The Roles and Responsibilities of the School Nurse

1. The school nurse delivers direct nursing care to the school community. He / She serves
as the frontliner in the delivery of school health services. The following should be functions
of a school nurse in the provision of direct nursing care to students and personnel:
a. The school nurse provides emergency nursing care for injuries and acute illness
for all students and personnel.
b. Provide long-term nursing management to students and personnel with special
health care needs. Responsibilities include
 utilization of nursing process in the management of patients
 establishing rapport in communicating with the clients and parents
 proper referral of patients to physicians
 provision or supervision of prescribed nursing care.
c. Develop an individualized nursing care plan for students and personnel with
chronic diseases.
2. The school nurse assumes leadership in the delivery of health services. As the reliable
health care worker within the school, the school nurse assesses the overall system of care
and develops a plan for ensuring that health services are delivered to all constituents.
Responsibilities include:
a. Develops plan for responding to emergencies and disasters
b. Secure and provide confidential communication, documentation of student health
information.
3. The school nurse facilitates screening and referral for different health conditions. These
include:
a. Early detection of acute and chronic diseases including communicable and non-
communicable diseases
b. Facilitate referral to other clinics and hospitals. Screening includes but is not limited
to vision, hearing, and BMI assessments.
4. The school nurse upholds a healthy school environment. The school nurse is committed
for the physical and emotional safety of the school community by:
a. Providing immunizations to students and personnel as required by the policies and
protocols of Department of Health.
b. Monitoring and Reporting communicable diseases.
c. Participating in environmental safety monitoring
d. Participating in the implementation of a plan for the prevention and management
of school violence, bullying, disasters, and terrorism events.
e. Coordinating with school counselors in developing suicide prevention plans.
f. Spearheading the implementation of Drug Use, Abuse and Prevention Program of
the University.
g. Ensuring the safety of the school environment through:
 Regular sampling of water sources for water analysis
 Regular monitoring of food sold at the canteens
 Regular campus wide fumigation to prevent insect-borne diseases
5. The school nurse promotes health by conducting health education topics that may include
nutrition, exercise, smoking prevention and cessation, oral health, prevention of sexually
transmitted infections and other infectious diseases, substance use and abuse prevention,
immunizations, adolescent pregnancy prevention, parenting, and others. The school
nurse provides health education by:
a. Providing health information to students and personnel through health education,
symposiums and seminars.
 b. Contributing on health education curriculum development.
c. Facilitating activities that promotes active healthy lifestyle among students and
personnel.
6. The school nurse serves as a leader in the development and evaluation of health policies
and programs. These programs include include:
a. Health promotion and maintenance
b. Chronic disease management
c. Coordinated school health programs
d. School wellness policies
e. Crisis/disaster management
f. Emergency medical condition management
g. Mental health protection and intervention
h. Acute illness management and
i. Infectious disease prevention and management
7. The school nurse is a link between school personnel, family, health care professionals,
and the community. Establishing partnership program with agencies and civic
organizations can significantly assist students to reach high levels of achievements. It
includes:
a. Spearheading the university’s participation in the implementation of the different
programs of the Department of Health as identified partner in the promotion of
health in the South Cotabato.
b. Coordinating with other health agencies and health professionals who may render
services to the school clientele.