Shortly after Louise Haffke became the school nurse at Fernway School three years ago, she realized that the pace and acuity wouldn’t be all that different than her days working as a hospital nurse.
“There is never a dull moment and no two things are the same,” she says. “I love working with the kids and seeing them in the neighborhood.” (Mrs. Haffke has three children—two are school-aged and attend Shaker Schools—and lives in the Fernway.)
On average, Mrs. Haffke estimates that she sees between 30-40 students a day, which includes everything from stomach aches to emotional support to managing care for children with chronic health conditions. In addition to treating illness, her work (and the work of all Shaker Schools nurses) includes administrative work to ensure the school meets Ohio Department of Health standards, verification of student immunizations, and providing vision and hearing screenings.
Mrs. Haffke is impressed with her nurse peers at Shaker Schools and feels grateful that the District employs licensed school nurses (not all Ohio public schools have licensed school nurses). “We all love being a part of our school communities,” she says. “We’re trying to do more health promotion and planning more ways to provide care during the school day.”
Mrs. Haffke, a Miami, Fla. native, earned her BA in sociology from Amherst College in Massachusetts, her BSN at Pace University and her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Florida. Since she finished school, she has worked as a family nurse educator at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and a clinical research nurse, in addition to working as a pediatric, obstetrics, hematology, oncology and general surgery nurse. Some day, she would like to go back to school to become a nurse practicitioner.
But for now, she’s thrilled to be working at Fernway School. “I’ve learned more about teachers than I would have otherwise. I truly admire how well they know the children—they’re the most dedicated group of teachers I’ve ever met,” she says. “It’s an incredible place to work.”