ISHPEMING — A local school district has recently promoted their district nurse from part–time to full–time.

Not every school or school district has a school nurse, so that leaves a lot of responsibility on kids who may have complicated medical conditions. Now, thanks to a grant from the Western Marquette County Health Foundation, nurse Andrea Korpi can offer more availability and education to the students of NICE Community Schools.

District Nurse for NICE Community Schools Andrea Korpi says, “We were able to use that money to help fund some of the nursing services here at school to increase that role of the nurse, and the access for health care for students, which has been wonderful.”
Now with her full–time status she is able to teach students more regularly about health and emergency procedures and just make herself more available. She has already added programs and implemented more safety precautions than in the past.

“Everyday I do have student that come t the nurses office for different needs. We’ve got students with diabetes that have blood sugar checks, I’ve got students that take medications,” Korpi added, “I’m also here during the lunch time, that we could administer first aid.”

The grant will last for a year, and at that point the schools will have to reapply, however until then Nurse Korpi will continue to develop educational programs focusing on health and wellness.

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