Community Care: Davidson keeps kids healthy at school

Peachtree City Elementary school nurse Lendy Davidson helps keep her school community healthy and happy. 

There are routines and procedures she always has on her schedule, like daily medications and treatments, but there aren’t many average days in her clinic. She may need ice packs and bandages for bumps and bruises, or maybe a staff member is having a medical emergency. She also gets to blend in education by going into classrooms and talking about washing hands and other hygiene topics. 

Her job requires a lot of problem solving and thinking on her feet so she can provide comfort and immediate care.

“The rest of the day, you have to be ready for anything,” she said. “A good day is a slow day.” 

Davidson had a nurturing instinct early on. She was inspired by the strong, resilient women in her life, and a Girl Scouts field trip to an emergency services station when she was in elementary school showed her a future in the healthcare field. 

“It was then and there that I was like, ‘This is something that I want to do,’” she remembered. 

That was reinforced when she was in high school and her friend’s mom was a nurse. She would come home from work in uniform, and Davidson would pick her brain about the job. It felt like she was talking to a real life superhero. 

“I just thought this is really cool. I really want to do this.” 

After graduating from school, Davidson worked in the medical ICU in a teaching hospital. She loved the blend of intensity, emotion, education, and human interaction. 

“It was high-pace, high-stress, but it was a fun time.” 

When it came time to start a family, she stepped away from nursing for a decade. She eventually got the itch to get back to work, and her neighbor, who was the school nurse at Peachtree City Elementary at the time, advised her to try out substitute school nursing. 

“Sure enough, I fell in love with it,” said Davidson. 

Her neighbor soon left, and Davidson became the full-time nurse. She completed her 7th year as the school nurse this year. 

“I really felt like it was one of those things where the door opened and I went and never looked back.” 

The best part of the job is building relationships and trust with the students she cares for.  

“They bring me so much joy. Their faces and the things they say and the things they do and the notes and cards they give you,” she said. “They’re so honest and they’re so real, and it’s just pure.” 

That extends to the parents, too. 

“It’s somebody dropping their kid off and they’ve got a health condition that has to be addressed. That they trust me and the children trust me is so important.” 

She loves being a helper and making a difference in her community. 

“They come with a little scrape or boo boo, and you can fix it. You can put the band aid on it and you can dry their tears, and they smile at you and they leave,” she said. “In a world where there is so much that seems so big and so hard to fix, these problems in this small little area, I can help fix.” 

“The Honor Role,” an official podcast for Fayette County Public Schools, features employees, rotating through key stakeholders, including teachers, staff, nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers. Join us as we dive in and learn about their journeys, their inspirations, and their whys.

Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and promoted on the social media channels of Fayette County Public Schools.

Episodes will also be available here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2200811.