Amanda Guinn, Heritage Middle School’s nurse, said the anticipation of the new expectations was worse than actually diving into the school year.

“We have been in school for six-weeks,” Guinn said. “We have kids smiling and happy, and I don’t know that they think it’s a whole lot different. A lot of the work being done is behind the scenes to keep the kid’s experience the best that it can be.”

Guinn said that a few new, COVID related enhancements to her office and things she has implemented around the school, will stay once the pandemic dissipates.

“COVID made us take a look at our offices and what we were doing, and how we could make things more efficient, keep things cleaner and healthier, and make sure those kids who just need a band-aid or a Tylenol stay in class and not exposed to germs you might find in the nurses office,” Guinn said.

Guinn explained that she created a QR code system for her campus along with a mobile nursing cart. Each classroom and teacher have a QR code sheet that has a code for the nurse’s office.  She said that when a student has a non-emergent issue, the teacher simply scans that QR code and puts in a request.

“Once a teacher scans that QR code I get a notification. Then I am able to take my cart to that specific classroom and assist the student there,” Guinn said. “It has cut the traffic in my office more than fifty-percent, which is why it will stay post-COVID.”

Another thing Guinn said she has adjusted this year is that she placed barriers between the stations in her office. She said she wanted to take that extra step to keep kids who are in her office as safe as possible.

“We do have a separate space on campus for kids that we believe have suspicious COVID symptoms, but we have those everyday kids that might only have a headache, or a cough, so they come in with their masks on and I can pull these barriers in between them and it just adds an extra precaution,” Guinn said.

Melissa Horst is the nurse at North Ridge Elementary. She said after sixteen years, she was in her groove. She said COVID threw her, as well as her colleagues, a curve ball.

“I just try to stay updated and current on all the different changes, protocols and mandates that we have,” Horst said. “I have to be ready to communicate that to staff and parents.”

Horst said she has seen the most change in the way they treat their students. She said now instead of determining whether a student just has allergies, or a cough, has turned into a little bit more.

“Now we have to be a little more vigilant with this added responsibility to identify things we need to be more concerned about,” Horst said. “I wear my mask full time, and when a student I have to get up-close to is in my office I am wearing a shield and a mask. We just have to be more attuned to cleaning those high-touch areas and keeping our students safe.”