504 meetings?

[shsnurse]

I am a new school nurse and I have been invited to a long list of 504 accommodation meetings. There are 4 each day and last an average of 30-45 minutes. My question is: do I have to attend every one of them. In my opinion I should only be there if they have an extensive medical hx or a condition like diabetes, seizure etc. I would love to attend but I have other priorities like meds. Of course it was kids looking for me while I was in the meetings. I work at a high school with 1700 students. What's your take?

[AdobeRN]

I attend for medical related issues or any student that I need to administer medication to during the day (most of them are ADD/ADHD meds).

[Ilovegiraffes]

I can appreciate that not all 504 mtgs need include the nurse - but, I feel that the choice should be mine to make. Why should a non-medical person decide what is medically significant??

[amnesiac1c]

I generally get invited to them all since I submit hearing & vision screening results for all of them & the coordinator doesn't always know which kids have health issues or which receive nursing services but those are the only ones I actually attend.

[Massmagic]

I too am asked to 504 and IEP meetings when the student has health issues. Also, I often do not get invited to meetings that I feel I should be in attendance. I find out that there was a meeting on a child after the fact and often feel that I should have been part of the meeting. I know that they are time consuming, but there are some meetings I feel would be beneficial for me, the student, teacher and parents if I were in attendance. Things are not perfect in public schools, and trends are set from past school nurses. Changing a trend that has been going on for years is often not an easy task. I am slowly trying to change some things in a school where the school nurse has been employed for 25 years. Change takes time.

[WineRN]

Sorry to bump a old thread again...

Before very recently, I have not been asked to attend any meetings (IEP or 504) except one that was directly related to the students asthma. Which I didn't know was abnormal until my boss asked why I wasn't being invited and made a big deal about it to my AP.

Now I have another family who requesting 504 plans for her two children with severe food allergies. We already have emergency action plans, IHPs and food safety zones in place for both of the children.

I always thought the 504 plans were for life altering disabilities that affected daily learning unless there were accommodations in place. Is it normal to have 504s for things like asthma and food allergies?

[KKEGS, MSN, RN]

If something needs to be done beyond what would be provided to any student attending the school then a 504 may be warranted. I do have 504s for a couple of kids with severe peanut allergies. I don't have any for asthma but I do have 2 for diabetes, 1 for scoliosis, 1 for an eating disorder, 1 for migraine headaches...and those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[SchoolNurseTXstyle]

I can appreciate that not all 504 mtgs need include the nurse - but, I feel that the choice should be mine to make. Why should a non-medical person decide what is medically significant??

I am notified of every 504 and it is my discretion on attending.