The school nurse serves in a pivotal role that bridges health care and education. Grounded by standards of practice, services provided by the school nurse include leadership, community/public health, care coordination, and quality improvement (NASN, 2016a). The School Nurse holds a valid Nevada license issued by the Superintendent of Public Instruction with a school nurse endorsement and is working in that position.
The Nevada Educator Performance Framework for School Nurses consists of 5 Professional Practice Standards:
Standard 1: The School Nurse demonstrates specialized knowledge, skills, decision making, and evidence-based practice to provide the best possible nursing care with the best possible outcomes.
Indicator 1: Demonstrates competence in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of health problems in accordance with Nevada Revised Statutes and district/department policies and provides appropriately prescribed interventions and standard of care for students, utilizing sound judgment, decision-making, and critical thinking skills.
Indicator 2: Ensures that nursing practice is in compliance with the Nevada Nurse Practice Act and is consistent with regulatory requirements pertaining to licensure, relevant statutes, rules, and regulations, including the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Code of Ethics for School Nurses, HIPAA, and FERPA.
Indicator 3: Demonstrates knowledge of and compliance in practice with nursing department policies/procedures and expectations and current school district regulations, policies, and procedures.
Indicator 4: Interprets the diagnoses or health issues to the student, family, or appropriate school staff and individualizes accommodations to address educational implications.
Standard 2: The School Nurse utilizes a critical thinking process of assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation to improve student outcomes, foster self-management and family support, reduce barriers to learning, and improve healthcare coordination.
Indicator 1: Delegates in accordance with the Nevada Nurse Practice Act, the School Nurse Regulation and Advisory Opinion, NASN Principles of Practice, and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation and utilizes existing training materials to assure the safe administration of medication and other delegated tasks.
Indicator 2: Manages the care of students by coordinating health services and collaborating and communicating with other stakeholders in the provision of health services at school to reduce barriers to learning; and develops, implements, evaluates, and revises the individualized healthcare plan for each student with special needs.
Indicator 3: Responds to health issues by providing counseling and crisis intervention when required in such areas as teen pregnancy, substance abuse, bullying, death of family members, suicide, and child neglect or abuse; and provides self-advocacy strategies to students.
Indicator 4: Follows Licensed Healthcare Provider orders and complies with department standards, including but not limited to medication/procedure administration and treatments, diabetic care, and all standards of care for students in the school community.
Standard 3: The School Nurse serves in key roles to lead in the development of school health policies, procedures, and programs for the provision of health services.
Indicator 1: Partners with the student, family, and key stakeholders to advocate for and effect change, leading to positive outcomes, quality care, and expanding access to services.
Indicator 2: Complies with policies and documentation standards for healthcare reimbursement systems.
Indicator 3: Serves in key roles in the school and work settings by participating in committees, councils, and teams at all levels.
Indicator 4: Attends faculty and other school/ department-related activities including online education, workshops, in-services, and conferences to promote commitment to lifelong learning and education of self and others.
Standard 4: The School Nurse engages in a continuous and systematic process that leads to measurable improvements and outcomes, helping to change practice and build a critical evidence base for school nursing practice.
Indicator 1: Identifies problems and barriers that occur in day-to-day nursing work routines to correct process inefficiencies and incorporates evidence-based practice for continuous quality improvement.
Indicator 2: Engages in self-reflection and self-evaluation of nursing practice; identifying areas of strength as well as areas in which professional growth would be beneficial. Takes action to achieve goals identified during the evaluation process.
Indicator 3: Provides a critical review of barriers within the school organization and makes recommendations to improve the delivery of school health services.
Indicator 4: Documents consistently in adherence to current department policies/procedures and systematically monitors documentation by unlicensed assistive personnel and other licensed staff.
Standard 5: The School Nurse employs strategies to promote health and a safe environment in a manner that is congruent with cultural diversity and inclusion; practices in an environmentally safe and healthy manner.
Indicator 1: Manages school health services, utilizing appropriate resources to plan, provide, and sustain nursing services that are safe, effective, and fiscally responsible in an environmentally safe and healthy manner.
Indicator 2: Engages health promotion/health teaching in collaboration with the student’s practices, developmental level, learning needs, readiness and ability to learn, language preference, spirituality, culture, and socioeconomic status; implements mandated health programs in accordance with Nevada Revised Statutes and district/department policies.
Indicator 3: Manages disease surveillance and immunization compliance in accordance with Nevada Revised Statutes and district/department policies.
Indicator 4: Coordinates development and implementation of the emergency action plan and disaster preparedness plans.
The Nevada Educator Performance Framework for School Nurses provides educators with mandatory and confirmatory evidence sources, descriptions/ notes for additional guidance, and performance level descriptors for each Standard and Indicator. The NEPF rubric also specifies how each Standard and Indicator aligns with national standards; however, a National Standards Rubric is also provided in this module for reference.
Please visit NDE's website to see tools specific to School Nurses.
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