By Ed Pierce
Brittany Chaplin believes in touching lives and dispensing comfort, compassion, and care so that students can get back to the process of learning when they are ill.
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| Brittany Chaplin has been the school nurse at Manchester School in Windham since the spring of 2022. She is responsible for keeping all Manchester students safe and healthy and treats a variety of health conditions from everyday injuries and illness to helping students to manage chronic conditions. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
In her duties at Manchester School, Chaplin is responsible for keeping all of the students at Manchester school safe and healthy. She treats a variety of health conditions from everyday injuries and illness to helping manage chronic conditions. Her day-to-day responsibilities can include managing chronic conditions, administering daily medications, managing immunizations, performing state mandated hearing and vision screenings, offering, and setting up dental clinics for students and more.
“These chronic conditions can include but are not limited to seizures, asthma, diabetes, and life-threatening allergies,” Chaplin said. “I also work in conjunction with the RSU 14 nursing team to educate and provide information to families in our district about common illnesses, and how we may be handling them. Additionally, when students go on field trips, I coordinate with staff to make sure proper training is done in case of a medical emergency.”
She says that best part of her job is forming relationships with these students.
“Getting to know the students and having them, over time, open up to me and be an adult they can trust and come to, feels great,” she said. “I love being able to see them mature and their personalities develop in the short amount of time we have them at Manchester. I enjoy being able to joke with the students and put a smile on their face even if they are not feeling well or hurting. For all students, but especially my students with chronic conditions that I work with closely and frequently, I take pride in the fact I have the trust of their parents, and they can be assured that if they are not with them all day, then they are with another individual who is as invested in their health as they are.”
According to Chaplin, it can be challenging to decipher a physical ailment versus nerves or worries, especially at the age of Manchester students who are in Grade 4 and 5.
“I do lots of teaching with students and at this age they are learning about their bodies and feelings more and more,” she said. “Getting them to open up and explain to me how they are feeling can sometimes be difficult if they don’t know me well yet or are not sure if and/or what could be bothering them to make their belly upset.”
Chaplin says a common misconception is when she does not have a student in her office that her work is done.
“There are a lot of things to do behind the scenes such as setting up health screenings, making sure health records are up to date, following up with parents, collaborating with other staff and attending meetings on behalf of a student,” she said. “A defining moment for me as a school nurse was when I had to say goodbye to a student that I worked very closely with for almost two years. It hit me that I was no longer going to see him every day, which meant I wasn’t going to see him continue to grow, mature, and take control of managing his chronic condition. While it made me sad to think of how much I’d miss him, seeing how much he had matured and grown in the time we had been together, gave me a great sense of pride, and I will never forget the friendship we shared.”
Originally from Danvers, Massachusetts, Chaplin began spending weekends, summers, and vacations in Maine as a child. She started nursing school at the University of New England in Portland but transferred after one semester to Salem State College in Massachusetts, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in 2013.
“Even though I had sworn up and down that I would never move to Maine, I did just that in the summer of 2013 to be with my now-husband,” Chaplin said. “I began my career in school nursing when I had my son in 2018, and it has been life changing ever since. The work-life balance of the schedule is what brought me to school nursing, but the close-knit family like relationship and support of the staff and bond with my students, is what keeps me here.” <
“Getting to know the students and having them, over time, open up to me and be an adult they can trust and come to, feels great,” she said. “I love being able to see them mature and their personalities develop in the short amount of time we have them at Manchester. I enjoy being able to joke with the students and put a smile on their face even if they are not feeling well or hurting. For all students, but especially my students with chronic conditions that I work with closely and frequently, I take pride in the fact I have the trust of their parents, and they can be assured that if they are not with them all day, then they are with another individual who is as invested in their health as they are.”
According to Chaplin, it can be challenging to decipher a physical ailment versus nerves or worries, especially at the age of Manchester students who are in Grade 4 and 5.
“I do lots of teaching with students and at this age they are learning about their bodies and feelings more and more,” she said. “Getting them to open up and explain to me how they are feeling can sometimes be difficult if they don’t know me well yet or are not sure if and/or what could be bothering them to make their belly upset.”
Chaplin says a common misconception is when she does not have a student in her office that her work is done.
“There are a lot of things to do behind the scenes such as setting up health screenings, making sure health records are up to date, following up with parents, collaborating with other staff and attending meetings on behalf of a student,” she said. “A defining moment for me as a school nurse was when I had to say goodbye to a student that I worked very closely with for almost two years. It hit me that I was no longer going to see him every day, which meant I wasn’t going to see him continue to grow, mature, and take control of managing his chronic condition. While it made me sad to think of how much I’d miss him, seeing how much he had matured and grown in the time we had been together, gave me a great sense of pride, and I will never forget the friendship we shared.”
Originally from Danvers, Massachusetts, Chaplin began spending weekends, summers, and vacations in Maine as a child. She started nursing school at the University of New England in Portland but transferred after one semester to Salem State College in Massachusetts, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in 2013.
“Even though I had sworn up and down that I would never move to Maine, I did just that in the summer of 2013 to be with my now-husband,” Chaplin said. “I began my career in school nursing when I had my son in 2018, and it has been life changing ever since. The work-life balance of the schedule is what brought me to school nursing, but the close-knit family like relationship and support of the staff and bond with my students, is what keeps me here.” <
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