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| School nurse responsibilities have doubled, even tripled, due to the required COVID protocols all Maine schools must follow. Windham High School nurse Karry Joly, left, and Windham Middle School nurse Gail White are two of eight RSU 14 nurses who work with administration around the clock to make sure students are safe and healthy. PHOTO BY LORRAINE GLOWCZAK |
There has always been a misconception that school nurses’ duties simply consist of placing band-aids on minor wounds or letting a student who is feeling a bit under the weather rest in their office. But that has never been the case – even before the COVID virus hit our shores.
“Before the pandemic, I would see between 40 to 50 students per day for
various injuries, illnesses, medication administration, emergencies, and
social/emotional issues. I also work closely with students with chronic health
conditions like diabetes and epilepsy,” Karry Joly, an RSU 14 nurse who works
at the Windham High School, said.
As with all healthcare workers whose tasks have increased exponentially during the pandemic, school nurse responsibilities have doubled, even tripled, due to the required Covid protocols all Maine schools must follow. Joly said that all district nurses and administrators have worked many extra hours, including weekends, holidays, and evenings - a time that was once dedicated to re-charge and spending time with family and friends. However, since March 2021, those free time hours have been spent working long into the night doing the mandatory contact tracing.
To help eliminate the spread of the virus, students and staff who are
symptomatic are asked to stay home and not return until they have a negative COVID
test and are feeling better because normal and/or mild flu-like symptoms could
be an indication that one has COVID.
“I have been a nurse for a long time, and I am not able to tell you
which student with a stuffy nose just has a stuffy nose or has COVID,” Joly
said. “We all want to think that it is just another cold but unfortunately we
are in a pandemic and sometimes a cold is COVID.”
Joly explained that all schools in Maine must follow the standard
operating procedure that is put together by the Maine Department of Education
and the Maine Centers for Disease Control.
“This consists of a set of protocols that have to be followed when we
have a positive student in our school,” Joly said. “This is where we follow the
algorithm of which students have to quarantine. RSU 14 has universal masking
and with the new guidelines this has allowed for more students to stay in
school.”
Jolly described what is entailed in testing procedures and following the
mandated SOP.
“When we either test a positive student or are notified by a family that
a student has tested positive for COVID, we have a series of questions that we
ask,” she said. “Sample questions include: When did symptoms start and what are
they? When was the test taken and what type of test was it? When was the
student last in school and do they have any school-aged siblings?”
“We have to submit all positive tests (other than home tests) to the
CDC. I then work with WHS Principal Ryan Caron and our other covid support team
members to determine who was a close contact. Once we have that list, Principal
Caron notifies families of close contact. Depending on how many days the
student was in school during their infectious period determines how many days
we have to contact trace. At the high school level, this could be up to five
different classes a day so the number of close contacts adds up. We then have to
see if the positive individual participates in any extracurriculars or
athletics to determine if there are more close contacts. I work closely with
our athletic trainer who works with coaches to see which athletes will need to
be notified. Needless to say, it is a time-consuming process and when we have
as many cases as we have been having it feels quite overwhelming.”
Clearly, the additional, around-the-clock responsibilities create many challenges and Joly revealed that the greatest challenge is not having enough time to do all that is being asked of the school nurses.
“School nurses are nurturing by nature and want to be there for our
students in any way they need, but somedays it feels like that is hard to do,”
Joly said. “Our phones ring off the hook, our e-mail boxes are full.”
Joly expressed that all RSU 14 nurses work really hard at having good
relationships with their families and unfortunately COVID has strained that
relationship.
“We tend to be the bearer of bad news like their student has to
quarantine or miss school due to illness, or we have to tell an athlete that
they can’t participate in their game, this is the worst part of our day. We do
not make these rules; we are just charged with following them and doing the
best that we can to keep our students and staff as safe and healthy as
possible.”
Making sure that each student remains as healthy as possible also
includes their social, emotional, and mental well-being. Since the pandemic,
everyone's daily life has been affected in unforeseen ways. Health experts
state that outbreaks such as Covid can cause emotional distress and anxiety as
a result of feeling overwhelmed or powerless.
“Stress and anxiety are at an all-time high,” Joly said. “I feel very
fortunate that WHS has very dedicated teachers and administrative team as well
as two full-time social workers and four school counselors to support our
students. We all want to make connections with our students and never want them
to feel like they don’t have someone who is there for them.”
To address these issues, Joly suggests finding things in life that make
you happy and that you are grateful for. “If we can recognize that we are all
under stress and going through a difficult time then maybe we can all be a
little more understanding and kind,” she said.
But what about the caretakers themselves - the school nursing staff members
who are stretching themselves thin. It is imperative that those who take care
of others remain healthy too. How does Joly take care of herself?
“I try to eat well and get plenty of sleep and just look for some quiet
time to relax,” she said and then added, “But I would like to add that our
school board and superintendent see the value in having a nurse in each of our
schools. The district has hired a health secretary, a covid support tech, and
an additional RN to help support the needs of the schools. We have a very
dedicated nursing team and work to help each other out as best we can and this
has made all the difference.”
Joly has been a nurse for 23 years, 13 of those as a school nurse. She
graduated with an associate’s degree from Southern Maine Community College,
eventually receiving her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from USM. She and her
husband Don have been married for 23 years and they have two teenage children, Graden,
a sophomore, and Grace, a freshman who are students at WHS.
During her limited downtime, Joly enjoys spending time with family and friends while camping, being outdoors, reading, relaxing, and watching her children participate in their sporting events. <
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