Care Coordination: A Principle of 21st Century School Nursing Practice With a Focus on Case Management.

The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™, created by the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), explains school nursing practice, providing guidance, organization, prioritization, and meaning. This is the second article in a series for The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice. This article focuses on case management, one of the practice components in the principle of care coordination. Case management focuses on school nurse support of individual at-risk students and collaborative actions to reduce barriers to their academic success. This article will clarify how the terms care coordination and case management are used in context of the Framework and provide an example to help the reader apply the concept to practice. Washington's School Nurse Case Management Program will serve as a model. The program outlines evidence for effective practice and shares practical examples of how school nurses can implement case management into their daily work. Any school nurse, no matter how large or small their workload, can provide case management.

Rural school nurse perception of book studies as an effective method for professional development.

School nurses who serve public school districts in rural Northwest Washington face barriers in accessing Continuing Education (CE) for professional development as they often practice in remote, isolated school communities. Acknowledging these barriers, the author discusses the inclusion of book studies within an existing training structure as an innovative method of providing professional development. By utilizing training that is already attended by rural school nurses, CE can be enhanced without incurring additional travel, cost, or training time. The school nurse's perception of the effectiveness of book studies as a CE method was examined per a descriptive, qualitative program evaluation. Over a period of 5 years, evaluation and feedback data from 12 rural school nurses were compiled from nine individual school nurse book study evaluations and one general satisfaction survey. Findings indicated overall school nurse satisfaction and belief that school nurse book studies are an effective and beneficial method for the delivery of professional development--a method that promotes collaborative learning and collegiality, informs practice, and provides insight into the broader health and social issues impacting today's students.

An innovative program to address learning barriers in small schools: Washington State School Nurse Corps.

While all schools in Washington State have had to deal with shrinking financial resources, small, rural school districts, with fewer than 2,000 students, face unique circumstances that further challenge their ability to meet rising student health needs. This article will explore how small districts utilize the services of the Washington State School Nurse Corps (SNC), an innovative program that supports student health and safety while reducing barriers to learning. Through direct registered nursing services and regional nurse administrative consultation and technical assistance, the SNC strengthens rural school districts' capacity to provide a safe and healthy learning environment. In addition, we will examine current research that links health and learning to discover how the SNC model is successful in addressing health risks as barriers to learning. Lastly, as resources continue to dwindle, partnerships between schools, the SNC, and state and local health and education organizations will be critical in maintaining health services and learning support to small, rural schools.