School Nurses prepare for new year at "School Health Education Day"
The Health Care District School Nurses started the day with a fun Facebook hello with Christopher F. Irizarry, MPA, VP & Executive Director of Clinic Services, Health Care District
On August 8 the Health Care District's School Nurses returned to begin the 2016-2017 school year by attending the first of two "School Health Education Days" at Santaluces High School in Lantana.
The Health Care District's School Health program sets aside two days for the District's school nurses, their nursing supervisors, health technicians and program administration to learn about health topics affecting public school students in advance of the new school year. Palm Beach County students return to school on Monday, August 15th.
Ginny Keller, RN, MBA, NCSN, Director, School Health, welcomes the School Nurses to the first of two "School Health Education Days" on August 8.
"This education event is important for our nurses because it helps prepare them for some of the health challenges they may face this year," said Ginny Keller, RN, MBA, NCSN, Director of the School Health Program. "Some of the timely topics we’re covering include student bullying, mental health services and crisis response."
The annual gathering also serves as an opportunity for the nurses to connect with each other as a group, as the District’s School Nurses work independently in school health clinics on nearly 170 public school campuses. The training provides opportunities to collaborate, learn from each other and have a little fun.
School Nurse Junia Austin shares her summer travels with her fellow school nurses as the nurses begin their first day of training
As part of crisis response training, Adam Taft, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, explains to the nurses the newest concepts in CPR and mass triage
The Health Care District's more than 200 School Nurses serve more than 180,000 students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. They provide nursing care, medically-complex care planning and case management, communicable disease surveillance and health screenings.
Each year the nurses provide more than 855,000 health care services to students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Along with school nurses, ten school health technicians carry out thousands of student screenings for hearing, vision, scoliosis and Body Mass Index (BMI).