Philomath school nurse earns state award for excellent care

It was called the "listening game," but Hunter McCaskill was very serious while playing it, quickly raising his hand when there was a sound in the headphones at the nurse's office at Clemens Primary School.

"Good job, Hunter," said Cindy Ertle, 45, the nurse for the Philomath School District.

McCaskill was going through his readiness tests for kindergarten - hearing and vision exams administered to every student before they enter the district.

Many people assume school nursing is about bloody noses, band-aids and bellyaches.

But Ertle, the nurse for Philomath schools since 1999, prevents and cures problems bigger than routine illnesses and boo-boos from recess.

Last year alone, she helped contain a whooping cough outbreak, procured eye exams and glasses for 21 students without health insurance, and secured funding for dental care for 37 students in low-income families.

Last month, Ertle was named school nurse of the year by the Oregon School Nurses Association for her outstanding service and commitment to quality care.

She was nominated by Superintendent Pete Tuana, other supervisors and colleagues.

"With the escalating demands on our school to resolve the social, emotional and health problems of our students, Cindy's presence has made an immense impact on the teaching and learning environment of our district," Tuana said.

One of Ertle's daily tasks is overseeing the nine students throughout the district who are insulin-dependent diabetics. Helping someone with low blood sugar happens nearly every day, she said.

On Friday, first-grader Conor Ringwald came into Ertle's office at Clemens Primary School feeling bad, and a test confirmed he had low blood sugar.

Ringwald had four glucose tablets and, after a second test 15 minutes later, was off to lunch.

Ertle has been a nurse for 25 years and says school nursing, "is what I really love."

It's a lot of hard work, though.

"I do run around from building to building. Thank goodness I have a cell phone," Ertle said.

She was assigned to be Philomath's school nurse after joining the Benton County Health Department in 1999.

The first group of kindergartners she served is now in sixth grade.

"It's nice to see that interventions you did when students were younger are paying off now. … It's nice to see them grow up healthy," Ertle said.

Kyle Odegard covers Philomath and rural Benton County. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.