School Nurse

GENERAL STATEMENT OF JOB

Under general supervision, performs supervisory and emergency medical and administrative work providing preventive and acute health care to students. Work involves administering provision of a variety of health care services, including health screenings and medical examinations and treatments, to school children with a variety of physical and mental handicaps.

Employee is required to perform emergency medical functions which may include administering drugs, performing pulmonary ventilation by means of an esophageal obturator airway, and obtaining blood for laboratory analysis. Work also involves providing training to teachers in first aid, emergency care and specific treatments; assisting and advising school teachers, staff and students' parents in matters pertaining to the health of students; and serving as a liaison between the school and private medical professionals, clinics, and human services agencies. Employee is also required to maintain a variety of records and reports pertaining to health screening activities, emergency incidents, the status of individual students, etc.

Employee is exposed to the normal hazards of emergency medical work, including risk of exposure to infectious diseases. The nurse is expected to function at all times within the scope of the Nurse Practice Act. Reports to a Principal.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Responds to emergency medical situations involving both non-handicapped and physically and mentally handicapped students and performs necessary medical work in accordance with established protocols for Basic Life Support; administers necessary emergency medical care, which may require the use of suction units, immobilization equipment, syringes and medications.

Administers or supervises the administration of medications to students with physician or health care provider orders; performs prescribed treatments or supervises routine treatments with physician order, as governed by the Nurse Practice Act.

Performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation when confronted with a pulseless non-breathing patient. May perform any of the following procedures if allowed by the Northampton County Board of Education and/or State Board of Education, and in accordance with the North Carolina Nurse Practice Act:

(1) patient assessment; (2) basic life support techniques in accordance with the American Heart Association or American Red Cross including airway management and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; (3) oxygen administration; (4) hemorrhage control; (5) treatment for shock; (6) bandaging and dressing soft tissue injuries; (7) splinting fractures and dislocations; (8) treatment of injuries to the head, face, eye, neck, and spine; (9) treatment of injuries to the chest, abdomen and genitalia; (10) provision of basic life support for medical injuries; (11) assisting in emergency normal and abnormal childbirth; (12) emergency treatment of injuries as a result of exposure to heat and cold; (13) treatment of burns; (14) lifting and moving patients for transfer to a medical facility; and (15) extrication of patients from confined areas.

Assigns, directs and supervises activities of any volunteer personnel, ensuring adherence to established medical protocols, policies and procedures; assists and advises subordinate, as necessary, resolving problems as non-routine situations arise; makes decisions regarding delegation of nursing activities to unlicensed persons based on the Nurse Practice Act.

Administers or makes recommendations for routine personnel matters affecting subordinate(s), including recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, assigning, scheduling, granting leave, appraising and disciplining, etc., and submitting such records and reports as required by Schools system administration.

Oversees and participates in health screening of students at start of each school year, including dental, vision and hearing screenings; ensures that students have current immunizations; maintains health and medical records of students; assists and advises school staff in recognition of health problems in students; monitors daily health checks of students, and makes appropriate referrals for professional services; contacts parents to advise of observed health or medical problems and/or emergency incidents, and makes or assists parents in making necessary medical appointments, as necessary; develops a nursing care plan for every student with special needs.

Makes oral presentations to various exceptional children's services groups as part of in-service training, including such topics as first aid, emergency care and treatments for specific health problems or medical emergencies; counsels individual students, groups of students, parents, school staff, etc., about specific health concerns, as appropriate; assists school administrators and appropriate committees in developing health education programs for school staff, parents and students.

Serves as primary liaison between school and private medical professionals and clinics, human services agencies and other institutions or agencies providing services to students and/or their families; advises medical professionals and others, as appropriate, of students' medical histories,

incidents, treatments, etc., and provides records, as appropriate.

Prepares and maintains comprehensive notes, records and reports of medical evaluations, emergency incidents, treatments, consultations, etc., to document students' medical histories, nursing activities, treatment provided, etc.

Serves on various school and/or school system committees, attending meetings and participating in other activities of such groups as appropriate.

Attends seminars, conferences, workshops, classes, lectures, etc., as appropriate, to enhance and maintain knowledge of trends and developments in the field of nursing, with emphasis on care of handicapped juveniles; reviews professional journals, attends association and professional meetings, and otherwise maintains contacts with nursing and medical professionals to facilitate exchange of information.

ADDITIONAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Performs other related work as required.

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree in nursing, and 3 to 5 years of professional nursing experience, including knowledge of potential health problems of school-age and adolescent children, both healthy and those with chronic conditions and handicapping conditions; or any equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT

Registered as a Nurse by the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Must possess a School Nurse certificate within three years of employment.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Physical Requirements: Must be able to operate a variety of equipment including computers, nebulizers, adding machines, blood pressure machines, oxygen tanks, suction machines, feeding pumps, etc. Must be able to exert up to 100 pounds of force occasionally and/or 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or

otherwise move objects. Due to amount of time spent standing and/or walking, physical requirements are consistent with those for Medium Work.

Data Conception: Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural, or composite characteristics (whether similar to or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.

Interpersonal Communication: Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes giving instructions, assignments and/or directions to assistants or subordinates.

Language Ability: Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, referrals, medical records, newsletters, notes, charts, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, plans, logs, charts, etc.

Intelligence: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions. Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently using medical terminology.

Numerical Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages.

Form/Spatial Aptitude: Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width and shape.

Motor Coordination: Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using medical equipment.

Manual Dexterity: Requires the ability to handle a variety of office machines, etc. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.

Color Discrimination: Requires the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color.

Interpersonal Temperament: Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. Must be adaptable to performing under stress and when confronted with persons acting under stress.

Physical Communication: Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words. Hearing: perceiving nature of sounds by ear). Must be able to communicate via telephone.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Thorough knowledge of the North Carolina Nurse Practice Act. Considerable knowledge of emergency and routine medical procedures. Considerable knowledge of health care agencies and institutions in the area.

Considerable knowledge of current literature, trends and developments in the field of school nursing. General knowledge of the principles of supervision, organization and administration.

Skill in performing health screenings and medical examinations. Ability to perform a variety of emergency medical procedures. Ability to train others in first aid and emergency care.

Ability to assess the needs of students and develop a plan to meet those needs. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Ability to maintain complete and accurate records and to develop simple reports from those records.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.

DISCLAIMER

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to this job.