Nancy Gress is the Head School Nurse for the Vincennes Community Schools located in Vincennes, Indiana. Nancy oversees 6 schools that serve 2,711 students.
How different is the school climate today?
We have students who’ve had procedures, students with feeding tubes who need medication delivered through those tubes.
In the past, were students with physical limitations welcomed in school?
When I was in school, those children wouldn’t have been able to come to school, but now they can because we’re here.
Are School Nurses the first line of care for their students?
Living in a depressed community, a low-income community, some of our students have gone the whole weekend not getting the care they need. For those students, our little warriors, we can be their first stop on a Monday morning.
What are the most common ailments you see?
We see their earaches, their sunburns, bug bites. We take care of it all.
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How does life as an Australian School Nurse compare? Would you like to share a day in your life as a School Nurse?
How do you go about helping improve the health and wellbeing of students? What’s your biggest challenge? What support do you need to do a better job as a School Nurse?
We’re creating a new feature that recognises and celebrates the good work of School Nurses around Australia. Each month we’d like to interview a dedicated School Nurse.
Ideally the questions and answers will reveal some unexpected insights that will encourage greater communication and benefit other School Nurses.
If you’re interested, please email help@studentfirstaid.com.au to arrange a quick and easy phone interview.