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| A new face of healing for Paola USD 368 |
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| Education | |||
| Written by Jesse Trimble | |||
| Wednesday, 03 February 2010 08:00 | |||
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If Paola Middle School and Sunflower Elementary students feel sick in class, they’ll be seeing a fresh face to help them out. Nurse Terri Johnson joined the USD 368 staff Jan. 4, and she said she already feels right at home. Johnson said one of her best friends is from Paola, and she’d often visit the area with her when on breaks from school, with Lake Miola being one of their favorite spots. Johnson said, with her new job, her main priority is the students. “We have students that need medication on a daily basis,” she said. “Some have diabetes or seizures that they need medicine for.” But she also treats those who come to her with the occasional stomachache, fever or headache. “We do try to keep them in class, though. If they don’t need to go home, we don’t want them to get behind on their school work,” she said. Prior to joining the USD 368 staff, Johnson graduated from Pittsburg State University’s department of nursing and worked at the Shawnee Mission Medical Center in surgery. She said the schedule was hectic and always changing, so she’s glad to have a set schedule working with children. “I love working with kids,” she said. “I’m able to have more interaction with the staff and the children, and I’m not glued to one operating room with one patient.” Johnson has also worked at the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., and the Olathe Medical Center in the critical-care unit. Originally, Johnson said she was attracted to the nursing field because of the wide variety of options the field offers. “You can work with kids, adults, in hospitals or homes — there are so many options across the board,” she said. “My favorite was intensive care because it involved critical thinking and gave me the opportunity to connect with the patients.” Johnson said the ICU gave her the chance to get to know her patients, learn about their histories and families and bond with them. “You do the best you can, but elsewhere you don’t really have the chance to get to know them,” she said. Although she’s been working in the medical field for awhile, Johnson didn’t have any trauma stories that were out of the ordinary and said she’s ready to have a set schedule and get to know the students of USD 368.
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