Nurses play a vital role in schools
Monday, February 06, 2012
From providing first aid to dispensing medications and preventative screenings, school nurses play a vital role in a student’s education experience.
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“Nurses are an essential part of our School System,” said Michael Barber, assistant superintendent of Pell City schools. “I can’t imagine not having them now. They fill an essential role, without a doubt.”
Barber said the Pell City School System has four nurses split between eight schools, one RN and three LPNs.
One nurse is based at the high school, and the other three float between schools as needed based on school population and student needs.
“Some schools have more students with greater needs that require nurse attention,” he said.
Barber said the nurses perform a variety of functions, including first aid, screenings and teaching.
“They will go into the classroom and do lessons on issues like head lice, if needed,” he said. “And they work with the student’s home with setting doctor’s appointments on an as-needed basis.”
Joan Ludwig, an RN with the Talladega City School System, said they have three nurses for the six schools in the system.
“I’m the RN and we have two LPNs,” she said. “Each nurse has two schools and we try to split time between both schools.”
Ludwig said the nurses do health plans for students with chronic illnesses.
“The parents fill out health assessments at the beginning of school,” she said.
Ludwig said conditions such as asthma, diabetes and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are considering factors. The nurses dispense medications, perform screenings, administer first aid and perform many other duties.
“We do teaching in the classrooms upon teacher requests,” she said. “We cover things like dental hygiene and illness prevention. And all three nurses are CPR certified. We’ve taught CPR at the schools before.”
Kelly Hubbard, student services coordinator for the Sylacauga City School System, said the system has four nurses for four schools.
“We have two RNs and two LPNs,” she said. “One is stationed at each school.”
Hubbard said the nurses deliver health plans for students’ medical needs and ensure those on a need-to-know basis are familiar with the plan.
“We are very lucky — we have highly qualified nurses in the schools,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
Hubbard said most school administrators do not have a medical background, so having a qualified school nurse is critical when dealing with a student’s health issues.
“It helps ensure the student gets the care they need,” she said.
Hubbard said the nurses participate in health fairs and classroom instruction on hygiene and preventative measures to promote wellness.
Laurie Lewis, system supervising nurse for Talladega County schools, said the School System has 10 nurses for 17 schools.
“I’m an RN and I’m based out of Lincoln Elementary School, but I travel to all the schools,” she said.
Lewis said the other RN is based in Munford.
“There are eight LPNs: four work for the nursing department in the schools and four work with special education students but most of the day they do special education instruction work,” he said.
Lewis said the four LPNs in the nursing department are based in Lincoln, Fayetteville, Munford and Childersburg. Some of those nurses cover multiple schools under one roof.
“We regularly do first aid and give all medications except blood products,” she said. “We give a lot of asthma medications, take care of diabetic students, monitor any seizure students and more.”
Lewis said the nurses are mandated by the Americans With Disabilities Act to meet student needs.
“We have to remove any barriers to keep students from getting an education,” she said.
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