Full disclosure, I was one of the 25 School Nurses interviewed for the new video that NASN recently shared. While my voice was left on the cutting room floor, the school nurses and students chosen for the piece speak volumes! The video has raised passionate discussion about who we are and how we should be portrayed. There has been resounding support for the unique format of using puppetry to share our story. And, at the same time, there is discussion that the video is demeaning to school nursing and diminishes decades of work to elevate our national profile.
All points of view are valid and school nurses speak from our lived experiences. The beauty of our country is that we have the right to our individual opinions and the freedom to express our beliefs. How we define our profession has been a unique challenge that continues to present opportunities for creative expression. This newly produced video is one avenue and speaks to a school community.
The video cleverly animates everyday objects you would find in a school health office and uses the voices of school nurses and students to share the message of school nursing. If you listen to the audio only, the message is clear, heartfelt and impactful. Perhaps some colleagues are distracted by the use of puppets to represent school nurses? My response is that we can share our message in many ways through various avenues.
When we talk about our profession we often say that we feel isolated, lonely, misunderstood, alone as the solo healthcare person in an educational setting. This video visually bridges our worlds, where healthcare meets education and finds a comfortable middle ground. We do, after all, work in schools. Yes, our work is serious and we take our obligation to care for the health and safety of the students, staff, and community as our primary focus and purpose. But, there is room in all of the intensity of our day to also enjoy that we are part of a school community and even join in from their perspective.
The school community perspective is where I think this video hit a chord of compatibility and consensus. We are part of the school community, we are not “the other” that tries to fit in where we can. That thought pattern perpetuates the myth that we are invisible and only show up in an emergency. I once heard a school nurse describe her role like a locksmith. Locksmiths are only needed when you get locked out and then it’s an emergency. That made me sad to think that she felt so isolated, excluded and invisible in school.
This is our year for school nurses to find our voice, increase our visibility and take action steps to envision our future. The past efforts to elevate our professional status as a recognized specialty in Nursing is not diminished by this video. Those important steps are now the foundation on which we build our future pathways. For those who have not yet watched the video, I am including the link at the end of this blog. I can’t help but daydream what my puppet might have been, should I have made the cut? Maybe a talking water bottle to remind everyone to stay hydrated? How would you like to be depicted?
https://www.nasn.org/nasn/home/share