NASN school nurse (Print)最新文献

According to the 2017 U.S. Census, 74.3 million children younger than 18 years of age live in the United States. Of this group, 14.6 million children and adolescents have special health care needs or a chronic illness. Students who attend school with complex health conditions, including mental and physical diagnoses, require comprehensive planning by a professional school nurse. School nurses should write an individualized healthcare plan (IHP) for these students. An IHP is written by the school nurse in collaboration with the parent/guardians, student, and health care providers. This plan serves as a tool to guide health care for a student throughout the school day and in mandated school-sponsored events.

Developmental norms suggest that children are ready for toilet training between the ages of 18 and 24 months; however, many children now enter school without this self-care skill. Many factors can contribute to delayed toilet training including child readiness, developmental disabilities, poverty, lower parental education levels, and higher rates of single and teen-aged parents who may lack parenting skills including toilet training. Most children enroll in a kindergarten program at 5 years of age. Because children will be accepted to kindergarten regardless of toilet training status, schools need to be ready for children who lack this self-care skill. Although school staff are willing to support these children, the main purpose of school is education. The school nurse can take an active role in classroom toileting programs by collaborating with school administrators, teachers, staff, and parents to promote successful toilet training and fostering a healthy learning environment.

This article shares an updated structure for school nurse evaluation using the School Nursing Practice Framework and the fourth edition of the School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. This evaluation structure is modeled on work originally published in the January 2020 issue of NASN School Nurse. The original linking of the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice and the 3rd edition of the School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice allowed the school nurse and their evaluators to understand the complex roles and responsibilities of the school nurse. This updated version incorporates the growing understanding of social issues and complex health concerns impacting school nursing practice. The School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (4th ed.) competencies recognize issues including emerging technologies, structural barriers to health, and the complex health needs of students in an environment of inequities, violence, and underfunding, as well as the impact of natural disasters, public health crises, human migration, and social media on students. The updated School Nursing Practice Framework (Framework) likewise incorporates an understanding of the foundational aspect of the standards and the interconnectedness of the key principles. Our revised evaluation tool accomplishes the integration of the revised Framework with the updated standards of school nursing practice.

Asthma is common among the pediatric population. Exacerbations of this chronic condition can lead to emergency department visits and hospitalizations, resulting in time away from school. Children spend the majority of their day at school, where they may need access to quick relief medication to treat respiratory distress. Students' personal asthma medication is not always available in school. School nurses in Illinois collected data and undertook a quality improvement project to increase the number of schools in North Suburban Cook County with undesignated asthma medication. A toolkit was created and shared, helping to remediate barriers associated with obtaining undesignated asthma medication. With access to undesignated asthma medication, school nurses ensure students with asthma receive prompt treatment and coordination of care.

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting the practice principles of the refreshed School Nursing Practice Framework™. The focus of each article is to provide an in-depth look at each of the principles and emphasize how school nurses can apply them to their daily practice through a Framework Mindset. This article will explore Care Coordination as a practice principle, reflect on how it relates to current practice, and identify examples that illustrate care coordination. With each subsequent article in the series, we will continue to build upon and explore the interconnections between the Framework principles.

Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) are statements informed by a systematic review of research/evidence and provide recommendations for clinical practice to improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes. The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) released School Nursing Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Students with Allergies and Risk for Anaphylaxis, in 2023, to provide evidence-based recommendations specific to school nursing practice and support the role of the school nurse in providing high-quality care for school-age children with allergies and risk for anaphylaxis. This article will provide an overview of the CPG and Implementation Toolkit. The implementation toolkit is designed to provide school nurses with tools and resources to implement the recommendations into practice. These tools and resources include school policies; nursing assessments and intake; planning, training, implementing, and evaluating care; and data collection. Examples are discussed, including how to customize the toolkit resources to your current practice needs.

Extremely hot or humid days are anticipated to continue, occur more often, and intensify over time. School-age children are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. The primary acute health effects of heat on children can range from heat exhaustion to heatstroke. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the impact some acute heat-related illnesses have on school-age children's health and to provide school nurses with information on the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses as well as prevention tips to share with parents and school administrators. This is the fifth article in a series meant to inform school nurses about illnesses linked to the climate and provide them with the tools they need to safeguard children' health.