MN School Nurses Were a Team for 25 Years

In 1995, when they first arrived at Vista View Elementary School in Burnsville, Minnesota, RN Barbara Wardell and CNA Donita Luth knew they would spend much of their time administering medications, treating minor injuries, and coping with childhood illnesses. However, before long they also learned that nursing grade-schoolers can be a lousy experience. “Lice happens,” says Wardell. “Anybody can get it. It does not determine if you are clean or dirty or rich or poor or anything. You get it.” At first, the school principal “had to show us what head lice looked like because neither one of us had ever seen head lice,” but after 25 years, they have become grizzled veterans in the ongoing war. “Now we have a little collection on a piece of paper in the office.”

When the new school year opens, though, Luth will have to curate the lice collection with a new partner. The 65-year-old Wardell is retiring to work full-time at the apple orchard, winery and cidery she runs with her husband. Her departure will mark the end of a generation of nursing teamwork. The RN and CNA formed a tight bond as they worked to sustain a high standard of care for their young charges. After their first year, they exchanged a “pinky swear” to stay on as a team. Wardell recalls, “We just really liked working together. If I was not in the building, I knew it was in excellent hands because I fully trust Donita to be able to do stuff or to call me if she had a question.”

As school nurses, the two knew they had to depend on each other. Wardell observes, “You have no respiratory team, you have no extra nursing staff — it’s all you, your office, your call. A kid comes in in distress, what are you going to do about it?” She adds, “If we needed to take time off, we’d cover for each other. If we had concerns, we supported each other. We became bonded — it just happened.”

Luth will miss her departing colleague, and reflects, “It’s been a good combination. We’ve made a good team.”

For more details on the Vista View school nursing team, see the story in The Sun This Week.

Photo credit: John Gessner, The Sun This Week.

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Koren Thomas

Associate Editor at DailyNurse

Koren Thomas (pictured with Assistant) was the associate editor of DailyNurse from late 2019 through July, 2022—and she was not joking about the "issue postage stamps saluting US nurses" idea. Send your article ideas, submissions, Nurse of the Week suggestions, comments, and corrections to the current Editor in Chief at [email protected].