A Clover Park School District story.
Our CPSD Staff Spotlight for National School Nurse Day features itinerant school nurse Rebecca Ho.
Becoming a nurse was an easy decision for Rebecca because she was raised around many people who just so happened to be nurses. “I’ve always loved helping others, and I thought these compassionate, caring and kind people in my life were great, so I just associated nursing with being a good person and knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said.
Before joining CPSD, Rebecca worked as an in-home pediatric nurse for children with severe medical needs. After working with a colleague to assist a student at school as a one-to-one nurse, Rebecca found that she enjoyed being back on campus. “I loved working with students, families, teachers, psychiatrists, therapists and everyone else who support kids in education,” she said.
Rebecca is now an itinerant nurse who works at Carter Lake Elementary School, Rainier Elementary School and the Child Find Program of the special education department. “Working on base has been interesting because it’s a unique place, and you get to work with people from all over,” she said. “Because of the medical resources at JBLM there are many families and children with disabilities or different medical needs, so it’s also very challenging and fulfilling as a nurse who enjoys helping kids.”
Rebecca was able to find a path in nursing that suited her organizational strengths and allowed her to build community outside of a hospital building. She encourages people in nursing and other fields of work to find a career helping others that suits their own passion. “In my role we do a lot of the behind-the-scenes details like paperwork, computer work, meetings and research while working with nonmedical staff like teachers and educators, which I enjoy,” she said.
“People usually assume you can only work in a hospital, but there are so many different opportunities for nurses to help people and support their community.”
