QCSD Nurses Public Comment to School Board Members 10/22/2020
Members of the Board,
The nursing department of QCSD is very thankful for your attention to the health safety of our students and staff. The current quarantine guidance of our Health and Safety Plan has been effective in keeping our COVID-19 cases low and our school community relatively healthy. We are also pleased to report that our PPE supply is now at adequate levels.
The majority of elementary nurses are reporting an increase in visits due to more students attending school and playgrounds are now in use. With an increase of students in attendance, social distancing has become more difficult. This is particularly seen in the amount of children in the hallways and changing some of the logistics of lunching in the classroom to maintain 6 foot distancing while masks are off for longer than 15 minutes.
The middle and high schools are continuing to see low number of visits as they follow the hybrid schedule for another 3 weeks before returning to a 5 day live schedule. The visits that are being encountered is for seasonal allergies and colds-and this is true at all levels.
The cold/allergy/flu season is upon us and it is becoming increasingly more difficult triaging the information necessary to keep our children in school. The symptoms are all shared with COVID symptomatology and we will continue to error on the side of caution. At this point a majority of families are cooperative and understanding of the precautions taken to keep our community safe. We request parents when calling their student out ill, to list their symptoms and expect a call from the nurse for guidance.
As your healthcare professionals, we are working diligently to triage and communicate with families all the while managing our health rooms. Due to COVID we are working outside of our scheduled hours. Nurses are working before school hours to field staff, parent emails and phone messages as to whether they should attend school for that day. This is an important step in adherence of the Health and Safety Policy. The level of attention necessary to thoroughly investigate and answer each individual circumstance, complete the nursing documentation and notify the appropriate school staff members each day is daunting and quickly becoming unsustainable. We are working weekends, answering staff and parents emails and triaging phone calls which is affecting our family life. The stress in this major undertaking is causing sleepless nights and anxiety as we fulfill our duties to the best of our abilities. One solution to help with this burden is to have a full time float nurse. Currently, staffing has not been a major problem in the nursing department. We have hired many new substitute nurses thanks to the increased pay rate which was approved for nursing substitutes. We are concerned about the possibility of nurses or their families becoming sick and thus leading to lengthy absences which would impact the health and safety of our school community. Substitute nurses focus on seeing the students who present with injuries and illness throughout the school day, but a float nurse could more easily step in and handle COVID response, screenings, and state mandates such as immunization, physical, and dental compliance.
We cannot ignore the increasing numbers both nationally and internationally. We have observed people becoming COVID weary and complacent when in our professional and scientific based opinion that measures for social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands continues to be an important mitigating factor. We are facing the start of the holiday season with family gatherings and this is an area of concern to be particularly mindful and vigilant.
We once again thank you for your support and attention to helping us provide a safe environment for students and staff alike.
Thank you,
The QCSD Nursing Department
Comments
Post a Comment