When you’re sick, when you’re throwing up, when you take that hard hit to the floor during gym and the skin on your forearm viciously peels off, when you’re in class and your head is banging, the nurses of Pattonville are there for you.

No one takes time out to get to know the nurses unless they are in pain or need something. School nurses Heidi Lanham and Valerie Guetschow are the two nurses that have been working at Pattonville, and they provide a sneak peek into the daily lives of the nurses and reveal their day-to-day routine.

-What are your daily objectives?

Heidi Lanham: “Our objectives for the day as nurses is to take care of the students and staff, and to provide quality services.”

-What is your day like from 7:23 A.M. to 2:13 P.M.?

HL: “It depends on the day, we’re usually very busy and on average 80-100 kids including staff come in and out on a daily basis for various things.”

-What is the one thing that you guys love about your job?

HL: “We love the different people that we meet, and the experiences that we share with those people that we meet, and caring for them also.”

What made you guys decide to become a school nurse?

HL: “I trained at Russel School and under-shadowed a nurse that worked there and after one day I absolutely LOVED it and knew immediately that was what I wanted to do.

Valerie Guetschow: “I have always loved kids, and I love nursing so the two fit perfectly for becoming a school nurse.”

What is something that you want PHS staff and students to know about you as nurses?

HL: “We want people to know that we are not “playing nurse,” we are certified nurses, we take our profession and job very seriously, we do not have the easiest job, although it may seem that way from the outside in. We deal with a lot of uneasy and stressful situations on a daily basis, but we always maintain professionalism.”