Improving Health Care in Schools: Innovative Program Integrates Electronic Records To Improve Student Health

Earlier this morning, Parmeeth M.S. Atwal, blogging for the Office of The National Coordinator, published an interview with Marie DeSisto discussing her role in implementing electronic health records (EHRs) throughout District 504's public schools. Ms. DeSisto, who is Director of Nurses at Waltham Public Schools, touched on many issues that the schools in her district experienced had when implementing and meaningfully using EHRs to improve student health. This interview sheds some light on the overlooked area of school nurses utilizing health information technologies.

We greatly encourage you to read the full interview, which you can access here.

Local Philadelphia Hospital Working With School Nurses To Improve Care

Following up on two posts (here & here) from last month, Kristen Coppock, reporting for phillyburbs.com, detailed how a local hospital is providing educational resources to school nurses to better address health issues presented by students. Cooper University Hospital's, Cooper in Schools program, has been active for about three years. The multidisciplinary program pairs schools with Cooper professionals to address medical and social issues. The free service provides symposiums, literature and guest speakers while allowing school staff to accumulate professional development credits.

Click here to read the full article.

Education Study Committee Sends Georgia Governor Recommendations To Increase Nurse to Student Ratio in Schools

Following up on a post from last week, a Georgia education committee, consisting of legislators and educators, made recommendations to improve school nurse programs. The article, written by Nancy Badertscher, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, detailed the numerous recommendations made by the committee to improve public education in the state of Georgia. While the recommendations were not all related to school nurses, many of the suggestions addressed issues that have been burdening public school nations around the state. The committee recommended that the state become a 50-50 partner in school nurse costs, which a majority is currently being covered by local school districts. The committee also recommended to improve the student to nurse ratio from 1 nurse to 2,300 students, one of the worst ratios in the country, to 1:750 in elementary schools and 1:1,500 in middle and high schools.

Click here to read the full news article.

School Nurse:Student Ratios Greatly Differ Around The United States

This week, Jacque Wilson, reporting for CNN.com, detailed the varying nurse to student ratio in the United States. With some school nurses being responsible for the health and safety of over 4,400 students in some school districts, it can be rather difficult for some nurses to handle the increased workload while providing sufficient care to students.

Click here to read the article.