School nurse retirement announced; Dorsey moves on to new chapters

     School nurse Joanne Dorsey will be retiring after 10 years of working at this school. She will officially be leaving her position on the first of December but will continue to help out in the health suite in the fall. 

     Dorsey explains, “I graduated nursing school in 1976 and I have been working as a nurse ever since then. My experience was mostly in labor and delivery, the operating room, and dialysis. I finished off being a school nurse here.” 

     As the nurse has been working for so long, she explains “I am ready to retire because of my age.” Dorsey shares, “I love this school and it has been a wonderful way to end my nursing career. It is time to go be a Nana with my family. Also, my husband and I want to travel. We actually want to move to France and travel around Europe, we are both ready to do that.”

     Dorsey explains that there are so many parts of her job that are so wonderful. She says, “One of them is the autonomy of being in an environment of never knowing what is going to come through the door. Most people just think our job is giving out bandaids and Tylenol for headaches, but it’s not.”

      She later shares, “Even though it’s not in a hospital setting, there really are a lot more critical and medical needs now. It is definitely a challenge knowing what’s going to come in and trying to figure out what is going on. We basically just have to debrief with each other and try to figure out a reason speaking medically.” 

     Although, not everything is positive. Dorsey explains, “My least favorite part is the kids that come up here and use me as an excuse to get out of class. I have to try and discern if they are really sick, or just trying to get out of a math class.” 

     The thing she will miss most about being at this school is “the people 100%.” She shares, “Without a doubt, it is the nicest school in the county and the most supportive staff. I do hear from other nurses that their staff isn’t the most positive, I am grateful to be here. I have never ever had a conflict with anyone here.” 

     This nurse has also “made so many new connections here.” She says, “I have made friends through here and I definitely want to keep in touch with them after my retirement.” 

     Dorsey wants to give a shout-out to “Mrs. Bishop, my coworker. On days where I would just end up in tears and didn’t think I could make it another day, she was there to support me and lift me up.” 

     Her last words for this school are, “This is the best school in the county. I know several nurses who applied for this job and I am leaving the school in wonderful hands. The person that will be filling my position will be amazing.”