Healthy Kids Make Better Learners

School nurses are a valuable asset to GISD

GISD is proud to be able to employ a full-time Registered Nurse at every campus. Nurses are a valuable asset to our schools, now more than ever. Registered nurses are able to support our students, staff, and families due to their extensive medical knowledge and experience. Our six nurses provide more than 157 years of nursing experience to our district.

Nurses collaborate with the campus staff to ensure a healthy school environment that meets the needs of those students with identified health conditions. In addition, they provide direct care utilizing professional assessment skills, the nursing process, and established school health protocols.

“I am grateful for the amazing teachers and staff who I work with to help the children learn and continue to stay healthy,” said Britni Dulock, Chalmers nurse. “I look forward to continuing to give our GISD children the best care they deserve as their school nurse.”

A large part of the school nurse’s role is the initiation and maintenance of accurate student health records, including immunization records, medication administration records, and individual student treatment records, as well as daily administration of medication to students. They also carry out mandatory screening programs and submit required reports to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Our school nurses provide health education classes to students such as hand washing, dental hygiene, hygiene, puberty, abstinence, and vaping. The nurses are not only an asset to the students and parents, but to our staff who receive training on CPR/AED/first aid, seizure information, and EpiPen training.

However, the role of school nurses took a drastic turn when COVID-19 disrupted the world and our schools. The immediate need was the development of our district COVID protocols and making changes as needed to follow CDC and TEA recommendations. Our nurses were charged with additional duties including screening, contact tracing, and maintaining the quarantine logs of our students and staff due to positive cases or exposures. After a COVID diagnosis in the home, our nurses contacted parents numerous times for follow-up information and education, checking on other siblings in the house, reviewing return dates, and checking for any newly diagnosed members in the home during quarantine.

Traci Skinner, the nurse at Gainesville Intermediate, is the lead nurse for the District. “One of the biggest challenges was trying to maintain not only our daily office clinic, but managing an isolation room, and a COVID testing site for staff/students,” Skinner said. “The ‘normal’ routine we were used to was non-existent.” The nurses relied on each other to complete tracing logs, make parent phone calls, cover the testing room, and assist with state-mandated screenings.

Our GISD nurses are here to help at any time. If you have questions or any concerns about the health of your child, please feel free to contact Lisa Lawson (GHS), Bonnie Cox (GJH), Traci Skinner (Intermediate), Britni Dulock (Chalmers), Mindy Hutchins (Edison), and Twyla Molsbee (Head Start).