Legal Issues 101: Documentation and School Records.

This article is part of a series of articles titled "Legal Issues 101" addressing some common questions and misconceptions around the law and school health. Nursing documentation, a recording of interactions between a nurse and a patient, is a vital part of nursing care. Timely, thorough documentation allows for patient safety, risk reduction, continuity of care, and the availability of data for work process analysis. In the school setting, nursing documentation encompasses a record of student treatment in the health office as well as communication with parents, school team members, and healthcare providers. Student health records are intersected by educational and health privacy laws, which can create confusion around record management. The purpose of this article is to clarify frequently asked questions related to health office documentation.

Development of an Evidence-Based Employee Wellness Program.

Workplaces can positively or negatively shape employee health and sense of well-being. Employees who feel well are more productive, engaged, and present at work. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic added to an already stressed work environment for educators. Student success is dependent on educators who are healthy and present. Employee wellness programs have the potential to improve the well-being of employees and now, more than ever, should be a priority in schools. The purpose of this article is to provide the school nurse with evidence-based resources to assist in the creation and implementation of an employee wellness program in the school setting.

Roadmap to Recovery: Year 2 of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered traditional education models and school nursing practice during the 2020-2021 school year. As schools plan to reopen for the 2021-2022 school year, school nurses must arm themselves with the most recent evidence-based knowledge and tools to promote the health and safety of the school community. Schools will need to continue infection control measures and strategies to support the social emotional needs of students and staff to promote a safe and healthy learning environment on return to school. Partnered with local health departments, school nurses are vital to mitigation measures such as on-site viral testing and vaccination. A successful school year depends on strong nursing leadership.

Enhancing Your Virtual Footprint: The School Nurse's Professional Health Office Website.

The public narrative of the role of the school nurse is about Band-Aids and management of acute illness and injury. The public does not understand that school nurses are responsible for so much more. Literature recommends that school nurses change the narrative of school nursing by the use of social media and websites, but school nurses are not using websites as evidenced by a national audit of websites and survey of school nurses. The school nurse website toolkit was developed to assist nurses in the development of their own professional practice websites, thereby enhancing their image to stakeholders and changing the public narrative of school nursing.

School Nurse Websites: What Do They Tell Us About School Nurses?

PROBLEM: Stakeholders often misunderstand the role of the school nurse resulting in underutilization or elimination of school nurse positions. Social media and school nurse websites are recommended to increase school nurse visibility and change the public narrative of school nursing. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this needs assessment is to determine whether school nurses are using web presence to increase their visibility to affect the narrative of school nursing. METHOD: An evaluation was conducted to determine the presence and content of school nurse websites in 50 schools and their school districts across the nation. RESULTS: Fewer than one third of school nurses have websites, three fourths of districts have a school district health websites, and there was no evidence of a nurse in 10% of the school websites assessed. ANTICIPATED CONTRIBUTION TO PRACTICE: The needs assessment determined that nurses are not maximizing school websites to communicate their role to stakeholders.