I'm not in Kansas anymore

After Spitfire's note, I went to work today lamenting a bit that my new position does not involve as much face to face time with students. I got down to business at my middle school, cranking out care plans in a tiny office crammed with student cumulative files and dead printers. (I nearly laughed out loud when the vice principal asked, "Have they told you about this school? We have crazy stuff happening here...We have students with diabetes, we've had kids with seizures.." Um, lady. I'm a school nurse. That sounds totally normal to me.) After several hours, I'd had enough of my little hole of the office and the unfriendly grump of a secretary, so I moved onto my elementary school down the street. 

There, I did the same thing but in a wide open "nurse's office"...An office that contains the staff bathroom, the fax machine, the custodian's things, and more. Still, better facilities than any of my other schools. I spread out and was again trying to crank out care plans, when I heard two young students come in the back door. One was clearly covered in vomit, and she walked boldly into my room and vomited again, all over...And I mean, all over. Her hair, her shirt, her shorts were all drenched, there were the chunks on the floor...It was lovely. I grabbed her a trash can and started getting her cleaned up, because, am I supposed to just watch a kid's vomit soak in on herself? No. The secretary came in shortly after and was clearly surprised and incredibly grateful toward me for helping out the kids...Isn't that why I'm there? 

At my old district, all of the "gross" things were directed toward me the moment I was on site. I thought that's what school nurses were hired for. Here, apparently, they are thankful if I even acknowledge the kids as humans.