Froedtert Hospital - Neighborhood School Nurse Initiative

Overview

The Neighborhood School Nurse Initiative is a collaborative effort between Froedtert Hospital, Westside Academies (a K-8 public charter school), and Progressive Community Health Center (a federally qualified health center), to provide a full-time school nurse for about 700 students in the Washington Park neighborhood. Since 2006, Froedtert Hospital has employed a school nurse to serve the school as part of its “place based” health improvement strategy for this low-income neighborhood. The nurse offers student nursing care and case management during the school year, coordinating services with parents and staff to meet basic health needs for students. Classroom health education and wellness sessions facilitated by the nurse promote preventive health and early intervention. The school nurse also serves as liaison to the Progressive Community Health Center to provide referrals and assist students and families in need of a primary health care home as well as dental and immunization services.

Impact

Through spring of the 2012-13 academic year, the school nurse has provided more than 1,000 health visits with students and conducted a series of health education sessions with students, parents, and staff. This has resulted in a 96 percent return to class rate and 100 percent immunization compliance for the K-5 class following survey by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. According to the school’s principal, the school nurse has “literally changed the culture of the school.” Where students would have previously spent much time out of class, or sent home – often for minor health concerns – the school nurse has been able to keep more students in class and provide tighter communication between their parents and physicians. This has been especially important for those students requiring monitoring and medication for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, ADHD, and food allergies. The Westside Academies principal adds, “Our students are here more often and they are here, ready to learn because of Froedtert’s school nurse.”

Challenges/success factors

Initially, the nurse’s first efforts were to build trust with the students and their families, as well as the school staff, who have often seen resources from community partners ebb and flow unpredictably over the years. Working in concert with the school psychologist and social worker, the nurse brings a greater dimension to the total health of the students and their families, recognizing that getting routine medical and dental care at a community health center is as important as a good education. Because the school had been without nursing services for many years, teaching staff were frequently trying to address health issues – which pulled them away from the classroom, and they were still unable to provide the follow-through with families and physicians. The most valuable success factor for the Washington Park neighborhood is that the school nurse is much more than a provider of school-day health care; she is a vital link between students, staff, families, and the health center for neighborhood health improvement. The collaborative relationship between the school, the hospital, and the community health center demonstrates how resources can be leveraged to promote mutual benefit.

Future direction/sustainability

The neighborhood school nurse initiative will continue to build connectivity with parents and family physicians, and to grow the value of a primary health care home. Although Froedtert is an adult, tertiary care center, it will continue to support the school nurse in the Washington Park neighborhood as a strategic community benefit investment.

Advice to others

Keep community partnerships – especially with community health centers – at the forefront. Students’ health (or lack thereof) happens in context of their families and neighborhoods. With a student population of much more than a few hundred, having a full-time nurse has been critical.

Contact: Geeta Wadhwani, RN, BSN
Nurse Manager, Urban Health Programs
Telephone: 414-805-0863
E-mail: geeta.wadhwani@froedterthealth.org