The Advantage Of Nurse : The Role Of School Nurses

Throughout my 17 years as a pediatric nurse practitioner, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings including a primary care office, a mobile asthma unit, and an asthma specialist office. Each of these experiences has been stimulating, educational, and inspiring.

The changes to both student health needs and healthcare during the 21st century have an impact on school nursing practice today. It was because of these changes that the “National Association of School Nurses (NASN) developed the visual and conceptual Framework that explains the key principles of school nursing and provides structure and focus to current evidence-based school nursing practice” (NASN, 2016, p.45). The ultimate goal of the framework for the 21st century “is to provide a resource to guide school nurses in their practice” in order “to help students be healthy, safe, and ready to learn” (NASN, 2016, p.45). The framework for the 21st century school nursing practice consist of

Asthma affects 1 in every 12 Americans. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, Asthma is affects “About 1 in 9 (11%) non-Hispanic blacks of all ages and about 1 in 6 (17%) of non-Hispanic black children had asthma in 2009, the highest rate among racial/ethnic groups.” As a mother of child with asthma, I know how scary it can be to deal with asthma attacks and learning how to treat the symptoms and minimize risk factors.

The nurse is also vital in communicating health matters between home and school as well as health care providers and school. Chikani and Plonski-Fuqua (2006) state that the most common medical conditions a nurse may encounter include asthma, diabetes, severe allergies, stoma tube care, NG tube care, behavioral health, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy. In order to provide appropriate care for the students the school nurse must have experience in an acute care setting, pediatric assessment, mental health experience and good knowledge of developmental stages of children. Most school nurses work individually so it is important that the nurse is capable of providing the right interventions and is able to recognize emergency situations.

A screening template can be developed that can assist the nurse in performing a thorough assessment of an asthmatic patient. This questionnaire should be at an appropriate education level and question should be simple and direct. The questions should focus on the presence or absence of symptoms, activity limitations, exacerbations, missed workdays, and frequency of use of prescribed medications.

The supply of nurses is not sufficient to meet the current demand, and the shortage is projected to grow further as future demand increases. Most corresponding factors that are affecting the supply of nurses are also impacting the quantity of nurse educators. Therefore, the understaffing of nursing educators is also impacting the amount of nursing students available.

As the school nurse role evolves, there are increasingly more health concerns for the school

Although this study was done in the United Kingdom, the findings can be used to help improve school nurses in Canada. There were four overall themes that the researchers found and they are “the mental health of children and young people, organizational issues, barriers to doing mental health and facilitators of doing mental health work (852-855).” This study goes deeper into each theme and then gives suggestions on how to improve this type of work.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics there will be approximately 50.7 million students enrolled in the public-school system in the United States of America for fall of 2017 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). With childhood illnesses on the rise the need for public health school nurses are increasing, and the responsibilities are changing (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016). What started as screening for communicable diseases has evolved into meeting the student’s physical, emotional, and mental needs in a learning environment. The National

A task force begins identifying asthma as one of the four priority areas seeking immediate attention. The plan put together was called: Asthma and the Environment; a Strategy to Protect Children. In addition to 5 other strategy ways that are called, strengthening and acceleration, implementation, establishment of coordination, and identification. Moreover, these factors were later changed around 1999, making the task force remap a new strategy. This strategy improvised more questions, so the task team had to explain the cost of asthma. Next, the task team had to comprehend the primary reason for preventing the asthma rate to decrease. Studies were shown from National Health Interview Survey and Medical Expenditures Panel Survey; explained asthma has one of the most common

Mental health problems have been classified as a concerning public health course of action which creates lifelong effects on the individuals affected (Chief Medical Office, 2012). In spite of this, Wilson et al (2007) cross-sectional study concluded that school nurses are untrained and lack the relevant skills and knowledge required to successfully help and support young people with mental health problems. Although this was deemed as an expansive study, the represented sample was only made up of 100 participants. This disadvantage constrains the outcomes to produce a sample size relevant to the school nurse population.

As a school nurse who plays an important role in the health and well-being of the student, we all know, healthy children learn and focus better in a conducive environment. Therefore, it is very significant that she understands the pathophysiology of asthma. Asthma can be acute or chronic depending on how often the episode occurs. Asthma, as stated earlier, is not curable but can be managed well with medications and prevention of triggers in an individual. Asthma can be genetic or environmental and it affects the respiratory function in the body. Firstly, the respiratory system is one of the largest organ systems in the body. It comprises of the nasal passage, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi tubes, and lungs. The primary function

The Asthma policy is in place to ensure that students who are diagnosed with asthma are receiving the correct care, the policy is also put in place to ensure that the school is following the correct procedures in creating a safe school environment for the students that are diagnosed. For schools to be following the policy correctly, they must have an Asthma Care Plan and a Student Health Support Plan for each student that is diagnosed with asthma. Not only this but the school has to have a whole school policy in place which provides staff with asthma awareness training, first aid kits as well as the maintenance and care of the first aid kit, private storage for medication, organisation and confidentiality of medical information.

Chronic disease like asthma, which double since 1980s, are increasing among US children and adolescent. School nurses deliver a variety of healthcare service to school age children particularly those with chronic condition like asthma. Budget cut, lack awareness and research affect nurse-to-student ratio. Poor managed asthma results in high rates of hospitalization and is the leading cause of school absenteeism among low income and minority children under the age of 15 years. Evidence show that a nurse-to-student not only have a positive effect on physical health but also improve academic performance of student.

Successful meeting with a policymaker will provide nurses a greater opportunity in further advocacy role. By making partnership with the policymaker, nurses can conduct various educational programs in school to make awareness about heathy nutrition and physical activity program among students, parents and staff. Nurses can evaluate various health measures of school and inform the policymaker if changes are required. This is true when taking an advocacy role in recommending adequate number of school nurses in the primary and secondary school systems. Many times, the number of students that a school nurse is expected to take care is overwhelming. In some part of the United States, school nurses take care of students in more than one school and