Introduction
The role of a nurse in community health settings in the context of modern US healthcare is difficult to estimate appropriately due to the variety of their development patterns. The major part of public healthcare in the country is dedicated to educational establishments such as schools and kindergartens because children are one of the most vulnerable social groups in terms of infections development. Thus, school nurses are, by all means, crucial for the public health state in the country, as they are responsible for the well-being of hundreds of kids attending schools. Since the first school nurse appointment in 1902, their role has shifted from promoting student attendance to actual medical surveillance (Holmes et al., 2016). The purpose of this paper is to define and evaluate the current school nurses’ position in the community healthcare system on the example of Ronald Reagan Academy in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Main body
To begin with, Ronald Reagan Academy is a public middle school located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that constitutes approximately 750 students. Speaking of school infirmary, the setting consists of a school physician and a full-time school nurse. Such a system is common for an average US public school, and it is a typical representation of a public health establishment. The primary target of the set is to ensure safety for the kids’ health environment in the school while the care focus is the well-being of the students. Disease prevention as a main concept behind the school infirmary is divided between the doctor and the nurse. Thus, the physician is responsible for tertiary prevention or the process of treatment. The nurse in such a system takes care of both primary and secondary prevention, which means preventative measures and students’ screening.
The conversation with the school nurse has shown that they have a lot of responsibilities, even if they are not supposed to provide direct treatment for the students. Her major and the most complex duty is to ensure that all the preventative measures are considered in order for children not to be infected. Otherwise, if the medical regulations are not followed, the entire facility is at risk of an epidemic. Another important nurse responsibility is to schedule students’ screening to make sure that all of them are healthy and are not infection carriers.
Speaking of the educational requirements, which are generally equal for all the educational establishments, the nurse at the Reagan Academy holds an Associate’s degree. Before applying for the position of the school nurse, she had been working at a state hospital for a year. Such an experience is quite helpful as she often has to make decisions on the spot without the ability to consult the doctor. Speaking of the nurses’ necessary skills, besides professional excellence, which should be default for any medic, the nurses should also have communicative and quick-thinking skills. With these characteristics, nurses will know how to talk to children and make quick but right decisions. However, as public school is a governmental institution, there is almost no autonomy for medical representatives in the establishment.
The negative aspects of working as a school nurse are usually connected with financial support from the government. Although governors and scholars claim that the health of the young generation should be of great importance, they still do not pay enough attention to the issue (Maughan et al., 2018). A higher amount of financial investments to the public schools’ healthcare facilities would make a significant change in terms of disease prevention among the youth.
Conclusion
Taking into consideration the experience of communication with the school nurse and the overall surveillance of the public health setting, I was surprised by her dedication to the school and students. Moreover, such commitment becomes even more fascinating in the context of governmental support for both salaries and setting improvement. Thus, public health settings in educational establishments need more attention and recognition due to the fact that they concern one of the most vulnerable social groups.
References
Holmes, B. W., Allison, M., Ancona, R., Attisha, E., Beers, N., De Pinto, C.,… Young, T. (2016). Role of the school nurse in providing school health services.Pediatrics, 137(6), [e20160852]. Web.
Maughan, E. D., Cowell, J., Engelke, M. K., McCarthy, A. M., Bergren, M. D., Murphy, M. K., … Vessey, J. A. (2018). The vital role of school nurses in ensuring the health of our nation’s youth. Nursing Outlook, 66(1), 94-96.