What makes a school nurse resilient?
A School Nurse Day Reflection
School Nurse Day was always one of my favorite days of the year – it was a time where I felt both appreciated and introspective about what I do every day. In one elementary school that I worked in, the students would make posters to adorn my office and they would make me piles and piles of cards. Two memorable cards came in one year – both from 4th grade boys:
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One had a picture of a school nurse dressed like a super hero on the front of the card and on the front it said, “It must take courage to be a School Nurse” and on the inside was a picture of me caring for children in my office with “Because everyone counts on you” on the inside.
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The other had a red cross on the front – it was crumpled and stained. It was from a young man with multiple mental health issues and on the inside he scrawled words that took my breath away. He wrote, “You heal my future.”
"School nursing IS hard work."
I can guarantee you that I have not spent years in school nursing because of the paycheck – it was because I felt like I made a difference in the lives of children and families. For years I’ve told nurses that are in other specialties that school nursing is “the hardest job they’ll ever do and the job they’ll love the most.”
School nursing IS hard work. And as we continue in our profession year after year after year, we have a choice. Do we become cynical and hard as we see so many challenging situations facing children? Or each year, do we reflect on who we have become and who we want to be and “step it up?” I’ve thought a lot about this question: What makes a school nurse resilient?
The American Psychological Association (APA) lists “10 Ways to Build Resilience.” From making connections, to accepting change to maintaining a hopeful outlook, we’ve put these into an infographic for you with a link to the APA so you can see more detail. I encourage you to print the graphic and post it where you’ll see it and start a journey today towards increased resiliency.
When looking at what you do each day and how you feel about your job, consider making a “Professional Resiliency Plan.”
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PREPARE - Think about what you do and then answer these questions:
- What do I like most about my job?
- What do I need to change about what I do at work?
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PLAN - Create attainable and measurable goals and consider how to accomplish them:
- Goals for the next month (set 2 manageable goals).
- Decisive actions that I will take to accomplish goals.
- Who can I count on to hold me accountable to help me accomplish goals?
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PROPEL - Move forward with hope and self-care:
- What are two strategies that can help me to feel personally refreshed?
- Set an exercise goal.
- Set a nutrition goal.
- What is something that I can do to increase my hopefulness?
". . . take the time to intentionally care for yourself . . ."
As a school nurse, there are a lot of people counting on you. It’s important that, while you’re caring for them, that you take the time to intentionally care for yourself and find ways to increase your resiliency. When you walk that path, I am quite sure that you will find a renewed sense of mission and new energy to make that difference in the lives of the children that you care for every day.
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