CHOP Policy Lab recommends staffing, EHR and supervision changes for Wallingford‑Swarthmore school nurses; district begins implementation

CHOP Policy Lab presented its review of school health services to the Wallingford‑Swarthmore School District Education Affairs Committee on Oct. 14, recommending changes to staffing models, electronic health records and supervisory structures for district nurses.

The CHOP presenters said the review found nurses “highly valued and well respected” but often overstretched, with insufficient time for work that does not involve immediate student care such as care plans, parent meetings and reporting. The report recommended expanding staffing capacity, integrating nurses more fully into school culture, and improving documentation systems to better capture visit acuity and time use.

The review used the National Association of School Nurses framework and combined interviews of district school health staff with a survey of six neighboring districts — Garnet Valley, Haverford, Lower Merion, Radnor, Springfield and Upper Darby — to develop evidence‑based recommendations. Dr. Alex Simcoe, a clinical psychologist and Policy Lab faculty member, and Dr. Tracy Wasnorek, director of school‑based programming in CHOP’s Center for Violence Prevention, described the methodology and key findings. CHOP said the district’s PowerSchool system meets basic needs but “does not serve to optimize health service operations” and lacks functionality to record visit acuity, making it harder to characterize nurses’ time.

Why it matters: school nurses’…