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 80% of School Nurses Cannot Read This! By: Jane Piasek, RN |
| There I was. It was a University of Connecticut
conference for school nurses on emergency medical services – and I could count on one
hand the number of nurses who were using computers in their school health office. What's
more, not many more had any practical computer experience at all. Nonetheless, when the
subject of computers came up, everyone was intrigued. It then occurred to me: where are the national, regional or local initiatives hiding? Initiatives to educate nurses of the importance of computers? To introduce nurses to the capabilities of computers? To advocate funding and acquisition of computers for all school nurses? Initiatives to encourage our profession to be, as Doris Luckenbill suggested, united agents of change? Trying to navigate the bureaucratic and political avenues necessary to procure a computer is a lesson in frustration and dogged determination. I have been unsuccessful so far, along with trying to figure out which software package would be best. I try to imagine the day when I will be able to search the Net for up-to-date information on any health care topic; to e-mail parents, students, other nurses and colleagues in the health department; to enjoy ongoing communication with school nurses and nursing organizations everywhere; to read journal articles; to learn about new product development, to share success stories; and simply to end feelings of isolation. While it would be nice to have the luxury of deciding what software package/database I would like before purchasing the hardware, I don't think I'll have that choice. Perhaps I should continue to push for a district wide initiative to purchase software/computers so that all the nurse in my district could use the same system. My access to the Internet is currently limited to sporadic bouts on my computer at home – from where this letter originates. Any anecdotal comments, advice, thoughts and computer acquisition stories would be welcomed. Perhaps "The School Nurse Report," due to begin on this web site soon, will be used as a BBS to facilitate our discussion. Let's hear from you!
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The opnions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Micro Bio-Medics. |