Category: School of Nursing
Supporting school nurses
October 30, 2023 Written by Amy Cherry | Photo by: Ashley Barnas
Innovative partnership between 91原创鈥檚 College of Health Sciences and school nurses aims to address pediatric health inequities
As a school nurse in the Indian River School District, Stacy Robinson has applied her fair share of band-aids; she鈥檚 handed out ice packs and dealt with lice. But the scope of the school nurse is far greater.
In most Delaware schools, a single school nurse cares for hundreds, even thousands, of children. From medical emergencies to verifying immunization records and conducting state-mandated vision and hearing screenings, the school nurse plays a vital role in pediatric healthcare.聽
鈥淲e have a lot of difficulty accessing resources for our kids, and our population in southern Delaware is growing rapidly,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淥ur kids deserve to see and eat comfortably and not have mouth pain and get treated for their illnesses in a timely manner.鈥澛
Access to healthcare has always been something Robinson struggled with as a school nurse. In her nine years as a school nurse, no one had ever asked Robinson what she needed.聽
鈥淏eing in Sussex County, we often feel like we have limited resources because we鈥檙e so rural and farther away from larger providers,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淚ndian River is a huge school district, and we have needs unique to us, so we鈥檙e always looking for opportunities to advocate for ourselves.鈥澛
That is, until the 91原创聽College of Health Sciences聽stepped in.聽Lauren Covington, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, and聽Freda Patterson, professor and associate dean of research for CHS, were strategizing ways to increase access to healthcare services for pediatric populations, particularly in southern Delaware.聽
鈥淐ontacting school nurses was a great gateway to accessing children and their healthcare needs,鈥 Covington said.聽
With support from 91原创鈥檚 Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Cardiovascular Health, Covington and Patterson organized a dinner last March following CHS聽Research Day聽that served as an active listening session.聽
鈥淚t was an opportunity for school nurses to come together and talk about health priorities, the barriers they face in helping students, and their goals to improve pediatric health,鈥 Covington said. 鈥淚t was a really rich and vibrant discussion.鈥澛
Seventy-five nurses from up and down the state attended, and from there, an authentic community partnership was born.