The school nurse provides direct health care to students and staff. This means they provide care for injured and ill students and staff. They communicate with parents, make treatment plans, make referrals to physicians, and come up with emergency action plans. The school nurse is solely responsible to administer medication on site as well.
The school nurse provides leadership for the provision of health services. This means that the nurse looks at the school environment and makes a plan to ensure the health needs of the individuals on the campus are being met. This is especially important in the instance of an emergency or a crisis.
The school nurse provides screening and referral for health conditions. This means that if there are health problems that can get in the way of learning the nurse may provide screenings for those conditions to assist parents and students. Some screening examples may include vision, posture, BMI and things of this nature. If a problem is found then the parent would be notified and a referral to a physician would be rendered.
The school nurse promotes a healthy school environment. This means the school nurse makes sure immunizations are current for all students. They take action to reduce the risk of blood borne pathogens. They monitor playground, indoor air quality, patterns of illness, patterns of injury, and try to determine where there is a source of concern. They also take action on emotional issues to avoid bullying incidents and school yard violence because this hurts mental health.
The school nurse promotes health. This means the nurse provides health education to individual students, classes or to staff.
The school nurse serves in a leadership role for health policies and programs. The school nurse is in a leadership role for developing health policies for the school. They promote nursing as a career. They serve as a role model for the student body.
The school nurse serves as liaison between school personnel, family, community, and health care providers. This means the nurse keeps the lines of communication open between all parties.
