Module:

Working with Your School Nurse: What General Education Teachers Should Do to Promote Educational Success for Students with Health Needs

Wrap Up

In this module you learned three important facts about school nurses: They have multiple roles in the school environment. Their participation in the IEP process is essential. They collaborate with family, school personnel, and community professionals.

Because the roles of the school nurse and other educational professionals sometimes overlap, it is important that the school nurse, the general education teacher, and other school personnel collaborate and communicate about the healthcare needs of their students, including educating students about healthy lifestyles. This collaboration and communication has a ripple effect: When the general education teacher shows an active interest in the healthcare needs of his or her students, it enables the school nurse to better assist those students. In turn, students whose healthcare needs are met are better able to focus on learning.

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View Transcript

Think back to your initial responses to the following questions. After working through the resources in this module, do you still agree with your Initial Thoughts? If not, what aspects of your answers would you change? Do you think Ms. Worley's and Ms. Valens's reasons for being upset were valid? What is Ms. Valens's role as a school nurse? With whom should Ms. Valens collaborate?