NCH School Nurses make a difference in the life of a child each and every day! On March 29, 2012, Rosa was on duty at her school. Close to dismissal time at approx 2:20pm Rosa was alerted to a 6 year old kindergartener that had fallen off the monkey bars and injured her leg.

The child was in extreme pain and as Rosa cared for the child, numerous attempts to contact the parents who are field workers in Immokalee were made. When Rosa could not contact the parents the decision was made to contact EMS to transport the child to NCH North. Rosa’s scheduled contracted hours at her school are 7:45AM – 3:15PM. Since the child was alone and without family support and anyone she trusted Rosa made the decision to follow the ambulance to NCH North and stay with the child until her parents arrived.

The parents were able to get a ride from Immokalee to Naples and arrived in the ER at approximately 7:30PM. After the parents arrival it was discovered that the child had a fractured tibia. When it came time for the child to be discharged Rosa went to Walgreen’s, picked up the pain med prescription for the family (spending her own money) and gave the medication with administration instructions to the parents before they headed back to Immokalee.

But Rosa’s story does not stop there, when she returned to her school at 7:45AM on 3/30/12 she contacted the physician’s office the child had been referred to and scheduled a follow up appointment for the child.

As a parent, this is the kind of school nurse I would want to care for my child. This is the kind of school nurse I would want to care for all the children of Collier County. Her kindness, caring, and compassion reach far beyond her contracted duties as a School Nurse.

NCH School Nurses do make a difference.