School Health
The School Nursing Initiative is a unique, collaborative effort of the Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) and Orange County Public Schools. Its goal is to boost student health and attendance by staffing schools in the Winter Park Consortium of Schools with professionally licensed nurses.
It is one of several programs the Foundation supports to care for the health of the whole child. In the belief that Healthy Kids Make Better Students and Better Students Make Healthy Communities, the Foundation also provides mental health counselors, called CHILL Counselors, in each of the Consortium schools. CHILL Counselors and nurses work closely together to improve the physical and mental health of students and in the process, eliminate roadblocks to learning.
These nurses provide a variety of services and are able to handle emergencies and treat illnesses so that children can return to class as quickly as possible, ready to learn and make the most of the school day.
Financial support from WPHF allows schools in the Consortium—Winter Park High and its elementary and middle feeder schools—to hire either Licensed Practical Nurses who have one year of education, or Registered Nurses, who have two to four years of education. All nurses must take continuing medical education classes to keep their licenses current. School nurses provide health screening, prevention and health maintenance services, as well as emergency care.
In addition, when the need exists, nurses can refer students to the Consortium’s Nurse Practitioners based at Glenridge Middle School and Winter Park High School. They have master’s degrees and are able to offer more advanced care. They are available to serve all students enrolled in Consortium schools. They provide an important service to students whose families don’t have adequate health care coverage or access to a health care provider for their children. Funded by WPHF, the Nurse Practitioners can assess, diagnose and prescribe medications and therapies for patients. Appointments are required.
School Nurse Duties
Screenings
School nurses perform a variety of screenings during the school year. Some, such as vision, hearing and scoliosis screenings, are scheduled according to developmental patterns of the age of children in the school. Still other screenings and assessments occur daily. Teachers and nurses constantly are on the lookout for issues that may create barriers to learning, such as malnutrition, poverty and domestic abuse. They both work closely with CHILL counselors. Their joint goal is to enhance the health and well-being of each child.
Medications
Before dispensing medication, nurses are required by law to assess the students receiving them. They must be familiar with the drugs and their side effects. And they must keep track of all medications. Orange County policy requires that all prescriptions and over-the-counter medicine that students receive at school must be kept in the school nurse’s office. Parents or guardians must complete OCPS Medication Authorization forms for all student prescription and over-the-counter medications, including inhalers. These are available from and are stored in the nurse’s office.
Health Promotion
Nurses also are available to the faculty. If there are questions about diet, exercise or general health issues, the school nurse can be an excellent resource. In addition, nurses can provide information to children about eating right, physical activity and avoiding harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.
A Final Word
The goals of a school nurse are to help alleviate illness, promote wellness and help individuals function at their highest level. In the school setting, this translates into preventing and addressing illnesses and injuries that keep students from learning. Evaluations of the School Nursing Initiative show that the program is having a positive impact on our schools by returning more students to class ready to learn and sending fewer home.