SCHOOL NURSE

School Nurse Job Description

This is a professional public health nursing position responsible for planning, implementing, coordinating, and evaluating school health services. County Schools nurses coordinate the student and school health for a school or schools and provide supportive care, direction to staff and students, consult with physicians, and maintain records and school health processes. Work is performed under regular supervision of the Lead Nurse. The professional school nurse is responsible for planning, implementing, coordinating and evaluating school health services within the context of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model. The school nurse serves in the roles of program manager/coordinator, case manager/direct care provider, collaborator/advocate, educator and counselor for Craven County Schools in assigned schools.

School health in Craven County Schools is a public health function in service to the greater Craven County community.

Education and Experience:

• A minimum of three (3) years RN nursing experience dealing with young children and adolescents (ages 5 – 18) and/or public health nursing experience.
• BSN preferred. A registered nurse actively working toward a BSN degree (to be completed within 3 years of hire date) may be considered.

Certification and Licensure Requirements (if applicable):

• Required: Registered nurse, currently licensed to practice in North Carolina
• National school nurse certification must be completed within 3 years of hire date. In accordance with the National Board for the Certification of School Nurses, the nurse sitting for the exam is required to have a minimum of 1000 hours of school nursing experience.
• CPR, AED, First Aid Instructor Certification (or is able and does obtain within a year of employment)

Essential Functions/Typical Tasks

• Assist Public Health partners during emergent events such as outbreaks of communicable disease or severe weather such as hurricanes.
• Collaborate with students, parents, and healthcare providers to establish plans of care (POCs)
• Conduct health screenings
• Eliminate or minimize health problems which impair learning
• Maximize the quantity of in-class, on task time by reducing the incidence of health-related absenteeism,
• Promote student, staff and community awareness of and participation in healthy behaviors
• Promote the highest degree of independent functioning possible
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

The complex role of the school nurse demands, but is not limited to, an understanding and knowledge of:

• Applicable laws, regulations and standards pertaining to school nursing practice (HIPAA, NC Nurse Practice Act, Standards of School Nursing Practice and the Ten Components of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model)
• Building student, staff and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning
• Case finding, case management and health advocacy
• Communicable Disease
• Community, including community as a system and aggregates as clients
• Contemporary health and psychosocial issues that influence children, families and the community
• Development, management and evaluation of school health programs
• Environmental health within the school community
• Ethnic and cultural sensitivity and competence
• Family theory, assessment and intervention
• Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) law and its application to the work of the school nurse
• Health care delivery systems and the concept of the primary health care home.
• Health counseling, mental health and crisis intervention
• Leadership, networking and collaboration
• Pediatric/adolescent Nursing
• Program management, including personnel supervision
• Public Health/ Community Health Nursing
• School as a non-traditional health care setting
• School as a Public Health care setting
• School Health law
• Special education legislation and services
• Various electronic applications such as Power School, Google Docs, Word, Excel

Skills related to this important role include the ability to:

• Collect data to direct evidence-based practice
• Deal tactfully with others and exercise good judgment in appraising situations
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in practice settings to meet student, school and community needs.
• Elicit needed information and maintain effective working relationships
• Identify health related barriers to learning (i.e., at risk behaviors, financial, cultural, economical, etc.)
• Make independent and timely nursing decisions and accurately triage
• Plan, coordinate and supervise the work of others
• Record accurately services rendered and interpret and explain records, reports, activities, health care plans, accommodations and medical interventions
• Secure the cooperation and respect of students, faculty and staff
• Utilize various electronic and hard copy documentation systems for entering information at the time of service to the student.

Professional Nursing Standards

The school nurse will demonstrate the following professional standards in the execution of their work:

Standards of Care

• Assessment: Collects comprehensive data pertinent to the client's health or situation.
• Nursing Diagnosis: Analyzes the assessment data to determine the nursing diagnosis or issues that need to be addressed.
• Outcomes Identification: Identifies expected outcomes for a plan individualized to the client or situation.
• Planning: Develops a plan that prescribes strategies and alternatives to attain expected outcomes.
• Implementation: Implements the identified plan through coordination of care, health teaching and health promotion and consultation to influence the identified plan, enhance the abilities of others and effect change.
• Evaluation: Evaluates progress towards attainment of outcomes.

Standards of Professional Performance

• Quality of Practice: Systematically enhances the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice.
• Education: Attains knowledge and competency that reflects current school nursing practice.
• Professional Practice Evaluation: Evaluates one's own nursing practice in relation to professional practice standards and guidelines, relevant statutes, rules and regulations.
• Collegiality: Interacts with and contributes to the professional development of peers and school personnel as colleagues.
• Collaboration: Collaborates with the client, the family, school staff and others in the conduct of school nursing practice.
• Ethics: Integrates ethical provisions in all areas of practice.
• Research: Integrates research findings into practice.
• Resource Utilization: Considers factors related to safety, effectiveness, cost and impact on practice on the planning and delivery of school nursing services.
• Leadership: Provides leadership in the professional practice setting and the profession.
• Program Management*: Manages school health services for assigned schools.

*Exceptional Children's nurses are not responsible for program management, but may assist the "whole school" nurse in the process.

Performance and Workload Standards

At a minimum, the school nurse may be expected to:

• Attend the New School Nurse Orientation and follow up session (new school nurses)
• Collect data for various reports including the Annual Health Assessment and Immunization Report, PBNC Mid-Year and EOY Reports, the NC DHHS School Health Nursing Survey and Program Summary (End of Year of Report)
• Assume the responsibility for 1-3 schools*, based on acuity levels and district need. *Exceptional Children's nurses typically assume responsibility for only one student.

Physical Requirements

This work requires the regular exertion of up to 10 pounds of force, frequent exertion of up to 25 pounds of force and occasional exertion of up to 50 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, speaking or hearing, using hands to finger, handle or feel and repetitive motions, frequently requires standing, walking, reaching with hands and arms and pushing or pulling and occasionally requires lifting; work has standard vision requirements; vocal communication is required for expressing or