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um, thank you for sharing about your favorite teacher.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about school nursing.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us what was your path to becoming a school nurse in Auburn?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So every nurse has a different path that gets them to becoming a school nurse.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's not one particular for me.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: However, I took quite a varied path that I first, after college, went off to the Marshall Islands and was a Jesuit international volunteer and started in an educational setting.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um after that, though, I had the opportunity of working both in hospitals and clinics.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then around the time that my own children started school, um I was ready for a different path and one that had more autonomy.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and school nursing seemed to be a good fit with that.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so 12 years ago now, I started as a school nurse and have been here in Auburn for the last eight years.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: What kind of education or career prep do you need to become a school nurse?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you get your four-year degree and sit for your nursing boards.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: After that, there is a specialized coursework that you take in order to get certified through OSPI as a certified school nurse.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm probably a little bit ignorant about the field of nursing and the and is if if you get the training to be a school nurse, is that uh interchangeable with being, say, a nurse in a hospital or in a care facility, or is it very specialized?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Every nurse starts at the same path of getting a four-year RN degree.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then they can specialize into different areas, and that specialization is something that's more of an on-the-job training than it is uh sitting in a classroom.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we have fantastic nurses.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: I probably should have said this right up front, but I really have come to appreciate and admire and be thankful for the work our nurses and our health techs do for our students every day.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um before we get into what that role is, how many nurses do you know how many nurses we have in the Orange School District?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh just talk about that role and the health tech role.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really proud to be a part of this group of really dedicated and supportive nurses.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: There are 18 of us who are here in the district, um, some working part-time, some working full-time, but spread out across both the elementary, middle, and high schools.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And at each of those sites, there is a health tech who really is our eyes and our ears.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't do our jobs without them.
• 5:52
  unknown: Okay.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: We also have four full-time licensed practical nurses who attend with our highest medically fragile students so they can safely attend their school days.
• 6:05
  unknown: Absolutely.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you to our health techs uh and some really amazing people and long-term committed Auburn people that I've gotten to know that I love.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so thanks to the techs.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Just to put in perspective, Kathy said 18 nurses, a few are part-time, probably most are full-time.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: We have almost 18,000 students, especially when you count our preschool and you know, pre-K12, we're close to 18,000.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: So think about one nurse per thousand students and how busy uh all of you must be with uh especially the needs that we see today.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you'll get into that.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: So again, thanks to the incredible capability and and dedication of our nurses.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: All right, could you explain what does a typical day look like as a school nurse?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to explain a typical day.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: There is no such thing as a typical day for a school nurse.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um we go into a day with an idea of what the day might look like in terms of being able to communicate and talk with families, do care planning, do screenings, look at immunizations, making sure that our kids are safe and healthy and ready to learn, and to maximize that seat time that they have in the schools.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um But the reality is that what comes through our doors on a daily basis, we never know.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is no typical day, nor is there a repeat day.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Our jobs are definitely not boring.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I didn't ask you this, but uh where do you work as a school nurse?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm honored to say that I am a nurse at Terminal Park Elementary.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh talk about that variety of of day.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you're right, that was a leading question.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it's actually there is no typical day.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: What is the range of some of the work you do in the course of being a nurse from day to day?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: So one of our biggest roles is in case management.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say case management, what I'm talking about is working with students and staff, um, both in the special ed environment as well as the general education environment, families and providers in the community, and really being a bridge in between all of those in order to have a plan for students to be able to fully participate, to receive an education, as well as to grow both socially and emotionally in the school environment.
• 9:09
  unknown: Okay.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of uh case management planning support for uh medical needs.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people have a uh a picture of the nurse's office as you know dispensing the band-aids or helping the kid with a nosebleed.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um but i you know, maybe responding to somebody who, you know, fell off a big toy or something.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um but actually there's there's a lot of proactive work and uh planning and being a part of like a a support team for a student child uh with a special needs.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really interesting.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we're able to come alongside and be a part of that greater team, um and be able to allow for students to be in the school environment.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing more and more healthcare needs, um, as well as more students being mainstreamed.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I would think you want students to be able to fully participate in their education.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I know a little bit, probably enough to be dangerous, but uh there was a there are kids who are in school today who uh would not have that access, that mainstreaming, that opportunity to be a part of a school.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and some have high high needs medically or or just uh you're helping provide access for their education.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're really looking at those individual needs that each student has and trying to creatively come up with how to allow them to engage fully.
• 11:00
  unknown: Yeah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's a critical role.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's something that uh people take for granted somewhat, and and I would I would be guilty of that uh as a teacher and a principal, um not really stopping to think what what that day is like, and uh I can only imagine what a bad place we'd be without school nurses.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know any other way to to put it, and that's why we uh we value our nurses so much and and you guys are amazing.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um you're the lead nurse, so what does that role entail?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I've got the privilege to be able to come and support new nurses, provide some training, as well as just keeping a pulse on the greater district needs.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Each nurse takes a look at their individual school and is able to see what those needs are.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but as the lead nurse, I have a responsibility to look at what needs aren't being met across the district and how can we help as a team come alongside and fill those needs.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's really exciting.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I assume you work uh also with Stephanie Earnhardt, who's the administrator for nursing, uh, and uh does a great job as well.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there's just there's a lot to do, and uh we need a lot of leadership, and thank you for being a part of that team.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's wonderful to have uh the support of a district who has a nurse supervisor as our supervisor, as well as just the dedication to nurses being um honored for the work they do as well as the education they have.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we would agree with that.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: So let's let's talk a little bit about the needs of our students.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what are some of the most common health challenges that our students face?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we hear a lot about the the big four with students with seizures, students with anaphylaxis or life-threatening allergies, asthma, and diabetes.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: But what we're really seeing a lot of is students who have uh mental health issues and with that they're showing signs of physical needs or physical symptoms.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so working as a collaborative team with our counselors, with our behavioral specialists, as well as our staff and families, and help them identify that that that's what's going on, as well as helping them build some resilience.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can imagine.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I hadn't thought of the physical manifestations of mental health.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's a pretty complex uh area.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm glad you're supporting our students.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're working hard to support our students in in many ways um reduce anxiety and have support for mental health.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: And there's just unfortunately a great need and and still not as many resources as as I wish we had.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're grateful for the work that our school nurses do to be a part of uh the service, even though it's maybe not a direct connection to school nursing.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, as you you said earlier, it's one or maybe two uh health professionals in our building, and uh that that's in the best case scenario, so you handle a lot of things.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um I actually uh had a curiosity based on your your first answer.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you said that you uh did uh some some service in the Marshall Islands, and uh this is totally uh not a part of our prepared questions, but that spiked my interest.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: We have a large Marshallese community in Auburn, and I was wondering, has that experience helped you connect with uh students or families in your job here in Auburn?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's been eye-opening to see to see the cultural impact uh that so many of our students have, not just our Marshallese families, um, but to start my career as a nurse out in the Marshall Islands and then to be in a school in which there's a high number of Marshallese students and to have some knowledge behind uh some of the cultural impacts that families experience, especially those who are coming directly from the Marshalls, has really helped me to have a greater understanding, as well as to be in a place where I can help advocate.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that we're really striving to do is break down barriers that families have and by um bringing services into the schools to allow students to needs to be met uh during their school day has really been um impactful for a lot of our families.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that I'm always curious about, just to like illustrate uh what success looks like, is what is one of your best student success stories?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: In working with students, the greatest impact that I've seen is when we come together as a team.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the most impactful things uh for me has been seeing students start out in the early grades.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um such case is a kindergartner who started out in our special education setting uh in the self-contained classroom.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um being a part of that team that watched her grow and develop and meet her needs, and seeing her now in the third grade and being in the general education setting, uh, and knowing that those barriers were able to be identified and taken down so that she can be successful, as well as seeing her peers uh be a part of that progress and learning as well.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um has been really rewarding to know that it really does take all of us to impact a child.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um and also they teach us so much more than we can teach them.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, that's a beautiful answer, and it must be so gratifying to work with students and see them grow and see them be able to flourish and know that your support was a part of that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's that's just wonderful.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing, Kathy.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so my guest has been Kathy Meyer, a school nurse.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like all my guests, she's also a former student herself.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I like to close by asking you to kind of channel that inner child and think back to when you were in school.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Kathy, what was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, by far, I grew up in the days where we had swings on the playground.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: And by far, laying back and feeling that wind um with the swings was always my favorite thing to do.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's exciting.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: That is that is great.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I always encourage people there's no age limit on those swings, so get out there and and try it again.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's that's really a fun story, and I think a lot of my listeners can relate to that as well.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, well, Kathy, thank you for what you do.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to all of our nurses uh who do an amazing job, and I really could have invited anyone here to talk about the work.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's um it's critical to our student experience and their success.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we probably don't say thank you enough, but I'll I'll do it here on behalf of all of your colleagues and again our health techs and uh everybody who's supporting our students out there.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: This has been the Recess Podcast, a production of Auburn School District.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to Vicky Alonzo, uh, our great producer who helps us uh to process these episodes so that you can enjoy them.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you know a school nurse or perhaps you visited the nurse's office when you were a child uh and you enjoyed this episode, please share it with others who might also like it.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're really trying to get the word out about the great people and the great things that happen in the district.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And if you could help pass this along to somebody who'd be interested, uh I would appreciate that.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for listening.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: This has been the Recess Podcast.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next time.