School Health
The School Health division of the Cleveland County Health Department exists to provide school nursing services to Cleveland County Schools. This group of 20 provides contract nursing services to approximately 14,000 students across 29 school sites and is comprised of nurses and nurse practitioners.
2 TYPES OF SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES
School Based Health Centers:
- Middle Schools and High Schools
- Each school has either a dedicated Nurse with additional training to provide more expanded school health services (middle schools) or a Nurse Practitioner (high schools)
- Services include evaluation and treatment, communicable disease prevention, lab tests, physical examinations, education, referrals, immunizations, medication administration and nutrition counseling.
- Adolescent Tobacco Cessation Program
Elementary/Intermediate/Alternative School Nursing:
- Most of these nurses travel between 2-3 schools
- Focus on problem-focused assessment, identification of special needs and recommending accommodations for those needs, vision and hearing referrals, education, prevention and advocacy.
One of the most important responsibilities of School Health staff is to keep students in school.
In addition, they:
- Identify special health needs and create health care plans (designed specifically for the school setting to guide both the nurse and school staff) for students with a variety of identified health conditions. These include diabetes, asthma, life-threatening allergies, seizures and other neurological conditions, migraine headaches, and many other health conditions that require the student to take medication during the school day.
- Educate and train school staff to provide care according to these care plans and administer physician ordered medications when the school nurse is not available to do so.
- Supervise and support school staff in their provision of care, medication administration, and day-to-day handling of arising health concerns.
- Continuously monitor and revise health care plans as needed.
- Provide assessment and treatment according to protocols and physician approved standing orders.
- Communicate with parents, physicians, and school staff as needed to ensure the safety and successful care of students.
VIRTUAL CARE
In collaboration with Atrium Health Levine’s Children Telemedicine program and with Cleveland County Schools in K-8 schools, parents have the option to complete an Atrium Telemedicine Parent Consent Form to allow their student to be seen by a medical provider using telemedicine technology. School nurses are making referrals to telemedicine when warranted. This allows students to be treated without leaving school in most cases, reducing the number of necessary school absences. It also prevents parents from having to leave work to take their children to the doctor.
FORMS
There are several school health forms that we ask for if you have a student in Cleveland County Schools. Completing these forms and turning them in to your child’s school will assist us in being prepared to provide any support or health care your child requires during the school day.
We ask that all Cleveland County School students submit a Health History Form to the school, so that we will be aware of all medical conditions, or medications that your child takes. The Request for Medication To Be Given During School Hours form must be completed by parent and health care provider before a student may be given medication at school.
Students receiving care for school based health center services in the middle school or high school must turn in a parent consent form for expanded health services for your child to be seen and assessed by the school based health center nurse or nurse practitioner.
Any of these forms may be obtained from your child’s school nurse or the school.
IMMUNIZATIONS
All Cleveland County School students are required to submit a record of immunizations required in accordance with NC law in the first 30 days of school attendance. For a list of the immunizations required for your child’s age and grade to attend school, please see www.immunize.nc.gov . There are immunizations required for kindergarteners, 7th graders, and 12th graders.
An annual vaccine clinic will be offered in collaboration with Cleveland County Schools if circumstances permit.
STUDENTS ENTERING A NC PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME
In addition to required immunizations, students entering a NC public school for the first time are required to submit a NC Health Assessment, done any time within the 12 months before the first day of school attendance. The Health Assessment forms are made available at Kindergarten Orientation every spring, at your child’s school, at your health care provider’s office, or the Cleveland County Health Department Child Health Clinic. Please be aware that appointments fill up rapidly and may be difficult to obtain after school starts. Help your child get a good start by making his/her appointment as soon as possible (within 12 months before the first day of school).
CONTACT US
If you cannot locate the information you are looking for, please call Heather Voyles, School Health Supervisor, at 980-484-5211 or you can email her here.