Meet Allison Wadham, Siegel High School Nurse

Allison Wadham is the nurse Seigel students go to if they need a band-aid, or their blood sugar is getting low or they just need to talk to a friendly face. In this Q&A, Wadham talks about her background in nursing, her history as a Siegel student and what benefits being a nurse can offer potential applicants.

Rutherford County Schools is currently hiring nurses, and those interested in applying can do so at https://t.co/5MkQdUZBWY. Additionally, all currently available job postings and incentives can be found online at www.rcschools.net/careers/

Q: Introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background:

A: My name is Allison Wadham and I am currently the school nurse at Siegel High School. I’m a Rutherford County native. My history is different than I would have ever anticipated. I always joke when I have nursing students that I would never have dreamed I would have been a school nurse. It wasn’t on my radar when I was in nursing school, but I worked in pediatrics before I came to the school system and realized I really liked it and wanted to maybe have a bit more concrete of a schedule. School nursing is a great way to do that. I applied for a full-time position and started at LaVergne Primary School. I found out I was having a little one of my own and Siegel High School became available. I live really close to here and graduated from here and love the school.

Q: What is it like working with kids every day?

A: I think most people think about school nursing as band aids and ice. There are definitely days I feel like I hand out more than my fair share of band aids and ice packs, reassurance and pep talks. But really, there’s a lot of procedural things I don’t think anyone realizes until you get in here. Most nursing students and nurses are surprised at the volume and variety of things we do. There’s a lot of nursing clinical skills necessary in addition to all the things people assume are associated with school nurses. Also just getting to care for students and build relationships with them and their families. That is really rewarding and probably one of my favorite parts of the day.

Q: Tell me about the relationships you form with students:

A: They come in from middle school and grow so much between their freshman and senior year. I work with diabetics who may sometimes don’t take the best care of themselves. Or maybe they’re newly diagnosed as a freshman and hopefully by the time they graduate, or even before they graduate, they’re able to manage their own care. My goal is to help educate them and work with them to get them ready to leave when there’s not going to be a nurse there all the time.

Q: What keeps you feeling connected to the community at Seigel?

A: I think that’s one of the things that drew me to school nursing. You know you have all kinds of assemblies and award days and things like that. Then in high school you have pep rallies and sporting events and fundraisers you get to take part in. Like I said, I graduated from here, so I have a vested interest… but it’s just fun to take part in the spirit of the school! The administrators and parents and students – everybody that I’ve worked with has been great. I think that obviously makes it easier.

Q: What do you think school nursing offers for nurses who might be interested in working with kids?

A: I think most people automatically think about summer break and snow days – and those are wonderful benefits. It’s great I can take my kid to school every day and pick her up and be home for dinner every night. I mean, that’s truly unmatched. Just the quality of life it provides. But I also think there’s a lot of variety in just informatics and regulations– as far as auditing all the medical records and alerts.

Q: What skills should someone applying for a nursing position have?

A: You have to be a self-starter and have initiative. The autonomy is my favorite part of the job that I get to kind of say, OK – these are the things and tasks I have to do today. What order do I want to do them? Because you are the only one who can do them and that’s fun. You have to be friendly and a team player and work well with others not in the nursing roles. Be able to communicate with families and students. Don’t let the position intimidate you! School nursing is really individualized and unique in and of itself, but I think you’ll find that if you enjoy working with pediatric patients, you might be surprised how much of the job you already know.