Nominated by Shana Redkoles
Christina Boucot is the definition of an "unsung" hero of a school nurse. She has worked as a school nurse for over 20 years in Gloucester County Special Services and Gloucester County Institute of Technology. Christina arrives to work earlier than necessary each morning in order to remain organized and to stay in front of all the needs of a school with 1700 students. Working at a vocational school means that in addition to the typical and plentiful needs of high school students, there are also a plethora of school trips to prepare for as the students voyage out into the world exploring their programs and potential future employment. This school has well over one hundred trips a year, all which are cleared through the school nurse. Working at a vocational school also has injuries that are atypical such as a digit cut off in Carpentry, a broken arm in Culinary, and most recently a flying piece of metal impaled in a teacher's chest from Welding. Christina Boucot is there for it all, with grace. She makes sure all paperwork is intact, every standard is met and ensures the safety of all students and staff. The very first day on campus this school year, Christina had to deal with a traumatic emergency. While first year students and their families wandered the halls during orientation prior to the first day of school, Christina was called to an incident with an unresponsive adult maintenance worker who had collapsed hitting his head on the way down. It was clear he had been down and unresponsive for some time prior to the call. Christina Boucot sprang into action despite the hopelessness of the situation. She directed distraught staff while simultaneously beginning CPR. Despite her petite stature, she was able to singlehandedly position the inert individual off a raised platform so she could have him on a flat surface to begin compressions. She was authoritative, physically strong, calm, and dedicated to performing her role despite the blood and chaos surrounding her. She did all this and showed up to work the next day, no debriefing, no time off, and no recognition. For the above reasons as well as too many more to mention, I nominate Christina Boucot as a School Nurse SuperStar.
