BEF is continuing its support for the 25 school nurses who support students across all 54 schools in the district. Here’s how:
Nursing supplies
BEF supplied all school nurses with kits of nursing supplies to help them better meet the needs of their students.
With otoscopes, school nurses can check for ear infections. “I have identified many likely ear infections and was able to get quick physician referrals for students,” shared one nurse.
Another described how the kits help her day-to-day: “Just five minutes ago, I used my penlight to check for corneal abrasion on a student with a direct hit to the eye and 20 minutes before that, I used the otoscope on a student with ear pain.”
Stethoscopes are particularly helpful during cold and flu season to listen for upper respiratory infections.
Memberships
BEF has also paid for district nurses to join the National School Nurses Association and the Oregon School Nurses Association. Through these memberships, they are able to access, learning modules, and fact sheets in multiple languages. They are also useful in helping school nurses keep up with the latest in best practices and guidelines for care.
Free Eyeglasses
Memberships also allow nurses to give vouchers for free eye exams and glasses to students which potentially saves families hundreds to thousands of dollars a year. “We handed out 196 vouchers last year following school vision screenings to help students get needed eyeglasses.” Given how often students break or lose their glasses, vouchers help pay for a replacement pair that would otherwise not be covered by the family’s health insurance.
Stay up with the trends
Nurses also tackle emerging trends in health issues: “We have been seeing an increase in the number of students with POTS and a newer, working BP cuff and pulse oximeter enable us to gather the useful and needed information for a medical provider to make a diagnosis.”
