trying to get an idea of what school nursing is all about

[Raye Marie]

I'm a nursing student trying to do some research for a school project. I have a couple of questions. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. (In addition to this questions, I'll have the opportunity to do a clinical rotation with a school nurse later in the semester).

Does a community assessment in any way guide your practice?

Is a school nurse's primary focus on the community, the individual, or the system? And why?

[bergren]

The following community needs assessment tools are used in schools:

CDC School Health Index

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/SHI/Default.aspx

Minnesota MCH Needs Assessment

http://www.health.state.mn.us/cfh/na/factsheets/index.html

AAP School Health Training Kit

http://www.schoolhealth.org/trnthtrn/section7/sect7a.html

EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/toolkit.html

Health Promoting Schools

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/healthpromotingschools/practitioners/makingithappen/needsassessment.asp

The CDC School Health Index is the one used most often and usually as a part of the work of the School Wellness Committee's implementaiton of the school wellness policies required as a part of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.

The Index identifies and helps prioritize they types of problems that can be addressed to create a healthier environment for students and staff. School nurses as part of the multidisiplinary team use the CDC SHI to change nutrition offerings, eliminate vending machines, create walking school busses, reinstitute recess, increase intensity of physical education classes and many other population primary health prevention interventions.

[Raye Marie]

Thanks for the info! Are these indexes used by each individual school? Is it on a local school level?

[bergren]

All of the schools I know did it by school.

[Raye Marie]

Thank you! I've been looking at the sites. Very interesting and informative.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

well... you put your left foot in then you put your left foot out... no... wait, that's what the hokey-pokey is all about!

Our community is a part of our work here, the socioeconomic status of a lot of our students dictates the type of services that the school offers in general. One example being school sponsored no cost sports physicals. Most other districts do not offer a free sports physical exam and it must be done by the medical home. Also - the needs of the community also means having to contend more with parents sending sick children into school because they cant take the day off of work to care for that child and/or they want the "free" assessment by the school nurse and will only seek medical care if advised by the nurse.

So all in all, while the community has a large impact, the needs on the individual child are addressed. This is not a hard rule as it is a guide. For example - there is a student that required that classes for her grade level be temporarily relocated because she could not walk stairs. There have been times when parents of peanut allergic students have tried to push the board to make our entire district peanut free. The board wanted a compromise to make that particular student's classroom peanut free and only under the advisement of an allergist. i believe that the board won out. those are some examples of how tailoring to the individual can play out either way.