School Health Coordinators Research Articles

Evaluation of the National School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute.

In 1999 the American Cancer Society (ACS) launched the National School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute, a groundbreaking initiative designed to enhance and invigorate school health in the nation's schools by training individual school health coordinators to act as change agents. The Institute consisted of three, week-long summer training sessions, and three, shorter midyear "booster" sessions, with the various sessions designed to assist one cohort of participants (n = 50) to build leadership capacities to coordinate school health. This evaluation examined the effects of the Institute as measured through a panel survey of participants - school health coordinators or their equivalents - over an 18-month period. Findings suggest that substantial progress was made in institutionalizing the school health coordination function in the target school districts. Specifically, in contrast to when the training began, clear, written position descriptions are common among program participants, most have functioning school health councils in their school districts, and program trainees appear to be moving aggressively to enhance the infrastructure for school health coordination through planning, setting priorities, and assessing needs. Program trainees report spending increased time on school health coordination, and they are active in spreading the word about coordinated school health programs. Trainees viewed the Institute as relevant to their needs, though not all aspects of the program are viewed as equally useful. As possible shortcomings, the training needed more emphasis on funding for school health coordination, and a low level of evaluation skills existed among coordinators.

Training leaders for school health programs: the National School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute.

Journal of School HealthVolume 74, Issue 3 p. 79-84 Training Leaders for School Health Programs: The National School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute Scott Winnail, Corresponding Author Scott Winnail Scott Winnail, PhD, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Health, Corbett PE Bldg 114, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorSteve Dorman, Corresponding Author Steve Dorman Steve Dorman, PhD, MPH, Professor and Head, Dept. of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4243 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorBeth Stevenson, Corresponding Author Beth Stevenson Beth Stevenson, MPH, Director, Children and Youth Initiatives, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Scott Winnail, Corresponding Author Scott Winnail Scott Winnail, PhD, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Health, Corbett PE Bldg 114, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorSteve Dorman, Corresponding Author Steve Dorman Steve Dorman, PhD, MPH, Professor and Head, Dept. of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4243 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorBeth Stevenson, Corresponding Author Beth Stevenson Beth Stevenson, MPH, Director, Children and Youth Initiatives, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 09 October 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb04207.xCitations: 11 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume74, Issue3March 2004Pages 79-84 RelatedInformation

School Nursing in Search of the Holistic Paradigm

Kathleen Jones has a master’s degree as a clinical nurse specialist in holistic health and is a certified school nurse for the Reed-Custer School District in Braidwood, Ill. She is also certified as a school health coordinator, audiometric screener and vision technician and holds a special certificate of natural health & nutrition. Jones also has had more than 20 years of nursing experience in medical, surgical, urology, orthopedics, cardiac rehabilitation and coronary intensive care nursing. She is enrolled in a dual doctorate program in naturopathy and natural nutrition for medical professionals.

Conducting a comprehensive school health program.

Since the late 1980s, the eight-component model of the comprehensive school health program (CSHP), has been adopted widely in the United States and internationally. While it is acknowledged that the eight program elements should be delivered in a coordinated, interactive manner, numerous issues regarding how this integration best can be achieved, including who at the school level should have this responsibility and how the eight components relate conceptually and logistically, have not been addressed adequately. In essence, a CSHP transforms several solo performers into an orchestra. This article proposes the school health coordinator as an essential element in the eight-component model of the CSHP--the maestro, without whom there can be no symphony. The coordinator's principal responsibilities include administration, integration of personnel and programs, evaluation, and direct intervention. Three program elements--staff wellness, healthy environment, and community/family involvement--are subsumed within the coordinator's role, effectively reducing the number of program elements from eight to five. Potential benefits in addition to issues regarding feasibility of the SHC, are discussed and studies examining the effectiveness of the SHC model are recommended.

SCHOOL NURSING

School nursing has been in a process of transition since its inception. This role evolution parallels the growing complexity of the health, education, and social needs of America's youth. The workplace within which school nurses practice is equally complicated because health and education administrators often hold differing philosophies of management, and school health programs are ill-defined. Fortunately, there is growing support for an integrated services approach and the development of school health systems with nurses joining an interdisciplinary team rather than continuing to function as "boundary dwellers." The roles of the school nurse as primary care provider, school health coordinator, case manager, and epidemiologist are emerging and replacing outdated nursing functions. As the role of the school nurse shifts and expands, it produces a cascade effect. The role of the school health assistant to aid the nurse surfaces as the next logical step in planning. Numerous model school health programs exist today. The emphasis, and rightfully so, is preventive in nature and should be targeted at the preparation of a new generation of health consumers who are more self-reliant than their predecessors. Unfortunately, all these programs are plagued with financing problems that could be alleviated with the right plan for health care reform, such as an expansion of maternal and child health funds (Title V) to health departments and the introduction of school nursing leadership into the DASH office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a health education unit largely run by health educators, to reallocate some of these resources to the clinical preventive services needed in schools to reduce health risk behaviors. Finally, total quality management is the next issue on the horizon for this nursing specialty; benchmarking would be the place to start. In summary, systems development in the school health field is now underway, and it will not be easy, but this sort of work never has been simple. It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders of those who would gain by the new ones. Niccol$oG Machiavelli, ad 1513

Employment of School Health Coordinators

Employment of School Health Coordinators

The school nurse's role in school-based clinics.

Journal of School HealthVolume 57, Issue 4 p. 157-159 The School Nurse's Role in School-based Clinics Linda H. Edwards, Linda H. Edwards Linda H. Edwards, RN, DrPH, School Health Coordinator, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion and Screening, 100 W. Randolph, Suite 6–600, Chicago, IL 60601.Search for more papers by this author Linda H. Edwards, Linda H. Edwards Linda H. Edwards, RN, DrPH, School Health Coordinator, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion and Screening, 100 W. Randolph, Suite 6–600, Chicago, IL 60601.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1987 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1987.tb04164.xCitations: 6 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume57, Issue4April 1987Pages 157-159 RelatedInformation