Is There a Nurse in the K-House?

She also explained the restrictions on what she can do to help a student and the different approaches to take for different situations. While she is not legally allowed to administer any type of medication without a medical form signed by a doctor and permission from a parent or guardian, she mentioned that most nurses take a more holistic approach and rely on natural remedies like tea or salt water and things that do not require specific permissions to provide.

While the nurse is primarily on site for students, she is also able to help anyone including staff and visitors on campus who need assistance. When someone is in immediate need of the nurse, depending on the distance, a student will either be brought to the nurse, or she may come to a student in need. When the school nurse isn’t on our campus to provide immediate care, Ms. Brown, a Kennedy office tech, will also take care of students and communicate with Nurse Tracy about whatever steps to follow to care for a student.

If you’re wondering why most of us have never heard anything about having a school nurse, it may have to do with Sacramento City Unified School District not being able to afford full time nurses for every school and the ones that we do have, are spread thin.

In meeting with Nurse Tracy, we were reassured, “School nurses are very well prepared to do their jobs… but because they are so busy with work it is almost impossible for them to get out there more and do anything.” This is truly unfortunate, as having such a service more widely available to students and staff alike would greatly benefit any school.

Simply knowing our school has such a person, who is trained and dedicated to helping make our school safer and better for everyone, is comforting. Hopefully more students will take advantage of having a nurse on campus when they are in need of someone to talk to and student’s lives will be impacted positively.