Located in the counseling office of Clarke Central High School, the school clinic is run by nurse Jessica Weems. Weems is one of 21 nurses in the county, some of whom were recently hired, resulting in enough nurses to supply every school in the county with their own. “I think this is an up and coming initiative and I’m glad that Clarke County went ahead and jumped ahead with it because children and young adults are being diagnosed with some serious complications,” Weems said. Photo by Mackenzie Caudill.
By MACKENZIE CAUDILL – Staff Writer
The Clarke County School District hired its 21st nurse in Jan. of 2017 resulting in each school in the county having its own nurse.
As of Jan., the Clarke County School District officially has 21 nurses employed throughout the county, enough to have one staffed at every school.
“It’s a huge step in the right direction for Clarke County. I’m thankful to work for a district that puts student health and wellness at the forefront of their initiative,” CCSD Nursing Director Amy Roark said. “They definitely realize the connection between health and wellness and student success and achievement.”
According to Roark, when schools had to share nurses, it made it difficult for them to complete their jobs to the fullest extent.
“They were constantly having to leave one school to go to the next and so they were never really able to do all that they wanted to do in an individual school environment,” Roark said. “With over 1,000 to 1,200 students per nurse, they weren’t able to get to know the kids on the level that they needed to and get to know their medical conditions and all of the things required to keep them safe in school.”
Clarke Central High School sophomore Katie Tumlin experienced nurses leaving in the middle of the day when she was in elementary school.
“It seemed a little difficult at times because she wasn’t always available because she’d be at another school so there was a certain time frame that you could go up there,” Tumlin said.
CCHS nurse Jessica Weems believes having a nurse at every school is an important step for the CCSD concerning student wellness.
“I think this is an up and coming initiative and I’m glad that Clarke County went ahead and jumped ahead with it because children and young adults are being diagnosed with some serious complications,” Weems said.
Tumlin uses the nursing office multiple times a week due to condition with her shoulder and is in close contact with Weems.
“She’s really nice. She never gets aggravated with the fact that I’m up there all the time so that’s good,” Tumlin said. “She’s very respectful of all of the students that go up there to visit her and gets what needs to be done.”
Sophomore Katelynn Jackson agrees it is important to have individual nurses for schools because of the sense of security they provide for students.
“It’s important to have someone to tend to the accidents and injuries that can happen within school hours,” Jackson said. “I feel that some students find security in knowing there is a school nurse.”
According to Roark, this new development of having a nurse at every school within CCSD is especially beneficial because of the amount of low income students.
“We have a lot of high needs medical issues with children in our district with greater than 80 percent of our children living at or below the poverty line in Clarke County. Sometimes the school nurse is the only medical person they may see all year,” Roark said. “Having one in every school really increases the nurse’s connectivity with the children and the families and allows them to have more time to communicate with parents and doctors and facilitate relationships.”
Jackson agrees having a separate nurse for every school allows for a better connection with students.
“You can build a relationship since they are tending to less students. They can be more aware of your medical needs,” Jackson said.
Roark hopes this development will not only benefit the CCSD, but also other districts in the state.
“I hope that other districts around the state of Georgia will take note of what Clarke County did and follow suit because there’s children all over the state that can benefit from having a nurse at every school,” Roark said.
