Setting up school clinic

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Specializes in Surgery; School district nurse.

I've just been hired by our rural school district as a "district nurse" and will be based at the elementary (k-4) school.  While I will be dealing with middle and high school students in some aspects, they will not be using the clinic as it is located at the elementary school.  I will be the first nurse our district has employed, so I will be outfitting the elementary school clinic from scratch.  

Drawing on your experience, what item(s) would you consider your most needed or used in your clinic?  (As a side note, I don't believe we have any students who deal with issues such as trachs or feeding tubes).

Thanks and cannot wait to learn all I can from this group!

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

Welcome! I know this topic is frequently asked....if you'll put what you're looking for in the search bar you may get some great ideas.

Best of luck in your new position!

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

What type of budget did they give you?  Are you expected to render care across multiple schools while maintaining a single office?  Also, what are your state mandates regarding things like wellness screenings and physicals?  Are you expected to see routine visits or is your role more to "make rounds" to give meds and address in school concerns?

 

 

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Specializes in Surgery; School district nurse.

ruby-jane, thank you!  I guess I thought this was a unique situation, I will definitely do some searching.  Thanks again....

Flare, they are still pounding out details on budget.  And I have yet to see what items they already have that might be useful.  It sounds as if I will be providing physical care for meds and playground accidents to the k-4 building and possibly the middle school.  No routine visits, no wellness screenings or physicals.  Covid also prompted some of this, as I will be the health dept's school contact for reporting and contact tracing.

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Specializes in 12 years as a school nurse.

Prioritize your needs based on what you will use most often and what is most helpful. I started 8 years ago in an already established office but desperately needed a new cot, BP cuffs, thermometers, bandages/first aid supplies, and emergency preparedness kit.  Those are the things I focused on right away since the current supply was old, cracked, brittle, out of date, etc. Along the way I have also upgraded other things as needed, such as my scale and SPo2 monitor. This year I added face shields, isolation gowns, goggles, and kn95 masks.

Emergency preparedness kit includes: stop the bleed kit, AED, Epi-pens, Nebulizer with albuterol and set-up/tubing/masks/mouthpieces, Gloves, first aid supplies, PPE etc.

Welcome to school nursing!! 

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Specializes in School nursing.
12 minutes ago, nursekoll said:

Prioritize your needs based on what you will use most often and what is most helpful. I started 8 years ago in an already established office but desperately needed a new cot, BP cuffs, thermometers, bandages/first aid supplies, and emergency preparedness kit.  Those are the things I focused on right away since the current supply was old, cracked, brittle, out of date, etc. Along the way I have also upgraded other things as needed, such as my scale and SPo2 monitor. This year I added face shields, isolation gowns, goggles, and kn95 masks.

Emergency preparedness kit includes: stop the bleed kit, AED, Epi-pens, Nebulizer with albuterol and set-up/tubing/masks/mouthpieces, Gloves, first aid supplies, PPE etc.

Welcome to school nursing!! 

Don't forget about surgical masks. For both you and for any symptomatic kids in a potential isolation space. And in addition, extra materials for your isolation space. I have PPE there, but also a second set of nearly everything, including SPo2, BP cuff, etc.  

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Start off with basic first aid supplies.  Think about cool/heat treatment options.  I have less injuries than ever with COVID.  PPE is important this year--N95s, surgical masks, gloves.  If you're doing contact tracing I HIGHLY recommend the free contact tracing course through Johns Hopkins (it's on coursera).  Also see if your city/county Dept of health, state's Dept of Health and/or Board of Edu has published any COVID guidelines for schools.  National Association of School Nurses is a great resource also.

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Specializes in Surgery; School district nurse.

All great words of wisdom - thank you!  

Brisket, thank you for the Coursera recommendation - checking it out now.  ?

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Hands down the most useful thing that I did to prepare for this year was the Johns Hopkins tracing course.  

 

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