Jessi Mather

Ms. Jessi Mather is one of the biggest helps to the Parker community. Not only is she an incredible school nurse, but she is so cool outside of school too. In the interview, our group learned so much background information about her that we would have never guessed. Getting to interview Ms. Mather was such an informative experience, and our group is still very grateful to have been able to talk with her.

“You can have just about anything walk through that nurse’s door and you just have to be ready and prepared for it.”

Many responsibilities come with Ms. Mather’s job as one of the Parker school nurses. Along with Nurse Anne, she buys all the supplies for the school infirmary to make sure all students can be cared for. She also keeps track of the students’ medications, and gives students medicine for different illnesses and headaches as well. Ms. Mather mentioned some difficulties for administering medicine, because children are growing all the time, so the dosages are changing. She enjoys when she can remember a student’s name, because it feels like she has a better connection with the students she treats throughout the school year. Ms. Mather also said that her injury assessment skills have improved. She begins her workday at noon, and finishes her shift at six in the evening. She said she sees on average between ten and 45 students per day. Ms. Mather has estimated that a student will go home about every other day when it isn’t flu season, but the flu season usually sends home many more. Ms. Mather says that the most rewarding part of her job is being able to see how well the students look after each other and accompany hurt classmates. She also says that she enjoys working with students better than adults.

Ms. Mather has a very interesting life outside of work, where she has two toddlers to take care of. “I get to be with them in the morning, and then I come [to school] and get to be with you guys," she said. "I hire a nanny to take care of my kids while I’m at Parker.” When asked if she had any hobbies, Ms. Mather replied, “I like swimming, doing yoga, and fishing with my husband. He is really good at fly fishing.” She added, “When I was in high school, I used to lifeguard every summer. I always liked doing jobs where I was in a position to help people if they were in trouble. If someone was in trouble, I always wanted to run towards it, rather than away from it.” That same dedication to helping others led her to spend a summer doing community development work in South America.

For a year and a half, Ms. Mather has worked at Parker. She feels that the day she walked into the school, everyone considered her part of the Parker community. Ms. Mather’s kind personality helps kids through headaches, bloody noses and other maladies. When we asked her what the biggest injury she has treated at Parker was, she responded, “It was only a broken wrist.” She also told us that when you are a school nurse, your reflexes get much quicker. As a nurse, your job is completely spontaneous. An emergency could pop up at any time. We also learned that the kids at school who take medication don’t always remember when it’s time to do so. The kids at this school, however, are usually responsible with their medication.

"It’s all really important when taking care of people to know more about them than just what their problem is at that time.”

Ms. Mather also told us the most common injuries at Parker come from the playground and after school sports like field hockey. Common sicknesses that she deals with are the flu, colds, and strep throat. Ms. Mather also told us about her own previous injuries when we were interviewing her. She said that, for the most part, she doesn’t really get injured or sick. However, she once tore her ACL rescuing her dog. “My dog ran into the street, and I jumped over a fence to catch him,” Ms. Mather said. “I fell to the ground with a torn knee and my dog immediately ran to my rescue. He was fine; I was not.” She told us that she now has screws in her leg that help her with the new ACL.

Ms. Mather is an excellent nurse and a big help to the Parker community. We enjoyed very much getting to speak with her and learn more about her and her work. We are very lucky that we have her here at Parker.