(upbeat music) - And we're rolling, right?

(Rebekah laughs) (gentle music) My name's Rebekah McFadden and I'm a certified school nurse in the Weatherly Area School District in Weatherly, PA. Hi, how are you?

There are some profound days, believe me.

That's for you.

You hold onto that.

And then when I give you the eyedrops, you can just dab it a little bit.

Sound good?

Okay.

Growing up, my dad was a pastor and so it was always instilled in me that I wanted to do something to make the world a better place growing up.

And at the time, there was a huge nursing shortage when I went, you know, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my career.

And so nursing is what came to mind, and I'm glad I made that decision.

I went to East Stroudsburg University for my bachelor's degree, and then my first job was at University of Pennsylvania on a med surg floor.

I got my basic skills and then moved around a little bit from there.

So, a certified school nurse needs a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, and then at that point would go back to school and get a school nurse certificate.

So, that's an additional chunk of education that specializes being a public health nurse in the school setting.

So, I received mine actually at Kutztown University, and at that point, you know, interviewed various school districts and came to Weatherly, fell in love with this little tiny school district, and hopefully it was mutual.

So, I was hired and that was back 23 years ago.

(gentle music) Okay, come on over.

I think one of my favorite things of this job is prevention education.

And we can't let the busyness of the day-to-day prevent us from doing that 'cause those initiatives are so important.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I was over at the high school and we had a table set up and actually that was a pretty amazing day and I was just blown away by some of the insight that our students had of things that help them get through a rough day.

So, this is one of my favorite bracelets.

It says, "You are brave, you are creative, you are amazing, you are strong."

We gave these to our students on Tuesday because May is Mental Health Awareness Month and they need to hear this every day.

You are strong, you are brave, you are creative, you are amazing.

(bright music) I think I had a very naive idea of what a school nurse does, and believe me, I've learned, and I think that's part of why I'm talking to you today.

Just to let you know that what we do is not just Band-Aids and ice packs.

The ultimate role of a school nurse is to remove the barriers to a child's learning, and barriers come in all different shapes and sizes.

For some, it's just not feeling well that day.

For others, it's they had an argument with their parents this morning and they're in a bad place emotionally.

For others, they didn't have breakfast this morning and they're hungry so it's hard for them to learn.

So, we play a role in removing all those barriers so that a student can be in the classroom, they're receptive to learning, they're receptive to their peers, they're receptive to the rest of the school community.

(bright music) Being a school nurse, and I don't know if people really know this, but we are actually considered a teacher.

We're in the teacher's union, on the teacher's salary.

So, you know, we are compensated along with our fellow teachers based on our years of service and our educational status.

With that said, we are also a part of their benefit package.

So, you know, I feel that I'm taken care of in that way.

I've been able to do the things that I enjoy outside of working.

Although I work hard, I'm compensated appropriately.

I love to travel, take a nice family vacation with my children every year, and I really appreciate that.

(bright music) So, if I would give advice to someone considering the role of a school nurse, I would encourage you to reach out to a school nurse in your area and ask if you'd be able to shadow.

Then that way you can see what we do on a day-to-day basis and see if it's for you or if it's not for you.

This is the good stuff.

This makes it all worthwhile.

This is one of my favorite notes from a student.

It is a really good job.

It is a good job.

I like what I do.

The kids are the best.