Erin Rayl

Title: Complex Area School Registered Nurse
Job site: Kaʻū-Keaʻau-Pāhoa Complex Area
Years in the HIDOE: 4.5 years
Years in the position: 8 months

Q: Briefly describe your career path.
A: I attended Northern Arizona University where I earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing. After graduation, I worked as a Registered Nurse in both urgent care and long-term care before entering school nursing as a registered nurse with Hawai‘i Keiki. When the HIDOE posted Registered Nurse positions, I knew that I wanted to apply to become a part of the School Health Section to contribute more to help improve the health and well-being of our students across the state.

Q: How did you get into this role?
A: I was originally taking the prerequisite science classes to become a pharmacist when I first considered nursing. Since the prerequisites to become a registered nurse and a pharmacist are pretty much the same, I was able to easily switch programs. Plus, I have always loved working with people, and I am always down for everything science and health care-related, so I thought, why not give nursing a try?! 

Q: What are your primary duties?
A: My primary duties are to support our School Health Assistants (SHAs) and health rooms, to provide health-related education to students and/or staff as needed, to act as a point of contact for health-related questions, and to assist with immunization reporting to reduce student exclusions. However, there are so many different tasks that I can do in my current position, so each day is always different and exciting. 

Q: Favorite part about the job?
A: My favorite part of my job (besides getting to greet kiddos on the campuses that I visit) are the relationships that I have formed with the other amazing HIDOE school nurses. They are endlessly supportive, funny, and make even the most hectic days seem like a breeze. 

Q: Most challenging part about your position?
A: The most challenging part of this position is trying to fit everything that I want to accomplish into the work week. Along with my primary duties, there are so many additional tasks that I want to complete in order to help out our SHAs and make our health rooms a better place for our students. I have been a part of the Kaʻū-Keaʻau-Pāhoa Complex Area since I started as a school nurse, and I have loved every minute of it. My complex area truly cares about our students, and we all work hard to ensure that each student receives the best education and care  that we are able to provide them with. 

Q: What advice do you have for people considering this position?
A: For anyone considering becoming a registered nurse, I say to do it! Even if the HIDOE and pediatrics are not your field of choice, there are so many different fields that a Registered Nurse can go into. Nurses can truly make a difference in people’s lives, and the amazing feeling that you receive from helping others is honestly one of the biggest rewards of this role. As an added bonus, you will be able to call out all of the inaccuracies in any medical show or movie you watch and can impress your friends and family for life.

Q: How does your role support student success?
A: My job supports our students by providing them with health-related education, by assisting their families to connect with any health-related services that would be beneficial to them, and by showing them daily encouragement and unconditional support. As a school nurse, I also help to educate our staff on how to care for students with Emergency Action Plans, how to administer emergency medications, and how to be better prepared in case of an emergency by performing CPR and using an AED. Those staff can then take the education provided to them and pass it on to our students via thorough, appropriate and evidenced-based care. School nurses will always refer to other health care professionals as needed and are the biggest advocates for the physical, emotional and social well-being of our students. We want all of our students to receive any and all services that could benefit them and help them to be healthy and ready to learn each and every day. 

The registered nurses from all complex areas gathered at the HIDOE Diamond Head Annex building for their semiannual meeting on May 1. (Photo credit: Kimberly Yuen / HIDOE Communications Branch)