Linda Davis, Westerville South’s school nurse, has been hit with a more significant workload than ever.  Noelle Spriestersbach, mental health specialist at South, said, “Nurse Davis has all of her roles that haven’t stopped in addition to all of these new responsibilities.” 

Nurse Davis stated, “Besides all the regular responsibilities of a school nurse, I now have to follow current guidelines for covid precautions.”

Davis has stayed until 8 p.m., when her work hours should be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in order to get her work done. Davis has had to adjust to her new responsibilities that have added stress and extended time into her workday.

“This includes assessing for symptoms of covid in students that are ill and explaining to parents how a student can be cleared to return to school,” Davis said “as well as doing contact tracing for students or staff that are positive for covid and notifying those who are close contacts.”

 “Nurse Davis is like superwoman,” Spriestersbach said. “The pandemic has hit everyone super hard,” Spriestersbach stated, “but I think Mrs. Davis especially because her job has become this incredibly massive thing that is twice as heavy as it was pre-pandemic.”

To show gratitude, staff wrote kind notes thanking Davis for her hard work and all that she does at South. Staff also had students participate in writing notes or words of encouragement for Davis.

Participant, Emily Swank-Kavanaugh, English teacher and softball coach at South said, “Kindness, patience, and realizing that we are all here with the same goal are some of the small ways students can make a difference.”

As not only students face challenges and stress but teachers and staff around the building too. Swank, adding on, stated that it is important for teachers to “have things outside of school that get rid of some of the stressful things that are present.”

At South, the mental health of not only students is important, but of the staff too. Spriestersbach said, “It’s important to pay attention to areas we can be grateful for. Mrs. Hammons and I wanted her to know that she was seen. That students and staff care and appreciate it. As well as that we care.”

Hammons, a mental health specialist at South, added,  “When we’re doing hard work, something as small as writing a note on paper and telling someone how much they mean to you, can really impact them.”

“In this chaos and stress, we don’t have control over a ton of things,” said Spriestersbach, “but something we do have control over is whether or not we acknowledge good things and practice gratitude. That can be powerful for people and motivating for people who don’t feel seen.”

Nurse Davis’ last day was Monday, Nov. 1, and she was surprised with her basket of notes filled with gratitude and encouraging words on Wednesday Nov. 5. South welcomed new nurse, Jessica Gilbert on Nov. 1, 2021.

To help keep the gratitude going, students can pick up flower petals from guidance and write thank you notes and words of encouragement to nurse Davis, nurse Gilbert, and other staff as the year continues.