Practicing School Nurses Research Articles

A Qualitative Exploration of School Nurse Continuing Education Needs.

Continuing education (CE) can help school nurses achieve the unique competencies required for the challenges of an academic health setting. A comprehensive understanding of school nurse learning needs is necessary to guide CE development. The purpose of this study was to describe school nurse perceptions of their learning needs according to the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice ™. The researchers analyzed data from 24 interviews with practicing school nurses using descriptive coding to identify perceived learning needs. Learning needs relevant to all areas of the framework were identified, with clinical judgment and team development emerging as priority areas for CE. These results illuminate school nurse perceptions of their own learning needs and can help guide the development of meaningful CE opportunities.

Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™: Clarifications and Updated Definitions.

The National Association of School Nurses developed the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™ (Framework) to guide school nursing practice and help school nurses articulate their role to educators. Since its introduction, the Framework has been accepted and adopted by many. At the same time, several misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Framework have come to light. The purpose of this article is to clarify the terminology in order to create a common understanding among practicing school nurses to be able to implement the Framework more fully and with integrity.

School Nursing for the 21st Century: Assessing Scope of Practice in the Current Workforce.

A gap analysis was used to examine the scope of school nursing practice in the United States. An investigator-developed 39-item self-assessment survey of scope of school nursing practice was modified from an existing validated tool, organized around the five principles of the National Association of School Nurses' Framework: Standards of Practice, Quality Improvement, Care Coordination, Community/Public Health, and Leadership and also explored barriers to practice. The survey was sent to a national convenience sample of practicing school nurses. The survey was completed by 3,108 practicing school nurses. Gaps were identified for all principles and were greatest for Quality Improvement and Community/Public Health practice. All practice items were rated more important than the ability to practice that item (p < .001). Self-identified barriers including workload, school/district expectations, and state regulations accounted for significant variances in practice across four of five principles (p < .05, p < .001). Recommendations include support for population-focused evidence-based school nursing practice.

Catching the Data Vision.

As part of the "data and school-nursing" articles series, we will include an accompanying interview with practicing school nurses regarding the same topic and how it applies to the real life of school nurses. Our hope is that the practical application found in the interviews will provide readers with an increased understanding that will assist them on their own data journey.

School nurses' perceptions of undergraduate children's nursing safeguarding education

Safeguarding children is a substantial practice area for children's nurses and school nurses, remaining a challenging environment to work within. The literature suggests that professionals involved in safeguarding have been under-prepared by their training to work in this area. This small qualitative study aimed to explore school nurse perceptions of their undergraduate children's nursing education to ascertain if they were adequately prepared to practice in this area. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis as a methodology, and three practicing school nurses, who are qualified children's nurses were interviewed. Themes highlight that undergraduate education did not prepare them to practice in safeguarding through a combination of factors. These included lack of exposure to practice in this area as a student and as an inexperienced staff nurse; lack of adequate succession planning; and lack of information sharing, leading to a feeling of practice isolation.

Town & Gown.

Innovative approaches for building "town and gown" relationships between practicing school nurses, community partners, and universities/colleges are presented through exemplars relating to research, education, policy, and practice. The exemplars demonstrate the critical factors of successful partnerships as validated by their outcomes.

Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice: National Association of School Nurses.

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) developed the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice to reflect current school nurse practice. The Framework of practice was introduced in June 2015, and feedback was requested and obtained from practicing school nurses in a variety of ways. The final version of the Framework is introduced in this article. This article updates (and replaces) the articles in the July 2015 NASN School Nurse related to the Framework. Central to the Framework is student-centered nursing care that occurs within the context of the students' family and school community. Surrounding the student, family, and school community are the nonhierarchical, overlapping key principles of Care Coordination, Leadership, Quality Improvement, and Community/Public Health.These principles are surrounded by the fifth principle, Standards of Practice, which is foundational for evidence-based and clinically competent quality care. Each of these principles is further defined by practice components. Suggestions are provided regarding how the Framework can be used in a variety of settings to articulate and prioritize school nursing practice. The ultimate goal is to provide a resource to guide school nurses in their practice to help students be healthy, safe, and ready to learn.

Education and Information for Practicing School Nurses

School nurses care for children with a variety of health-related conditions and they need information about managing these conditions, which is accessible, current, and useful. The goal of this literature review was to gather and synthesize information on technology-supported resources and to determine which met the educational needs of school nurses. Successful online educational programs were interactive and self-directed. The most common barriers were lack of time to find educational information, lack of knowledge about computers, technology, the Internet and specific programs, and lack of administrative support from school officials to use technology to access information and evidence for practice. Recommendations for successful use of technology to meet practicing school nurse's educational needs are offered.

School Nurses in New Jersey: A Quantitative Inquiry on Roles and Responsibilities

This study examined types of chronic diseases present and nursing procedures administered in school, health promotion and disease prevention efforts, collaborative efforts, perception of school nursing activities, documentation media of school nursing activities, and student academic outcomes. A nonexperimental research design was employed. The sample (N= 63) was practicing school nurses in New Jersey public schools. The increased numbers of students with chronic illnesses in mainstream classrooms have increased the roles and responsibilities of school nurses. School nurses can use the findings as a framework to articulate their roles and responsibilities.

Family Intervention Sessions

This study examines the effectiveness of therapeutic conversations with families (through family sessions) in alleviating health complaints among adolescent girls in a school setting. Four girls with recurrent, subjective health complaints and their families were included in the study. Three sessions were held with each family, using genograms, ecomaps, interventive questions, and other family nursing interventions; practicing school nurses were also present. A therapeutic letter was sent to each family at the end of the sessions. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used as a pre- and posttest measure. Evaluative interviews were carried out with the families and with school nurses. The families reported feeling relief and described positive affective, behavioral, and cognitive changes as a consequence of the interventions. The school nurses experienced the family sessions as time-saving and easy-to-use tools in their work. Involving the family when schoolchildren's recurrent mental health problems are addressed may reduce future suffering.

Privacy questions from practicing school nurses.

This Question and Answer (Q&A) article addresses practice issues related to school health records and school nursing documentation that were posed by school nurses in the field. Specifically, the questions addressed concern the following: education records, medication privacy issues, sharing of sensitive health information, privacy of individual student logs, use of record access logs, and the use of spreadsheets and home computers for creating student records. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other laws are addressed as appropriate.

Records--the Achilles' heel of school nursing: answers to bothersome questions.

This article addresses practice issues related to school health records and school nursing documentation. Because the issues have been posed by practicing school nurses, the article is in Question and Answer (Q and A) format. Specifically, the questions addressed concern the following: ownership and storage location of student health records when the school nurse is contracted from a community health agency rather than employed by the school district; documentation of sensitive health information on students' health records including pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, history of suicide attempt, and HIV status; inclusion of medical diagnoses and current medications on a student's Individual Educational Program (IEP); and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-permitted communications between school nurses and health care providers related to students' immunization status, regarding a student's treatment needs in school, and via facsimile (e.g., records of immunizations, completed physical examination forms, and medical orders). HIPAA, the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other laws are addressed as appropriate, and resources for obtaining further information are included.

Privacy Questions From Practicing School Nurses

Privacy Questions From Practicing School Nurses

Records—The Achilles' Heel of School Nursing: Answers to Bothersome Questions

This article addresses practice issues related to school health records and school nursing documentation. Because the issues have been posed by practicing school nurses, the article is in Question and Answer (Q&A) format. Specifically, the questions addressed concern the following: ownership and storage location of student health records when the school nurse is contracted from a community health agency rather than employed by the school district; documentation of sensitive health information on students’ health records including pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, history of suicide attempt, and HIV status; inclusion of medical diagnoses and current medications on a student’s Individual Educational Program (IEP); and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-permitted communications between school nurses and health care providers related to students’ immunization status, regarding a student’s treatment needs in school, and via facsimile (e.g., records of immunizations, completed physical examination forms, and medical orders). HIPAA, the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other laws are addressed as appropriate, and resources for obtaining further information are included.

Consent and release.

Because school nursing practice by definition involves delivering services to minors, school nurses often find themselves with questions about consent. Because school districts, much like other health care providers, occasionally face liability for the undesired health care outcomes of their clients (i.e., students), another question that surfaces frequently deals with release from liability. Each question must be answered based on analysis of the specific facts and applicable laws. This article provides an overview of the principles that provide school nurses with general guidance on consent issues and release of liability and, by way of example, applies them in the answers to four specific questions forwarded by practicing school nurses.

School Nursing Practice Today: Implications for the Future

School nurses provide health care services to children in a complex environment. School nurses in Delaware established Strategic Planning and Research Committees to assist them in meeting the challenges of providing quality school health care. The small size of the state gave the researcher the opportunity to survey all currently practicing school nurses in public, private, and parochial settings. In this descriptive study, school nurses were asked to identify activities in their daily practice in five areas: administrative, educational, clerical, supportive, and physical. School nurses were asked to rate the frequency at which they performed these activities and to assess their perceived level of competence in the activities. Analysis of the surveys returned identified areas of common practice as well as areas of development and implementation of new school nursing skills.

School Nurse Certification With a Health Education Minor Option

Undergraduate nursing students, graduate nurses and practicing school nurses may enter a program of study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison leading to eligibility for certification as a school nurse. The option of attaining a minor in health education and certification eligibility as a teacher of health is available in conjunction with the school nurse program. The program and potentials are described and discussed.