School Nurse retires after 30+ years

By Caroline Rosacker

For over 30 years, Clayton Ridge School Nurse Renae Kraus has been helping students stay healthy, be safe, and ready to learn. 

Her career began in Guttenberg as the nurse for kindergarten through grade 12 at the public school, and all grades at St. Mary's parochial in 1993.

In 2010 her duties changed and she began traveling between Guttenberg and Garnavillo covering what was then the middle school in Garnavillo in the mornings, and working at the Elementary/High School in Guttenberg in the afternoon. For the past four years she has been the Pre-K through grade 5 school nurse at the Garnavillo campus.

Inspired to care for others

Kraus, who was born and raised in Clayton County and attended school in Guttenberg, has had an interest in healthcare and helping others since high school. "I had the opportunity to do a work study program at the Guttenberg Hospital," she explained.  "This sparked my interest in nursing even more." 

With the encouragement of a valued friend she applied to the Nursing Program at NICC, and completed her LPN and continued into the ADN program, graduating in 1982.

Kraus began her nursing career at Finley Hospital in Dubuque on a surgical floor where she cared for patients before and after surgery, and later on the Same Day Surgery Unit at Finley. "While working in this department there was a Clinical Ladder Program," she told The Press.  "This program encouraged nurses to move up steps on the ladder by working above their normal duties." 

Volunteer opportunity leads to full-time position

One of the steps was to work/volunteer in a nursing capacity in a community setting. Kraus had an interest in school nursing and inquired if she could work a few days with the current school nurse at her former school. "I had no idea at the time that the then school nurse, Beth Sadewasser, was planning on moving into a different position at the end of the school year," she shared. "I of course put my application in and was fortunate to be offered the school nurse position starting in August of 1993." 

School nurse duties

As school nurse and a member of the School Wellness Team some of her responsibilities included:

• Providing care for physical needs such as illness and care for injuries

• Collaborating with other staff members in caring for emotional and social needs

• Administering medications and maintaining medication charting

• Completing student screenings

• Maintaining student health records

• Reviewing and making sure immunization records were up-to-date for all students

• Writing and updating health plans

• Teaching classes on dental care, CPR, and general good health habits, etc. for students.

• Teaching staff how to handle particular health needs of students

• Being an advocate for students

• Being a liaison for health issues by having good communication with student’s parents or guardians

• Community outreach and communication with health care providers, pharmacy, dental offices, VNA, etc., and working with the community in events such as the recent mock accident at the High School level

Making a positive impact

The dedicated nurse has enjoyed working with the students and having the opportunity to make a positive impact in promoting and teaching them about good health choices that can affect them all throughout their life. "I love making a difference in their day, maybe it is helping them with an injury or helping them when they are not feeling well," she listed. "Or maybe it’s just listening or reassuring them, or a smile, or a high five, or a thumbs up when passing in the hall."

"I have loved my job at Clayton Ridge because I enjoy working with kids of all ages and the relationships that have formed," she commented. "I enjoyed the variety – no day was ever the same." 

Kraus also enjoyed having the same schedule and being the school nurse when her own kids were in school, and seeing former students who are now adults and have children of their own in school. "Maybe my kids didn’t enjoy it, but they never said so if they didn’t," she said with a laugh.

Future plans

The retired nurse is looking forward to more flexibility and less structure to her days as desired, and spending more time with her husband, Dave, and her children, Katie, Tyler, Andrew, and Emily (Zach) Brown and baby-sitting her grandchild, Briggs Brown. "I also plan to continue working on an as-needed basis at the care center in Edgewood, which I have been doing for the past 11 years," she noted. 

"It has been great being a part of the 'Clayton Ridge Family.' I have enjoyed working with past and present faculty, staff, administration, and school board as well as the students and their parents," she concluded with a smile.