student physicals

[schoolnursejennie]

i am a nurse in new york state. i was wondering if anyone can help me with how to handle expired physicals and having to exclude students from gym due to not having an up to date physical in their record. i was told that physicals last one year and if the students don't have an up to date one then they are not allowed to participate in gym. now my boss is upset and wants me to talk to the gym coaches about it because she doesn't understand why they should be excluded from gym. i told her that they are probably concerned that they will get hurt and since we don't have an up to date physical we may not know of all the existing health conditions. when i said this she became visibly disturbed and said that she couldn't disagree with me more and feels that the coaches are trying to "dump" them out of gym. on schoolhealthservicesny.com i read that new york state law says that physicals expire in one year plus one month from the date they were performed. this is the rule that i would like to enforce because i need to stay compliant with new york state law.

what is your policy on out dated physicals and how do you handle your boss asking you to do something you don't feel comfortable with?

[schoolnursejennie]

ok so i just did more reading on the subject and i THINK that in new york a sports physical is for students participating in organized sports and that they need a physical every 12 months. a new physical, which would just allow for basic phys ed participation, is mandated for grades 2, 4, 7 and 10 and new entrants. is anyone else a nurse in ny? i really need this to be clarified! confused! ughh thanks

[Jolie, BSN]

That makes much more sense!

I've lived in 2 states and had my kids in 3 different school districts and have never heard of a requirement for a yearly physical for PE participation.

If that were the case, I'm quite certain that there would be hundreds of students and families refusing physicals just to not have to bother with PE :)

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

Sounds similar to NJ law. Sports physicals are good for one calendar year for organized, competitive sports. Beyond that the NJ law used to be mandatory physicals upon K enrollment then at various grade levels but it was changed a few years ago to require one physical upon enrollment (which has no date requirement! the thing can be from a 1 y.o. check up ). Sports physicals are still the same - good for a year. no new physical = no participation

[mycsm]

We need yearly physicals ONLY for afterschool sports. They are not needed for gym.

[schoolnursejennie]

okay i think i have it figured out. thanks a lot!!!

[TwinStars]

Hi, I am in NY and the yearly physicals are for sports. They expire the last day of the month the physical was done. For example, a child has a physical on Sep 1st, 2011, it's good till Sep 30th, 2012.

[schoolnursejennie]

thanks!