When the nurse’s office comes into discussion with students, most make a joke about it or rather have nothing to say. The nurse’s office comes with the association of them not really getting any help. After interviewing students and Lakota West High School nurses, I couldn’t believe that more.

Nurses of West

The nurses of Lakota West are Sarah Mitchell and Keri Bodley. Sarah has been here since December of 2023 and Kerri in April 2022. Sarah was originally a school nurse in Chicago but moved around a lot when she married her husband. Kerri was a dialysis nurse and decided to switch due to the more hands-on environment. They both enjoy their new job, but what is that job they enjoy?

Environment of the Nurse Office

When I went in for the interview, the environment was very noticeably chaotic. It did not look like a regular nurse’s office, it looked like a hangout for delinquents. The environment was filled with food that the nurses brought in that they were sharing with students. The student nurses were lying on the beds talking to each other, so, if a student did come in needing a place to lay they would have nowhere to go. After spending just 7 minutes the environment was not a place anyone would want to go in there if they were feeling ill.

Procedures V.S. Reality

In serious occurrences that happen to health in school, some procedures are made and intended to be followed for the health of the student and the students surrounding it. After asking both nurses what the procedures are of the school, I asked the following question “What is the craziest excuse a student was in the nurses’ office for?” Half a second later, a student brought a razor blade that he had used for cutting a slit in his eyebrow. Concerns were to be had when one of the nurses just took the razor and laughed it off. What would they do if something worse was brought to them?

Checking in and Out of the clinic

A student’s health is very important but, a teacher knowing where their student is at is a close second. When asked about the protocol for checking in and out of the clinic both nurses said that they contact the teacher of the class that the student is in but, when asking other teachers if that is true Ms. Steele, an English teacher of Lakota West, says that she barely hears from the nurses themselves but rather the students. The students are allowed a maximum of 20 – 30 minutes if being in the clinic if involving menstrual issues, headaches, and dizziness. Following that question students are supposed to see the nurse twice and after that be sent home. But when asking student Hala Samrah about the nurse she said “that the other day she had been in and out of the nurse throwing up and wasn’t even asked if she was okay or sent home”. This was strange considering after answering the question before that saying students are sent home if hurling and have a fever.

After interviewing the school nurse there are a bunch of questions that spark up when discussing the nurses and the clinic, following the lines of what is truly going on in there and if an investigation is needed.