School Nursing and Wellness

School Nurses are a Vital Part of the Student's Healthcare Team

School nurses:

• collaborate and coordinate care with parents, students, physicians, and school professionals to implement the individualized healthcare plan.
• are better prepared and educated than lay staff to assess-monitor-detect injury and illness, and to monitor disease outbreaks in the student population.
• provide the competent caring hands and a confident calming voice which bring immediate comfort to a frightened child who is ill or injured.
• are in direct support of the school's first mission to efficiently educate every child. Approximately 1 in 20 children (about 1 per classroom) have a chronic medical condition that requires skilled supervision. Burdening the classroom teacher with the added responsibility of monitoring children's health status distracts that teacher from teaching, contributes to teacher burn-out, and is not in the best interest of the children.
• are often the only healthcare provider seen by many students with social inequality.
• provide services required by Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), including medical advisory services, participating as a member of the 504/Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams, and educating staff.
• assist in meeting student accommodations required for Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
• advocate for the Health and Well-being of Students.

School Nurses Advocate for the Health and Well-being of Students

Schools
Utah Department of Health (UDOH)

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