Student Health Conditions (Complex Disease Management)

Table of Contents

Children living with chronic health conditions go to school every day.  Districts and accredited nonpublic schools must provide services to meet your child's health needs by following rules surrounding the safe delivery of health services.

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Care Coordination

The following resources assist safe health service delivery to students by school nurses. Parents, the child’s healthcare provider and school nurse are a team working together to meet the needs of children with chronic health conditions. School nurses perform care coordination in the development and implementation of an individualized health plan, plan for emergencies, communication, working with others in the school setting to ensure the learner’s needs are met and connecting families to community resources.

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Standards of Practice

The nursing scope of practice defines the who, what, where, when, why, and how of nursing activities occurring at school. In management of chronic health conditions, the school nurse uses these competencies and expectations for ensuring the provision of high-quality, safe, and ethical care.

An Individualized Health Plan is developed for any ongoing health service regardless of the student’s chronic health condition.

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Asthma

Learners with asthma (whose condition is stable or unstable) requiring ongoing health services or emergency planning at school or in their program will have an individualized health plan. The following are resources that the school nurse may use: 

Asthma-Friendly Schools Initiative Resources and Tools (American Lung Association)

Managing Asthma in Schools (CDC)

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Anaphylaxis

Learners with Anaphylaxis (whose condition is stable or unstable) requiring ongoing health services or emergency planning at school or in their program will have an individualized health plan. The following are resources that the school nurse may use: 

Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC))

Diet Modification Request Form

Food Allergy and Research Education (FARE)

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Seizure Disorders

Learners with seizure disorders (whose condition is stable or unstable) requiring ongoing health services or emergency planning at school or in their program will have an individualized health plan. The following are resources that the school nurse may use: 

Epilepsy Foundation

Epilepsy Learning Portal (Epilepsy Foundation)

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Diabetes

Learners with diabetes (whose condition is stable or unstable) requiring ongoing health services or emergency planning at school or in their program will have an individualized health plan. The following are resources that the school nurse may use: 

Managing Diabetes at School (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

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Mental Health 

Learners with mental health conditions (whose condition is stable or unstable) requiring ongoing health services or emergency planning at school or in their program will have an individualized health plan. The following are resources that the school nurse may use: 

Mental Health webpage (Iowa Department of Education)

Your Life Iowa

National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI)

NAMI Iowa

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