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Debra Clark, school nurse at Colonial Forge High School, attends to a student who had a seizure on Friday.
Colonial Forge High School nurse Debra Clark, checking a student's temperature in the school clinic on Friday, |
Five years ago, the Colonial Forge High School nurse's office handled six student emergencies in five hours.
The first student had difficulty breathing and couldn't talk after running in P.E. class. Nurse Debra Clark called 911.
Throughout the day, another five students visited the nurse's office with asthma problems. The two paramedics who arrived after the 911 call stayed at the Stafford County school to help.
Two of the students were transported to Mary Washington Hospital for additional treatment. Fortunately, all were OK.
"It opened your eyes to say, 'Hey, we need help here with this issue,'" Clark said.
Since then, she has developed an asthma-education program that has gotten international attention. It's one of the reasons she was recently named Virginia's school nurse of the year.
"We decided we needed to do something," Clark said. "And the bottom line was the students did not know how to take care of the asthma, and the parents needed information, too."
She now talks with teachers about the issue before every school year. Asthma education is part of the health curriculum. And Clark meets annually with asthmatic students in groups of six or eight.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evaluated the initiative in 2005 and labeled it effective, Clark said. That year, she presented the program at an international conference of school nurses in Scotland.
She also talked about it at this year's National Association of School Nurses meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.
Clark's work has inspired at least one student. That young lady, who once came into her office with blue lips and blue hands during an asthma attack, is now a nurse.
But Clark, 54, is more than just an asthma expert. The mother of three grown children--two daughters and a stepson--calls herself a military wife. She was a cardiac care nurse at a hospital in Michigan before coming to Stafford 11 years ago.
Her nurturing nature makes her popular with students. Terri Hailey, an administrative assistant at Colonial Forge, said her son ate lunch in the clinic on a daily basis his sophomore year because he didn't feel comfortable in the cafeteria.
"She was just always really, really comforting," Hailey said. "And when he wouldn't talk to me about what was going on, he would talk to her."
Filippa Unger, a substitute nurse for the Stafford school system, called Clark compassionate, understanding and knowledgeable.
"If you want something done, give it to a busy person," said Unger, who also volunteers for Clark once a week. "And that's her."
She's hoping Clark will be named national school nurse of the year. Whatever the outcome, it's clear her methods have worked.
"We've had such a low incidence of problems with asthma," Clark said. "School nursing is a nice blend of nursing and teaching. I have a passion for both."
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com
