SCHOOL HEALTH

School nursing is a specialized practice of professional nursing
that advances the well-being, academic success, and life-long achievement of students. To that end, school nurses facilitate positive student responses to normal development; promote health and safety; intervene with actual and potential health problems; provide case management services; and actively collaborate with others to build student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning."

Adopted by the National Association of School Nurses, June 1999

The Role of the School Nurse

School Nursing is a specialty area of nursing. It is independent practice.

There are eight components of school health and the school nurse participates in all of the eight components.

School Nursing duties include:

• Provide care for sick and injured students and staff.
• Administer medication
• Provide medical treatments such as blood sugars and nebulizer treatments.
• Provide health counseling and health teaching.
• Responsible to check all student's immunization records and insure immunization compliance with Maryland law
• Provide health teaching in the health room
• Provide health teaching in the classroom as a resource for the classroom teacher
• Perform health screenings such as for communicable diseases, hearing and vision, scoliosis, and B/Ps
• Responsible to identify students with special health care needs, develop a plan of care in collaboration with the parent and the student's physician, and instruct the school staff with the appropriate information
• Collaborate with cafeteria workers when a student has special nutrition needs as allergies, special diets (diabetes, pureed foods, etc.)
• Provide home visits when needed to assist with the care of a student
• Serve on school committees and teams
• Assists with planning for the safety of students with special health needs
• Provide wellness activities for the staff, including B/P screenings
• Serves as a liaison with the medical community

NEW IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS