It takes a nurse

The nurses of Carbon County School District No 2 (CCSD2) may not be seeing students on a day to day basis, but the kids are not forgotten.

“We want all the kids to know that we miss them terribly,” Melissa Copeland, Assistant District Nurse said. “We are still working here as nurses during this time period making some plans to have safety measures in place when reentry back to school becomes possible.”

Copeland, retiring District School Nurse Karen Patton, new District School Nurse Nikki Thorn and Assistant District School Nurse Renee Scott met in Medicine Bow Elementary on Monday to work on the plans.

“We want parents and kids to feel safe when that time happens,” Copeland continued. “This is a serious virus that we all take very seriously but we don’t want our kids to be scared because, by taking the right precautions and measures, we can assure, we will all be safe.”

All the nurses agreed that parents and kids feeling safe in the school environment was essential.

“We look forward to the day, when we can get back together again,” Copeland said.

“Melissa basically said everything,” Patton, Scott and Thorn agreed.

“We are doing individual things in order to make sure our practices are better, in order to make the transition and that is why the four of us are working together,” Patton said. “Also to have a lot protocol in place, so if anything happens in the future, not just with COVID-19, but anything that comes down the pike, we will have something to address the situation.”

“We are updating policies and procedures far as our day to day functions and then policies that pertain specifically also to COVID-19. We are going to have a re-entry plan in place prior to next school year or if we can open earlier, we will have something in place so everyone can come here safely,” Copeland reiterated.

The nurses could not exactly say what procedures will be since the timeline for school opening was still unknown.

“Frankly, it will depend if we come back in two weeks or in August, far as how specific we will be,” Copeland said.

The nurses acknowledged when the virus started turning into a pandemic, personal preventive equipment (PPE) was in short supply in all school systems throughout the country.

“We were short when this started happening and now we just can’t get it,” Copeland said. “Hopefully this will change over the summer and we will have enough for the whole staff when we come back in August.”

All agreed it was a process.

“This is new ground for us in the States, because we haven’t had to face anything like this to the degree we are now as compared to before,” Copeland and Patton said together.

All knew the work they are doing now is important for the future students.

“We have never faced a pandemic like this before,” Copeland concluded. “That is why it so important to the four of us, to get it right when it comes to the safety the children and families.”