Imagine the following: in the midst of taking notes in class, a drop of blood spills from a student’s nose onto their paper, they rush to the nurse’s office to find medical care and one of the school nurses assists them so that they can get back to class. This is one of several scenarios that Nurse Ashley Valerio sees on a daily basis.
Valerio has been a school nurse for two years and has helped hundreds of students along the way.
Valerio’s colleague, Nurse Lori Kern, believes how Valerio has immensely helped in the nurse’s office with her ability to connect to younger students.
“She’s excellent at creating relationships with the students here at EHS,” Kern said.
Nurse Teb Moyer, another colleague of Valerio, agrees she connects with the students within the EHS community.
“She really digs deep into students’ concerns, she’s very much like our social worker in here. She’s just a calming presence; she’s always friendly, she’s always willing to help,” Moyer said.
Outside of Emmaus High School, Valerio participates in several hobbies such as reading, hiking, and fishing, and is described by friends and family as a ‘wanderer.’ In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, husband, and dog.
While in high school, Valerio attended a vocational-technical school during her junior and senior years where she was introduced to the healthcare field. Here, she decided to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).
“I was like, why not try being a CNA? And then it just kind of grew on me, and I loved it; the hands-on, the caring, and compassion with everyone,” Valerio said.
Valerio shared that she partially attributes her career decision to her school nurse from vocational-technical school, whom she worked with after becoming a CNA.
“She was the registered nurse at that time. She kind of guided me into the field of healthcare and advanced my level of experience and knowledge,” Valerio said.
Valerio then became a licensed practical nurse and also obtained an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts.
One of Valerio’s current goals is to get her tracheostomy certification, which she is currently working towards being certified in to help her in her nursing career.
“I’m currently working on my trach [tracheostomy] certification so that I can be certified in trach care to care for young children that need assistance,” Valerio said.
Valerio enjoys her career, as well as showing gratitude for her colleagues.
“As a nurse, you learn something new every day, which is awesome, so you never get bored. And I have my great certified school nurses to help me out as well,” Valerio said.
