Giving more than Band-Aids

Marisa O’Neil

A giant sign with warm wishes from students at College Park

Elementary School hung on a wall at the school district.

“She gives us Band-Aids when we get hurt,” one read. “She’s really

good at helping us,” another wrote about school nurse Susan Curtin.

“She’s beautiful like an angel,” read another.

The children’s card provided a fitting backdrop for a special

luncheon honoring Newport-Mesa school nurses on National School Nurse

Day Wednesday. The day of recognition falls in the middle of National

Nurses Week, which also happens during the month when the school

district honors all its teachers and employees.

“This is a good group of women,” school board member Martha Fluor

said at the luncheon. “They keep children healthy and provide a

wonderful service.”

Newport-Mesa Unified School District has 13 nurses who split their

days between different schools. All of them carry pagers for

emergencies.

They provide care for everything from runny noses to fingers

sliced during shop class. On top of that, they provide health

screening, nutrition education and referral to outside agencies and

low-cost healthcare options for uninsured patients, said Marcia

BMarthaler, coordinator of health services for the district.

“For many families, we are their link to the healthcare system,”

nurse Leslie Dootson said. “In one case, someone was injured on a

Saturday and waited with a broken collarbone until Monday to see the

school nurse.”

Maintaining school health services in the face of budget cuts is

important to help students perform at their best, BMarthaler said

“If they can’t see well, hear well, if their asthma is bothering

them, if they need medicine, if there’s abuse at home, if they’re not

healthy, they’re not able to learn,” BMarthaler said.

The Orange County School Nurse Assn. also gave its annual Halo

Award to Jane Garland, coordinator of public information and special

projects for the district on Wednesday. Orange County’s School Nurse

of the Year, Rea Elementary School nurse Merry Grasska, nominated

Garland for her work coordinating school readiness programs and

health services for students.

“We [nurses] are healthcare providers in an educational

situation,” Grasska said. “People focus on the education aspects, but

health affects a child’s ability to learn. [Garland] really

understands that connection.”