HEART BEATS

There is something awe-inspiring about sitting quietly with ears tuned to the marvelous lub-dub sound of a beating heart.  With the help of 18 disinfecting wipes and my trusty stethoscope, our developmental kindergarten (DK) students had just that opportunity this week. 

Enthusiasm was palpable as they took turns listening to their very own rhythms. 

It is one thing for our heads to understand that hearts are constantly keeping time.  It is quite another to pay attention to one’s personal God-given tempo and to realize just how industriously our own chief muscle is constantly at work.

One of my favorite tasks each year is visiting with the early childhood (EC) students.  Our smallest Penn View students are delightful and to a child under age 6, the school nurse is still a celebrity figure!  I will admit that I receive this adoration shamelessly because I know from experience that when these same children cross the threshold into middle school, they will cease making eye contact with me.  I no longer take this personally…

Giving the "thumbs-up" upon hearing the tick-tock of his heart

At the invitation of teachers, I read books with the EC classes.  This is by design so that the tiny ones (some as young as 3) will have seen my terrifying school nurse face before they are sent to my office with a boo-boo or fever. 

A bag of nurse-tools accompanies me on these visits and the children are excited to help identify the objects of my profession as I pull them individually out of the bag.  Eyes grow wide in the DK group when we reach the topic of vaccines.  Each child seems to have a “shot story” to tell and many refuse to hold that dreaded syringe despite prior removal of the needle. (Others, of course, are champing at the bit to “vaccinate” the classmate sitting on the carpet nearby…)

Missing from photo, our "smile cheerleaders" Madison, June and Hailey

Every year there is one in the crowd who recognizes ALL of my tools and practically bursts at the seams to impart their knowledge to the entire class.  (These children are occasionally sons or daughters of someone in the medical field but more often the child is a wonderfully inquisitive smarty-pants who has taken hundreds of blood pressures on siblings, parents, dolls, and/or the family dog with his /her Fisher-Price medical kit…)

Listening to those little lub-dubs is one of the greatest joys of my occupation. What a privilege to share moments of discovery with a curious child.