Amanda Anderson » Nurse Amanda

Nurse Amanda

Hello and welcome!

I'm Nurse Amanda and I am the School Nurse here at Jacques Memorial School! 

I have been a nurse for the past 13 years.  My experience includes medical-surgical nursing, outpatient primary care nursing, pediatric office nursing, and home care pediatric and maternal child health nursing.  I am passionate about my career and working with the pediatric population and their families.
It is important that if at anytime you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s health or medical well being, you reach out to me! 

I’m looking forward to connecting with you all. As the school year progresses, I hope this page can be a helpful resource for you and your family.
 

Posts

Spring is springing...hopefully!

Hello Jacques Families,

I hope that you are all enjoying the sunshine these past few days.  Temperatures have been varying; cold in the mornings but nice by the afternoon, as long as the wind isn't whipping.  Here at Jacques, the students are excited to have nicer weather while out at recess!  With the temps increasing in the afternoons and the sun shining bright, out play areas tend to be wet and muddy at times.  As you know, mud tends to attract the students...this is a great example why having an extra change of clothes in backpacks is so important.

Besides the expected slips, trips, and falls I am seeing in the health office, I am also seeing a lot of fevers, vomiting and/or diarrhea, and strep.  Many people think that strep only presents as a sore throat however, this is not always the case.  Please review the the links attached to better familiarize yourself with symptoms and treatment. 

As always, please reach out to me with ANY questions or concerns.  Despite continuously circulating illnesses, I hope that you are able to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. 

www.healthychildren.org: Strep Throat
www.healthychildren.org: Vomiting
www.healthychildren.org: Diarrhea

JMS Health Office

Families,
I hope you all endured the arctic temperatures we had over the weekend!  Quick reminder to all:  Students need to have warm winter gear when coming to school.  This should include a winter jacket, hat, gloves/mittens.  Snow pants and boots are highly encouraged to make them "head to toe" for recess.  If you are in need of winter gear for your student, please reach out to Tracy Holland our Social Worker or myself.

Everyday, your student should have an extra change of clothing in their backpack.  This includes a change of socks, underwear, pants, and a shirt.  Even if your child never has bathroom accidents, accidents can and do happen.  We should always be prepared!  This is also important to have in the event that there is a large drink spill on your child or he/she gets wet while out at recess.  Our supply of spare clothing in the health office is minimal.  To prevent a call home to request a change of clothing during the school day, please be sure to check your child's backpack regularly to ensure a clean, dry change of clothes.

General illness continues to circulate within the community.  Things we are seeing here at JMS include strep throat, influenza, covid-19, GI illnesses including nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea, respiratory viruses including cold symptoms.  As always, these illnesses can have complications leading to pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infections, dehydration, etc.  While we continue to promote healthy habits and hygiene here at school, it is important that you continue to do the same at home.

I thank you all for sharing your students with me--they are the lights of my day each and everyday.  Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, always reach out to me.  Stay happy, healthy, and warm!

Nurse Amanda 

Healthy Holidays to all!

Families,
While many of us are preparing for the holiday break, it is important that we are all taking the necessary measures to stay healthy!  Here at Jacques, and within the community alike, there are many illnesses circulating.  These illnesses are mostly viral in origin.  Symptoms presenting include but are not limited to fevers, headaches, vomiting, fatigue, body aches, and cold symptoms.  Time and symptomatic care measures (rest, fluids, fever reducers, etc) are best but close monitoring is needed too.  Even with just three, fun days, planned for this week, it is most recommended to keep your child home if he/she is not feeling well.  

If you have ANY questions or concerns, please reach out to me by phone or email.  I wish you all the merriest of holidays and the happiest and healthiest time with the ones you love.

Nurse Amanda 

Tis The Season

Families,  
While we are taking time in the coming weeks to reflect on all the things we are thankful for and show our gratitude, it is also important to be aware of the various illnesses circulating in our community and to take appropriate measures to stay healthy this holiday season. 
Here at Jacques Memorial, we are seeing many students and staff members with a viral "cold".  We do have some that have been diagnosed with RSV and flu, which are also viral illnesses.  While these viruses and require time and symptomatic measures as they "runs their course," it is possible for secondary infections to arise from these viruses; such as ear infections, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, etc. 

Please monitor your children for signs or symptoms which may require an appointment with their medical provider.  These signs or symptoms may include:  fever >100 for 2 or more days, lethargy, decreased urine output (less than 4 pees in a 24hr period), thick, sticky or goopy eye discharge, continued ear pain despite the use of comfort measures, shortness or breath, increased need of their inhaler, several nights of sleeplessness, no improvement of symptoms despite symptomatic measures, or with any changing or worsening symptoms.

As always, students with a fever of 100 or greater, vomiting, and/or diarrhea must stay home and may return when they are symptom free without the use of medication for at least 24hrs.

It is also recommended that you monitor your child for a little bit, before sending them into school for the day, if they are complaining of not feeling well upon waking.

As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me by phone or email.

I wish you all the happiest and healthiest holiday season and am truly thankful for all my students here and Jacques Memorial School. 

WHAT A WEEK!

It's been one week since we've welcomed our students to Jacques for the 2022-2023 school year!  And you know what?....we're having a blast!  
In the health office, I am still (yes, still) going through each student's medical record. I would like to take this time to encourage all families to submit any new or updated health forms.  As a reminder, any child enrolled in the school needs to be up to date with vaccines.  All new students need to have a medical clearance from their doctor indicating their medically cleared to participate in school.  For those that require medication while in school, I MUST have parent and medical provider documentation/consent to administer AS WELL as any action plan your provider has put into place (ie: asthma action plan, allergy action plan, seizure action plan, etc).  As I continue to file and review all records, I will reach out to families as I need with questions or to request further information/documentation. 

As always, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.  I am so excited to be back for another school year with my JMS community! 

Thank YOU and have a HAPPY and HEALTHY summer!

THANK YOU to ALL of the Jacques Memorial families and staff!  The 2021-2022 school year was wonderful!  My first year as the Jacques Memorial School nurse couldn't have gone any better!  Its an honor to have had the opportunity to work with all the children and their families this school year.  Please enjoy the summer months; may they be happy and healthy! 

I look forward to seeing familiar faces next school year and meeting many new ones too!