School Nurses as Wellness
Champions: Promoting
School Health Through
Assessment and Action!
New Jersey State School Nurses Association
Fall Conference
October 17, 2015
Lorraine M. Chewey Assistant Professor/Coordinator School Nurse
Certification Program
New Jersey City University
Session Objectives
At the conclusion of this educational activity, learners
will be able to utilize the CDC's School Health Index
Assessment & Planning tool to:
*identify strengths and weaknesses of health and safety
policies and programs
*develop an action plan for improving student health,
which can be incorporated into the District Wellness
Committee and School Improvement Plan
*Engage teachers, parents, students, and the community
in promoting health-enhancing behaviors and better
health
*Establish the school nurse as the unequivocal health
expert and health care leader in the school setting.
*Who has time for this?
*What is in it for me?
*Where can I find support for school
health assessment?
*When is a good time to address school
health assessment?
*Why should school nurses be concerned
with the School Health Index?
*So What?
*“It is the position of the National Association of
School Nurses that the registered professional
school nurse is the leader in the school
community to oversee school health policies
and programs. The school nurse serves in a
pivotal role to provide expertise and
oversight for the provision of school health
services and promotion of health
education….The school nurse serves as a liaison
between school personnel, family, community
and healthcare providers to advocate for health
care and a healthy school environment
(American Nurses Association & National
Association of School Nurses [ANA & NASN],
2011).”
RWJF reported that
*“School nurses are on the frontlines of disease
surveillance and play a critical role in containing
epidemics, promoting healthy behaviors, and meeting
children’s chronic and episodic health care needs”
*“School nurses act as a ‘health care safety net for all
children”
*“School nurses are at the core of this enterprise (school
health services”
*“School health services as a ‘hidden system” of health
care” (Dr. Julia Graham Lear, Center for Health &
Healthcare in Schools, 2011)
*Unlocking the Potential of
School Nursing, 2010
Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report, The
Future of Nursing: Leading Change,
Advancing Health (2011) recommendations:
*nurses should serve actively and play more
pivotal roles on boards and commissions in
improving the health of all Americans.
*In the health policy arena, nurses should
participate in and lead health care decisionmaking…and implementation efforts
*Institute of Medicine Report
National coalition of health care organizations,
professional nursing associations and corporate America
designed to:
*increase nurses’ presence on corporate & non-profit
health-related boards of directors
*implement a national strategy to bring nurses’ valuable
perspective to governing boards, as well as state-level
and national commissions, with an interest in health.
*Goal: to put 10,000 nurses on boards by the year 2020.
*The effort is a direct response to the Institute of
Medicine’s (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing:
Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011).
*Supported by ANA, NLN, Sigma Theta Tau, AARP, RWJF,
Jonas Center, and more.
* Nurses on Boards, 2014
Increase the proportion of elementary, middle, and
senior high schools that:
*have a full-time registered school nurse-to-student ratio
of at least 1:750;
*provide school health education to promote personal
health and wellness in the following areas: hand washing
or hand hygiene; oral health; growth and development;
sun safety and skin cancer prevention; benefits of rest
and sleep; ways to prevent vision and hearing loss; and
the importance of health screenings and checkups;
*provide comprehensive school health education to
prevent health problems in the following areas:
unintentional injury; violence; suicide; tobacco use and
addiction; alcohol or other drug use; unintended
pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and STD infection; unhealthy dietary
patterns; and inadequate physical activity; …
*HEALTHY PEOPLE 2020
*Chronic Conditions (Asthma, Diabetes, etc.…)
*Attendance / Chronic Absenteeism
*Obesity/Nutrition/Physical Activity
*Food Insecurity / School Breakfast
*Sleep
*Mental Health Condition (Anxiety/Stress,
Depression, Suicide, Self-Injury…)
*Risk Behaviors (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other
Drug Use, STD’s, Pregnancy…)
* Health Conditions Impacting
Academic Performance
*School Wellness Policies are federally mandated
*Section 204 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
of 2010 (Public Law 111-296) added Section 9A to
the Richard B. Russell national School Lunch Act
(42 USC 1758b), Local School Wellness Policy
Implementation.
*Each local educational agency that participates
in the National School Lunch Program or other
federal Child Nutrition programs is required by
federal law to establish a local school wellness
policy for all schools under its jurisdiction.
*DID YOU KNOW??
*This bill expands the scope of local school wellness
policies; brings in additional stakeholders in its
development, implementation and review; and requires
public updates on the content and implementation of the
wellness policies.
*The intent is to strengthen local school wellness policies
so they become useful tools in evaluating, establishing,
and maintaining healthy school environments, and to
make clear to the public (including parents, students,
and others in the community) about the content and
implementation of local school wellness policies.
*THE HEALTHY, HUNGER-FREE
KIDS ACT OF 2010
* Include goals for nutrition promotion and education, physical activity,
and other school-based activities that promote student wellness.
* Include nutrition guidelines to promote student health and reduce
childhood obesity for all foods available in each school district.
* Permit parents, students, representatives of the school food authority,
teachers of physical education, school health professionals, the
school board, school administrators, and the general public to
participate in the development, implementation, and review and
update of the local wellness policy.
* Inform and update the public (including parents, students, and others
in the community) about the content and implementation of local
wellness policies.
* Be measured periodically on the extent to which schools are in
compliance with the local wellness policy, the extent to which the
local education agency’s local wellness policy compares to model local
school wellness policies, and the progress made in attaining the goals
of the local wellness policy, and make this assessment available to the
public.
*LOCAL SCHOOL
WELLNESS POLICIES
*STOP
1. How do you think your schools could
benefit from completing the SHI?
2. What health topic area(s) is/are most
importance to your school? Why?
*Mental Health
Food Insecurity
*Obesity
Sleep
*Physical Activity Chronic Conditions
*Sexual Health
School Safety /Violence
*Attendance/Chronic Absenteeism
*Substance Use/Prevention
*THINK PAIR SHARE
* Contact Information
Lorraine Chewey New Jersey City University
lchewey@njcu/edu 201-200-2421
References
Basch, C. (2010). Equity Matters: Research Review No. 6. Healthier Students are Better Learners: A Missing Link in
School Reform to Close the Achievement Gap. New York: Teachers College Columbia University.
http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/12557_EquityMattersVol6_Web03082010.pdf
Ickovics JR, Carroll-Scott A, Peters SM, Schwartz M, Gilstad-Hayden K, McCaslin C. Health and academic achievement:
Cumulative effects of health assets on standardized test scores among urban youth in the United States.
Journal of School Health, 84:40-48.
Institute of Medicine. (2012). Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Lear, J.G. (2007). Health at school: A hidden health care system emerges from the shadows. Health Affairs, 26(2),
409-419. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.26.2.409
National Association of School Nurses Position Statement. (2011). The Role of the School Nurse. Available at:
https://www.nasn.org/PolicyAdvocacy/PositionPapersandReports/NASNPositionStatementsFullView/tabid/
462/ArticleId/87/Role-of-the-School-Nurse-Revised-2011
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2010) Charting Nursing’s Future: Unlocking the Potential of School Nursing: Keeping
Children Healthy, In School, and Ready to Learn. Available at:
http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2010/rwjf64263
US Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People
2020. Washington, DC. Available at: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/default.aspx.
Wang, L.Y., Vernon-Smiley, M., Gapinski, M.A., DeSisto, M., Maughan, E. , & Sheetz, A. (2014) Cost-benefit study of
school nursing services. Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, Published online May 19,
2014. Available at: http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/