School Nurse

Christ School’s Wellness Team is central to the mission of the school and the wellbeing of the community. Our staff nurses are valued and appreciated as professionals and team members. Each brings professionalism and skill to the role and each works to develop even greater expertise.

Our Wellness Team provides preventive health services to facilitate the students’ optimal physical, mental, emotional, and social growth, and development.

Our nurses work out of our Wellness Center at the heart of campus. They serve only our campus and their responsibilities are for the student population. The position is full-time, with a predictable school year schedule. It is a salaried role that reports directly to the Head School Nurse/Director of the Wellness Center.

The school nurse serves in the roles of program manager/coordinator, case manager/direct care provider, collaborator/advocate, educator, and advisor for Christ School.

The complex role of the school nurse demands, but is not limited to, an understanding and knowledge of:

• Pediatric/adolescent Nursing.
• Public Health/ Community Health Nursing.
• Health counseling, general mental health, partnership with our Director of Counseling and crisis intervention.
• Communicable Disease.
• Applicable laws, regulations, and standards pertaining to school nursing practice (N.C. Nurse Practice Act, Standards of School Nursing Practice, and the Eight Components of a Coordinated School Health Program).
• School Health law.
• Special education legislation and services.
• Case management and health advocacy.
• Leadership, networking and collaboration.
• Ethnic and cultural sensitivity and competence.
• Contemporary health and psychosocial issues that influence children, families, and the community.
• Health care delivery systems and the concepts of the primary health care.
• Building student, staff and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning.

Skills related to this important role include the ability to:

• Deal tactfully with others and exercise good judgment in appraising situations.
• Make independent and timely nursing decisions and to triage.
• Secure the cooperation and respect of students, faculty and staff.
• Elicit needed information and maintain effective working relationships.
• Collect data to direct evidence-based practice.
• Record accurately services rendered and interpret and explain records, reports, activities, health care plans, accommodations, and medical interventions.
• Identify health-related barriers to learning (i.e., at risk behaviors, financial, cultural, economical, etc.).
• Maintain excellent professional boundaries within a boarding school community.
• Speak candidly and kindly with parents concerning concerns raised.

This professional school nursing position within Christ School is responsible for planning, implementing, coordinating, and evaluating school health services that:

• Maximize the quantity of in-class time by reducing the incidence of health-related absenteeism,
• Eliminate or minimize health problems which impair learning.
• Promote the highest degree of independent functioning possible.
• Promote student, staff, and community awareness of and participation in healthy behaviors.

The school nurse will provide:

• Assessment:
  Collects comprehensive data pertinent to the client’s health or situation.
• Diagnosis:
  Analyzes the assessment data to determine the diagnosis or issues.
• Outcomes Identification:
  Identifies expected outcomes for a plan individualized to the client or situation.
• Planning:
  Develops a plan that prescribes strategies and alternatives to attain expected outcomes.
• Implementation:
  Implements the identified plan through…