Health Services
It is well known healthy children learn best. School nurses are instrumental in helping students attend school healthy and prepared to learn. Harnett County Schools provide registered nurses to serve as a resource in caring for student and staff health care needs during the school day. Each nurse is assigned two to four schools and schedules school visits based upon student needs and demographics of each assigned school.
Growing numbers of students attending our schools suffer from health concerns such as asthma, severe allergies, diabetes, sickle cell, and seizures. Nurses work with parents and physicians to complete Individual Healthcare Plans or Emergency Action Plans to meet students' known or potential healthcare needs during the school day. Nurses are instrumental in establishing guidelines for care. School nurses instruct and monitor non-medical school staff to care for children in the classroom who may either be undergoing chemotherapy treatments, require catheterizations, feeding tubes, insulin pumps, tracheostomy care or other stoma care.
School nurses are often the only source of health care for many students attending our schools. Nurses will work with parents, teachers, social workers and other school staff as well as accessing various community and state resources to meet the health care needs of our students. Parents and teachers may refer student health concerns to the school nurse for evaluation and consideration.
School nurses contribute to the successful educational outcomes of students by providing ongoing screenings, assessments, and interventions to ensure students have the necessary support to allow optimum learning.
Specific duties of the school nurse include:
Identify students with health needs and develop a written plan of care to be shared with teachers and staff;
Provide emergency care to students and staff with illnesses or injuries while at her assigned school;
Provide information about community and state resources to assist students with obtaining needed services;
Monitor student compliance with North Carolina immunization laws and other health related enrollment requirements;
Provide training and supervision to school personnel in the proper administration of medications;
Provide training and supervision to staff performing procedures necessary to care for chronically ill students during the school day;
Assist in development and review of health related policies and procedures for Harnett County Schools.
Work with school staff to prevent health problems from becoming reason for poor educational performance;
Provide staff training to comply with guidelines regarding blood borne pathogens and diabetes;
Provide CPR/First Aid training for staff;
Serve as a resource to students, parents, teachers and staff.