Pattonville School-Based Health Services

The IFM services to Pattonville includes:

1. A Medical Director for standing orders, prescriptions and consultation

2. A team of family nurse practitioners who will visit the schools on a regular basis (frequency to be determined by need)

3. A team of Community Health workers to assist families with needs related to navigation of the health system, applying for Medicaid insurance, and resources for social determinants of health.

This is an emphatic no. Our nurse practitioners are there to work with the school nurses to take services to another level in hopes of reducing absenteeism and supporting the wellness of the children of the district.

Nurse practitioners can “diagnose and treat.” This may prevent the need for the parent to take the child to the urgent care or wait several days for a doctor’s appointment.

Another emphatic NO. The Nurse practitioner can augment the services by being on-site at the school. Our services within the school are not intended to eliminate the recommendation that each child have a regular primary care physician.

Our Community Health Worker can assist the family in finding care. IFM established a community clinic as one option. (See information above.)

Yes, except in the case of life-threatening emergencies, care will only be provided with the parent or guardian’s consent. We would prefer this be a written consent (the consent form is available above). In cooperation with the school nurse, we can also see the child with verbal consent, defined as the nurse practitioner plus one school staff (or two school staff) talking directly with the parent by phone and documenting the consent.

Evaluation of upper respiratory symptoms, headache, earache, rashes, abdominal pain are just a few examples of the acute care issues that the NP can evaluate. The NP will have access to strep and other “point of care” testing to facilitate establishing a diagnosis. In coordination with the parent, the NP can prescribe treatment.

Sometimes the child may have a chronic issue that is not well controlled, like asthma, or even diabetes. If this is the case, and the child has a primary care physician, the nurse practitioner can reach out to that office and share findings to expedite care. If the child doesn’t have a primary care physician, the nurse practitioner can initiate or modify the treatment plan.

Our goal is to address whatever health care needs your school or the district have. This can include physicals, sports physicals, immunizations, return to school approval, and consultation.

We will have a team of nurse practitioners for this project. Your school will be visited by the same nurse practitioner so there is consistency, but that will only be about once a week (more or less depending on the needs of your school). At the same time, there will be one of the nurse practitioners of the team in the Bridgeton area every day, and you will have the ability to reach them with questions. Depending on the need, it might even be possible for them to make a special trip on a day no one was scheduled to be at your school.