School nurses are at the 'front line' of protecting students from COVID-19
School nurses will be in charge of all COVID-19-related policies heading into the school year
School nurses will be in charge of all COVID-19-related policies heading into the school year
School nurses will be in charge of all COVID-19-related policies heading into the school year
The last several years in school have looked very different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, schools are planning to get back to normal.
“The bulk of the responsibility will be on the shoulders of our school nurses,” said Don Tinney, the president of the Vermont National Education Association.
This fall, nurses in Vermont are back in control. For the past few years, schools have been instructed on how to operate during the pandemic by the local, state, and federal government — but not anymore.
“The nice thing is it will be clinical judgment on the part of the nurse, and we do have resources on hand including testing, which is really great and can help with our clinical decision making,” said Kelly Landwehr, Addison County School District lead nurse.
Schools are now preparing and getting plans ready for if and when a student tests positive at school.
“The isolation room is an area where it can vent to the outside of the building so we can put a student in there under supervision until they can get picked up,” said Clayton Wetzel, Vermont director for the National Association of School Nurses.
Even though COVID-19 will be treated as a normal sickness, the nurses will still be in constant communication with parents.
“One of the concerns I’ve heard from families is will they still know what’s going on, will we still be communicating?" Landwehr said. "We will definitely still be communicating what’s expected prior to the start of the year. We’ll be communicating throughout the year as needed."
Nurses are also excited to get back to doing other parts of the job they love.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to doing some of the real nurse or regular school nursing, like vision screening and hearing screening that we usually do at the beginning of the year,” said Soph Hall from the Vermont State School Nurses’ Association.
If a student, teacher, or anyone at the school does test positive for COVID-19 they will be asked to stay home for five days and to make sure they test negative before returning.