Decades of change offer challenges for school nurse
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

School nurse Mary Popp PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

Shrewsbury - In the almost quarter-century that Mary Popp has manned the nurse's office at Spring Street Elementary School, her job has changed in ways she never could have dreamed.

"I never imagined I'd have a child that had a heart transplant, and I've had two so far," Popp said. "My first year I had one student with a bee allergy and one with an inhaler ... This year I have 27 children on individual health correlation plans."

Popp is responsible for not only creating the individual health plans, which include doctor's orders, diagnoses, student photos and emergency information for each child with a serious allergy or medical condition, she is also responsible for creating reaction plans that must be taught to staff throughout the building in case any of these children has a medical emergency.

"The biggest thing in taking care of kids is just making sure you have everything and everyone together," Popp said. "I really have to be positive that the information that travels from the doctor to the parent through me to the teachers and aides is correct."

Popp said she is constantly reading up on changes and trends in her field, but she has yet to find a valid reason as to why she sees so many more children with special health issues now than when she first started nursing.

"It may be that fewer children were just diagnosed in the past, or that new environmental issues increase asthma or children with severe allergies may be getting certain foods too soon," Popp said. "Nobody's come up with a real definitive reason why."

But while the children's diagnoses and medications are more diverse, Popp said one thing hasn't changed over the past 23 years - the children themselves.

"I just love this age group. They're so open, so innocent and trustworthy," she said. "I just hope I'm able to help and hopefully make them feel better because of something I've been able to do."

One thing Popp is not able to do, even after more than two decades, is spot a faker right off the bat. But, she said, it seems to happen less often then you might think.

"Kids this age aren't old enough to want to get out of class yet," Popp said. "You can't always tell if they're faking or not, but usually there is something legitimately wrong even if it isn't a physical problem."

Oftentimes kids will come to Popp's office with a headache or a stomachache that has less to do with their heads and stomachs, and more to do with the child's stress or anxiety level.

Because kids can't always pinpoint the cause of their symptoms, Popp said, she relies on input from parents to help care for the students.

"It's so important to have that open communication with parents so you know where the kids are coming from and the best way to approach what they're dealing with," she said.

Popp was working in a hospital during her early career when a doctor she knew suggested she would be perfect for school nursing, an idea she had never considered.

Popp said she has thanked that doctor for seeing in her something she didn't see herself, and putting her on the path to a job that after 23 years she still has no interest in leaving.

"At the hospital, you don't feel like you work is ever done," she said. "Here, you feel like you've really accomplished something, and I'm so lucky to have found something I love so much."