Nurse Louie Riesch is the new school nurse here at Lively Middle School. He has been a school nurse since 2018. I had the opportunity to interview Nurse Louie in his office to get to learn more about him.
What’s your name and position at Lively?
My name is Nurse Louie, I’m the nurse at Lively.
Talk about your education? What degrees or certifications do you hold?
So I have several degrees. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology, which is a four-year college degree, and then I have a master’s degree in public health. I also have a master’s degree in nursing, and my license is a registered nurse license. You also have to have a CPR certification when you’re a nurse, and I’ve also been certified as a diabetes educator.
You’re new to Lively. What’s your history in the medical space?
Well, I’ve been a school nurse since 2018 at Travis Heights primarily, and Becker and Zilker Elementary some before that. For about ten years I was a nurse practitioner at a diabetes, and endocrinology clinic. And I worked with people with diabetes and other endocrine issues. Prior to that, I was a nurse in the intensive care unit at a hospital.
Why did you decide to become a school nurse? Additionally, why did you choose to be Lively’s school nurse?
So I chose to be a school nurse primarily because of the schedule because I have a daughter, and I’m the primary parent for our daughter, and I needed to be available during summers and holidays, and the schedule for school allowed that more. So I didn’t really choose Lively, they chose it for me because they needed help here, and hadn’t had a nurse here in a while, and I told them I’d help them here.
What led you to Lively?
I live close by, and in the neighborhood near Travis Heights elementary where I was before. So my boss, and my managers needed help here at lively, and they asked, and I said I’d help them here.
What do you love about Lively so far?
I think all the electives, especially photojournalism, and the dual language program and all the different options for the students. The theater department seems to be really robust here, which is very cool to see, and seeing all the thriving elective options for the kids.
What inspires you? Additionally, did you have anyone in your family that inspired you to enter nursing?
My inspiration didn’t necessarily come from my family. I don’t have anybody else in my family who is in the healthcare field. I was always interested in things we can do to make ourselves healthier, like when I did my masters degree in public health, it was about health education, and health promotion. Things like diet, and exercise, and things we can do to promote health promoting behaviors. I always wanted to study that. I guess that was a little inspired by my dad who was a smoker, and I was always trying to get him to quit smoking as a kid.
What is one thing you enjoy doing outside of school?
I like to be outside, I like to camp, and kayak, and run, and ride my bike. I love going to the movies, and watching new movies.
What one place would you love to travel to?
Hawaii.
What’s the best/worst thing about being a school nurse?
The best thing is being able to teach kids new things or teach them things about their body. Or kids who have chronic illnesses helping them learn about their illness and helping them take care of it better. The worst thing is I always seem to get sick when the kids get sick. So, the cold, and flu season is the worst thing about school nursing.
