(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT – May 9, 2024) —May 6th through the 12th is National Nurses Week, which recognizes the hard work and contributions of the health professionals.
El Paso ISD school nurses are a dedicated and skilled group of people who provide valuable healthcare services to students and staff. Some of the roles of the school nurses include, ensuring students are following immunizations according to state requirements, delivering healthcare to students with special needs, coordinating health fairs, participating in the Crisis Management Team and much more.
However, beyond their normal work duties, school nurses provide lifesaving work that sometimes goes unnoticed.
“I think school nurses are a remarkable group of people who don’t get their respect that they should,” said Deborah (Debbie) Torres, a nurse at Franklin High School. “Everybody thinks it’s an easy job, that you just put band aids on or pat them on the head, but people don’t understand that you don’t know what’s going to come in your door every morning and you have to be prepared for it.”
Nurse Debbie has spent years working as a school nurse with El Paso ISD. Her experience and knowledge led her to one day save the life of a student.
Eunice Romero is the parent of Jayden, a student at Franklin High School. She said her son began experiencing shortness of breath one day and she didn’t know what was wrong with him.
“We celebrated Easter at a park, and we were all exhausted that night. My son began complaining of chest pain and I thought it may have been related to activities from the day,” Romero said. “I gave him some medicine and he went to bed. Jayden went to school the next day, but he told me he was still in pain, so I told him to see the nurse, which I’m glad he did.”
Nurse Debbie checked on Jayden and told his mother that she was concerned because she couldn’t hear any air coming out of his right lung. Romero picked up her son from school that day and took him to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with “acute gastritis.”
Jayden was sent home but was still feeling unwell. Nurse Debbie, being the dedicated worker she is, called the Romero family to see how her son was doing.
“I was very worried about him and when I get worried, I do this with a lot of families, I’ll call up their parents and check to see how their child is doing and get updates,” Torres said.
Romero told nurse Debbie what the hospital diagnosed Jayden with and that’s when she told the family that something was off.
“She urged me to take Jayden to get a second opinion, which I did later that afternoon. That’s when the doctors at that emergency room found out my son had a collapsed right lung,” Romero said.
Jayden spent eight days in the ICU where he underwent thoracic surgery that included a lung resection.
“I think that she had a lot to do with helping my son get better and potentially saving his life because it’s a life-threatening condition,” Romero said. “Had it not been for her persistence and her urging me to send my son to get a second opinion then it probably could have ended differently.”
On Wednesday, May 8, Romero and Jayden brought flowers to give to nurse Debbie to thank her for her help and compassion, but nurse Debbie said she doesn’t do it for the gratuity.
“These kids mean the world to me, and I think of them as my own children,” Torres said. “I want to take care of these children the same way I would want someone else to take care of my kids.”