For Taylor, being a school nurse best of both worlds

Mitzi Taylor was at a crossroads.

She had left East Carolina University, deciding a business career wasn’t for her. She had married her high school sweetheart and was trying to decide whether to pursue a career as a nurse or a teacher.

She chose the former, enrolling at Roanoke Chowan Community College where she earned an associate degree in nursing.

But as life sometimes happens, Taylor’s career path would take in two directions at once: to a job where she could be both nurse and teacher. That happened when she became a school nurse in the Northampton County Schools.

“When I moved back home to Northampton County, I was torn between teaching and nursing,” Taylor recalled. “In many ways, I now have the best of both worlds.”

She said initially her interest in the job had a lot do with the fact her children were still young — they were 5, 3, and 1 at the time — and the school nursing job would allow her to be home for holidays and summers with them.

“That is certainly still a plus, but since I’ve been working here I’ve grown so attached to the children” at school, Taylor said.

“I feel like because I come from Northampton County, I know their parents — sometimes went to school with their parents — and I feel a connection to the students and their families,” she said.

Taylor is currently school nurse for Central Elementary School in Jackson and the Northampton Career and Technical Academy of Innovation in Creeksville, as well as the lead school nurse for Northampton County Schools.

After becoming a school nurse, Taylor set her sights on earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing and becoming certified by the National Board of School Nurses. Both are requirements to be a school nurses in North Carolina.

“I came in as an RN, but North Carolina requires a bachelor’s degree and certification within three years of being hired,” Taylor said.

While she worked and earned her BSN from Chamberlain University in Chicago, Taylor found the national certification even more challenging.

“It is a tough program because you have to know more than just nursing, you have to learn education laws as well as nursing laws,” she said. “It was a tough program, but I am now certified to be a school nurse anywhere.”

Taylor is currently working on a master’s degree from Chamberlain.

She really enjoys the part of her job where nursing and teaching intersect.

“I get to go in the classrooms and get to know the kids,” she said. “I do health education topics and teach them and have fun at the same time. Because I’m not in one classroom, I’m able to move around and help the teachers where I’m needed.”

The toughest part of her job is realizing she can’t fix every problem in front of her.

“When I see children who have needs and don’t have access to care outside of school, I worry about them even during off hours,” she said. “I am attached to them and I take (my concerns about them) home a lot.”

Still, she works hard every day to meet the health care needs of Northampton’s students.

“As a school nurse, our main job is to keep children healthy so they can come to school and learn,” Taylor said. “We also identify chronic illnesses and make sure they have what they need at school to be able to come to school.”

Other important parts of the job include health education, working with families to connect them with healthcare resources, dispensing medications, and helping children with acute illnesses.

Taylor said she loves her job.

“I look forward to coming to work,” she said. “I love being greeted by the children and staff. They make this a good place to work. When the children smile or come wanting a hug when they see me, it makes my day.”

Of course, a school nurse’s job doesn’t always end just because the school day does.

“Even when I’m not at work, I’m always a nurse,” Taylor said. “I have friends and families who ask nursing questions. When I’m at my children’s games, if a child is injured they often ask my advice.”

Taylor says she likes being able to help.

“It doesn’t bother me when that happens,” she said. “It makes me feel good they can ask my thoughts and I want them to feel they can come to me. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find one.”

She is proud to have been born and raised in Northampton County, and happy that she and her husband of 18 years, Evan, are doing the same with their three kids, Cole, Lena and Jodie.

“When you work where you grew up, you are oftentimes more invested in the community because you have ties here,” she said. “I’m happy to be raising my family here.”

Northampton County may not have all the business and industry larger counties have. But what it does offer is a feeling of home.

“Northampton may not be the biggest place around, but it is good to be at home where I know the families of the children I take care of everyday and know we are all invested in keeping this a wonderful place for families,” she said.