IHCP for student anxiety

OldDude · Mar 11, 2015

Has he just enrolled at your school?

Farawyn · Mar 11, 2015

I would list any medical issues allergies and meds and take it from there.

GatezRN · Mar 13, 2015

No, he's been here since September. New diagnosis. I've found some help from other nurses in my district. Thanks!

Wave Watcher · Mar 13, 2015

Guidance counselor would be your best resource. They deal with behavioral issues such as anxiety. They typically can bring a child into their office and let them talk/relax/work through their anxiety. Nurses on average do not have that kind of time. I would also suggest counseling.

MollyJ · Mar 18, 2015

As a group, our school nurses have been struggling with the idea of when do we need to _write_ a nursing care plan. I am not sure that I would write a nursing care plan for a child I have never laid eyes on. Can't say I absolutely wouldn't but a nursing care plan is a description of what the nurse will do or delegate in response to a nursing problem.

Anxiety in the school setting is practically to my observation, dirt common. I get to know who my anxious kids are.

Some kids just need a time out, a break. Some kids need more than that. I would say that one job I do is not become the place to go to "sick out" of school. On those kids, I am usually saying that I will only call you sick if you have a visible sign of illness, typically fever.

Sometimes I talk with kids and parents about how some children express their stress through their stomach.

When they are young children, I often am giving parents the "long hello's, short good-bye's" speech which I stole from a psychologist acquaintance. You are telling a parent that when you drop the anxious child off at school, you walk 'em to the door of the classroom and say good bye and you walk and keep going even if they cry. The time for long conversations is when the child gets home. I often tell parents that dropping the child off without over engaging expresses trust that their child can "do it", can walk through the door and get settled in for the day.

Sometimes of course referral to the doctor or to the therapist are a good idea but some kids are just more nervous.

As kids get older and I see more of them for anxiety related to tests, etc, I will tell them that we get anxious about things we care about. If you know what your counselor is doing with stress reduction in the classroom you can use her words, her framework because that reinforces it as a tool.