Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District nurses report rising care-plan caseloads and daily medical needs
Summary
School nurses gave an overview of district health services, reporting 549 individualized health-care plans, daily medication administration and specialized procedures on campus; board members thanked nurses for supporting students with chronic conditions.
At the board meeting the Eureka Union School District health-services team described daily medical support for students and a recent rise in individualized health-care needs.
Nurses Alina Clickoff Black and Cecilia Jasick told trustees the district provides state-required screening, immunization monitoring, first-aid care and individualized health plans for students with conditions such as seizures, severe allergies and diabetes. The nurses said the district has 549 individualized health-care plans this year, 21 students receiving daily medications at school, 22 students who receive as-needed medications, and 18 specialized procedures performed on campus (examples cited included g-tube care and oxygen management).
The nurses described diabetes care as a broad spectrum: they said the district typically supports about 10 students with diabetes in a year, with the youngest at age 4 and the oldest at 14 in the current caseload. For highly dependent students the school health team uses continuous glucose monitors, text-message groups that include parents and staff, and frequent classroom communication; one younger student generated about 30 team text messages in a single day, the nurses said. Staff also reported an increase in asthma and food-allergy plans over the past decade.
The presentation covered staff supports as well: the district certified 84 staff in CPR this year; trained 53 staff at the start of the school year on first aid and universal precautions; and trained 55 staff in more specialized procedures (seizure first aid, diabetes, g-tube care). The nurses said 30 staff volunteered to be EpiPen responders. They also offer TB risk assessments for staff. The team has two part-time nurses and one full-time nurse (2.2 FTE) and health assistants at each school whose weekly hours range from roughly 10 to 30 depending on campus needs.
Trustees thanked the nurses and highlighted the role school nursing plays in keeping children in class and managing chronic conditions.
Ending Nurses said they will continue chronic-illness follow-up, immunization audits and staff training. Trustees asked staff to continue reporting care-plan trends to the board during future updates.
