What motivates you to become or stay healthy?

 The concept of health and wellness differs greatly between people. Health can be the absence of disease, while wellness can imply a positive state of health in holism, encompassing the mental, emotional, spiritual, and even social aspects. Think about your own state of health. Do you consider yourself a healthy person? If so, what motivates you to be healthy? If not, what would motivate you to become so? 

200 words for each response

1) 

The mission of the schools in the local area system that was investigated is to promote the health and wellness for the students and their families, their staff, and the community.  The county schools believe that the nurses should be committed to providing comprehensive, quality health care to students using a systematic approach to identify and meet the dynamic health needs of all students including chronic health conditions, disabilities, and those with acute and emergency care situation (Maryland Department of Health, 2019).  The professional school nurse is an important member of the multidisciplinary school team and collaborates with other disciplines to enhance the academic success of students.  The school nurse promotes improvement of children’s health, removes barriers to learning, and improves overall potential for academic success.  Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s school nurse to discuss any health related needs.  Some of the schools in the county have Wellness Centers where the center provides care that minimizes the physical and emotional conditions that become barriers to optimal school performance.  The goal is to make students available for learning by promoting health, preventing disease, and reducing behavioral risks.

One existing condition that the schools deal with is sickle cell disease (SCD).  Children with SCD are more susceptible to infection.  Infection is the most common cause of death in children with SCD (Maryland Department of Health, 2019).  Most children with SCD are vaccinated against infectious organisms and generally use prophylactic measures to decrease risk of infections.  Fevers should be taken seriously for a child with SCD.  Other health complications include chronic pain, stroke, vision problems, progressive organ damage, acute chest syndrome, priapism, pulmonary hypertension, and anemia.  Although people of all races and ethnicity can have SCD, in the United States SCD is most common among persons of African descent.  The condition is also common among persons of Hispanic, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Asian descent.  There are various types of SCD ranging from mild to severe.  Each individual with SCD may have a different clinical presentation; therefore students may have individualize care plans.  The school nurse is always the leader of the school health services team.  Some students with SCD may have a designated school case manager to coordinate his or her Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).  The school nurse also serves as the liaison and advocate for the student.  The school nurse may also refer the student and or family for counseling, support groups, and medical care.  Moreover, the county has school-wide awareness and education regarding SCD management for school staff.  Awareness and education may include, but is not limited to: definition and types of SCD; effective SCD management principles; symptoms of a SCD crises to report to the school nurse; student’s emergency care plan/protocol; student’s emergency plans and protocols for substitutes including teacher, school health staff, transportation, coaches, and food services; necessary and approved accommodations during school or school-sponsored activities; confidentiality protections; disability awareness needed in classroom; student’s IEP; and education for school visitors or volunteers with student contact, as necessary per local policy (Maryland Department of Health, 2019).  It is recommended that school staff awareness and education is completed annually and whenever a student’s condition and care changes.

Reference

Maryland Department of Health. (2019). Management of sickle cell in schools. Retrieved from https://www.sicklecelldisease.org/files/sites/181/2019/06/SickleCellDiseaseGuidelines-1.pdf

2) 

I looked into a major school district in my area and found that the schools in my area have a nurse assigned to each school. The school nurse helps students with chronic illnesses like type one diabetes manage their illness. The school nurse also watches out for children with communicable diseases and decides to send them home if they have diarrhea, vomiting, fever, or a deep cough. Parents are also instructed to not send their kids to school if they have a communicable disease or lice. The school district policy is that children must be 24 hours being symptom-free before they can return to school. The school nurse cannot give medications that are prescribed three times a day at school unless the doctor says that medication during school hours. The school nurse will not give narcotics or any form of cannabis even with a doctor’s order. The school nurse will also provide hearing screenings in preschool, kindergarten, grades 1, 2, 6, and 9. The school nurse also will screen vision screenings during the same year as the hearing test. Another screening that the school nurse does is scream for scoliosis when kids are in sixth and seventh grades. The school nurse also makes sure that students are up to date on their vaccines in order to be entered into the school.

The school nurse helps promote Health by helping students who have chronic diseases manage their health. The school nurse also promotes health by sending kids home that show signs of a communicable disease and prevents communicable disease spread by making sure students are up-to-date on their vaccinations. Doing a quick screening for hearing, vision, and scoliosis will also ensure that all parents are aware if their child needs to see a provider for these medical conditions.

The Center for Disease Control [CDC] (2019) explains that school health services can promote health for students by providing acute and emergency care, care coordination, chronic disease management, and family engagement. The school nurse can help with acute or emergency care if a student is in a medical crisis like a seizure. The nurse can also respond if a violent crime were to happen on campus. The school nurse will coordinate health care with families, health care providers, administration, and teachers (CDC, 2019). The school nurse will work with students with chronic conditions by helping to manage their condition for example like helping children with glucose checks and providing insulin. The school nurse can also help engage families of students by giving parents health status updates and giving students extra dietary and physical considerations (CDC, 2019).

Reference:

Centers for Disease Control. (2019, May 29). School health services. Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/schoolhealthservices.htm.

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