Question

t boplorer provided by Cleveland 1 Thread Dscussion The Mimose Elizee Search Ketresn LE 1 DISCUSSION> THREAD:DISCUSSION: THE ROLE OF A SCHOOL NURSE 1 Post(s) in this Thread O Unread Anonymous Discussion: The Role of a School Nurse posted 8 years ago (last edted 2 years ago) Overall Rating: A Week 1 Post (wil be graded next week) Compare a What is the role of the school nurse in caring for diverse populations? How can the school nurse help address health disparities in school aged children? and contrast the role of the school nurse, communitylpublic health nurse, and occupational health nurse in caring for diverse populations What is the role of the school nurse in your local community? .Do you beleve nurses have adequate resources to provide the best care for the community? Wihy or why not? How are policy and advocacy related to access to resources in the school nunsing etting? Finaly, how can occupational health nurses help to address health disfarities and promote health care cost containment?

Answer 1

1. The school nurse supports student success by providing health care through assessment, intervention, and follow-up for all children within the school setting. The school nurse addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and social health needs of students and supports their achievement in the learning process. The school nurse will act as a :

- Direct caregiver
- Health educator
- Case manager
- Consultant
- Counselor
- Community outreach
- Researcher

While most nurses care for one patient at a time, public health nurses care for entire populations. By working with whole communities, public health nurses are able to educate people about health issues, improve community health and safety and increase access to care.

Public health nurse are more focused on overseeing patient programs and less on hands-on care. These nurses work within a community to support population health and deliver preventative health services.

They will act as a caregiver (Primarily CHN), Educator, Case Manager, Advocate, Leader, Change Agent, and these services can be provided to an individual, family, group, or population depending on role and work setting.

Occupational health nurses work to prevent, investigate, and treat workplace-related illnesses and injuries. These nurses also educate employers and employees on how to prevent accidents and injuries. They may suggest changes in procedures or develop other ways to make workplaces safer.

The function of occupational health nurse include:

Emergency care and health promotion, must know how to treat chemical accidents and burns, etc

2. The main job responsibilities of school nurses include:

• Developing plans for student care based on assessment, interventions, and identification of outcomes, and the evaluation of care
• Serving as consultants with other school professionals, such as food service personnel, physical education teachers, coaches, and counselors
• Providing health-related education to students and staff in both individual and group settings
• Monitoring immunizations, managing communicable diseases and assessing the school environment as to prevent injury and ensure safety
• Overseeing infection control measures
• Actively participating in school safety plans that address school violence, bullying, and emergencies that may occur at school
• Overseeing medication administration, health care procedures, and the development of healthcare plans
• Overseeing vision, hearing, body mass index, and mental health screening procedures
• Making decisions related to the delegation of healthcare tasks as directed by state laws and professional practice guidance
• Providing health advice to school educational teams, such as the Committee on Special Education and the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) team
• Assisting families with locating outside care and obtaining health insurance

*Health disparities are differences in disease, disability, and death between school-aged groups. Groups who lack equal opportunity for economic or academic success often have less access to health information and services. In the United States and in Washington State we find poorer health outcomes for children with less income and education in comparison to those with more, and for people of color in comparison to White non-Hispanics.

In addition to facing academic challenges, Washington’s low-income students and students of color frequently have more health risks. With slight variations, the patterns for disparities in academic risk are similar to patterns observed for disparities in health indicators. Disparities in health may compound already existing disparities in academic achievement. One published national study estimated that up to one-quarter of the racial gap in school readiness is the result of greater health risks (e.g., asthma, lead poisoning, anemia, etc.).

As a school nurse “addressing disparities in child achievement and education are key to reducing disparities in health across the life span” and that “achieving this goal will likely entail closing gaps in child school readiness through adequate investment in child health, early education and reductions in child poverty.

*School nurses have been recognized as the leaders in delivering services identified in the Healthy Child Programme from 5 to 19 years. School nurses are key to improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing by delivering health promotion, providing health advice, signposting to other services, active treatment, education, family support, protection, safeguarding, service coordination, and multi-agency work.

*In my view the resources that are available to the nurses are not adequate to meet the demands due to the shortage of resources. In any way, with the inadequate resources, the nurse has to meet the demands of whatever he needed.

*The school nurse is responsible for management of this plan and communication about the plan to all appropriate school personnel. The school nurse has a unique role in the provision of school health services for children with special health needs, including children with chronic illnesses and disabilities of various degrees of severity. Children with special health needs are included in the regular school classroom setting as authorized by federal and state laws. As a leader of the school health team, the school nurse must assess the student's health status, identify health problems that may create a barrier to educational progress, and develop a health care plan for management of the problems in the school setting. The school nurse ensures that the student's individualized health care plan is part of the individualized education plan (IEP), when appropriate and that both plans are developed and implemented with full team participation, which includes the student, family, and pediatrician.

The school nurse provides screening and referral for health conditions. Health screenings can decrease the negative effects of health problems on education by identifying students with potential underlying medical problems early and referring them for treatment as appropriate. Early identification, referral to the medical home, and use of appropriate community resources promote optimal outcomes. Screening includes but is not limited to vision, hearing, and BMI assessments (as determined by local policy).

*Disparities in U.S. health care result from a complex mixture of systemic quality and access problems intertwined with the historic injury. The many dimensions of health disparities include race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography. It is critically important for policymakers to define the problem correctly so that our solutions address their intended goal—health security for all regardless of socioeconomic characteristics. Further, the health care professionals take efforts to eliminate disparities must also be part of a broader effort to transform health care and thus must focus, first and foremost, on improving the quality of care delivered to the individual patient.