I went to the school nurse yesterday. Actually, no, let's start further back. In October of 2008, I attended a theater workshop. We learned how to stage-fight and make it look real. There was a lot of arm swinging and general movement. We walked back from the wrestling room we were learning in, to the auditorium. While we were walking my heart started to race and my chest was in more pain than I'd ever felt. I got to the nurse, at this point, in tears. She took my heart rate and it was 263 beats per minute. Now for those of you who don't know, the norm is anywhere between 60 and 80 beats per minute. So quite obviously, my heart was working 200 more beats in there than should have been.
There was a panic and they made me lay down and wait until my heart rate went down to return to the auditorium. I was told if it ever happened again I come right back to the nurse's office.
Here it is February 21st, 2008. I was sitting in my English class, just coming back from lunch. My stress has been less than usual and I've been doing surprisingly well in school. Out of nowhere my heart begins to race. At this point I've been to the heart doctor who can't find anything wrong. He told us if it was a regular occurance then I should come back. Well, it hasn't been.
So my heart is racing and I get scared. It starts to hurt. I think about waiting it out. So I try that. At the end of third period, the bell rings and I try to take my time getting to Environmental Science. Which is on the other side of the huge building and I have six minutes. I get to the class on time but the teacher isn't there yet. I wait, and wait for him to come and unlock the door. At this point I'm in tears and don't know what to do. I get in and ask for a pass to the nurse finally.
I get to the nurse's office. We have two nurses, whose names I will leave out of this. Both of them were there for the first incident. I walk in crying and sign in. I wait patiently (no pun intended) to be asked what's wrong with me. 15 minutes go by, and they've been gossiping about some crazed woman who called them and complained that she got a call concerning her child, and they hadn't seen the child in 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I'm making myself more upset, crying, and my heart's still racing. The racing slows down a little, and they finally look at me.
"What's wrong with you, Katie." Oh yeah, they know me by name.
"My heart's racing again!"
She rolls her eyes at me and takes my heart rate down again. Only 98bpm. Only a little over the norm. Well, of course it's gone down NOW. I've been sitting still just trying to breathe for 15 minutes while they gossiped away. She takes my blood pressure which is excellent and normal.
"I see you have Mr. Bast this period, does he bother you?"
No. But of course she's going to think this has to do with a quiz or something I don't want to take.
"Do you have a major test or quiz this period?"
See? Of course, I do have a quiz this period, but it's simple and can be taken in seconds.
"Well, what grade do you HAVE in his class and what class IS it?"
97% and Environmental II. Quite the simple class.
"Well, does your THIRD period teacher bother you?"
Kozicki? No! He's the greatest English teacher I've ever had. I LOVE that class.
"Well, I can't really DO anything but let you lay down."
What? I can't have ice for my heart issues? The school nurse has failed me again!
"Or you can just go back to class and take that quiz.... now are you alright to do that?"
I couldn't stand the condescending bull crap I was getting from this woman. I signed myself out and walked away without answering her question.
Now my question is, what are school nurses really good for?
They only send you home if you're throwing up or lieing really well. Or if you have pink eye or a concussion. And they get annoyed if you have to leave school.
They ALWAYS think you are lieing to them no matter what.
They can only give you ice and/or let you lay down.
So what good are they?
They know all the best gossip and can basically do nothing helpful for you because school rules don't allow you to take Tylenol without a special medical form signed by your doctor and parents, despite the fact that you are 18.
A friend of mine decided the rule was bogus. One day she slipped one Tylenol at lunch. A teacher, monitoring the lunchroom caught her. She was written up and had an 10 day out of school suspension.
For Tylenol.
Meanwhile, kids are writing on bathroom stalls, cursing at teachers, dealing drugs, and such the like during school.... and getting after school detentions or 3-day in school suspensions.
In School is like a joke anyway. You can make up all the work you missed and have 3 days of just relaxing in a room with a monitor who doesn't care what you do anyway. All it does is go on your record. Your grade, however, does not suffer.
Schools have gotten more ridiculous than I could have imagined.
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That sounds really scary about the heart thing - good luck with that. I'm sure you'll be fine, but you should go to a cardiologist again just in case.
I think it's unfair, however, to judge all school nurse's based on this one's ever so slightly pathetic behavior. There are good school nurses who know what they're doing and can help you. I think they're mostly there in case of an emergency, which usually never happens, so it would appear that they're completely useless, but I don't think that's really the case.
I've had something similar happen to me too. See they use to think I had asthma because I would wheeze and practically fall over from lack of oxygen and eventually it just got to a point that if the school nurses wouldn't listen to me I would go into the main office ask to use a phone because you are not suppose to have a cell phone in school ask nicely to use a phone half in tears whatever it took call and leave what can they really do then. Your parent or other comes up to the school or talks on the phone to them and yells and screams and you automatically get all the help that they can give you.
Think globally act locally.
Always listening.