The unique collaboration with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and the Seton Family of Hospitals allows over 120 registered nurses and School Health Assistants to care for more that 83,000 students in 110 schools. This model program, the first of its kind in the United States, has been nationally recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
A registered nurse and a School Health Assistant work together as a team to provide health services to students in schools. Although the registered nurse is not on campus at all times when school is in session, he or she trains and supervises the School Health Assistant to provide the needed services. The registered nurse is also available by phone and pager when not on campus.
The registered nurse works closely with families and healthcare providers of children with special healthcare needs, i.e., diabetes, asthma, cancer, cardiac issues and seizure disorders, in order to provide the healthcare necessary to keep the students safely in school.
The health team also works diligently to connect children and their families, with little or no health insurance, to needed services that are available in the community. One example of a community partnership that helps the children is the collaboration with St. David's Community Health Foundation and the City of Austin. This collaboration provides needed dental care, both acute and preventative, to many AISD students at their schools. Another example of a partnership is The Children’s Health Express, formally known as Skippy Express. The Children’s Health Express is a mobile healthcare van that travels to schools to provide primary care to students with little or no health insurance.
The school health team offers many services to the AISD students. Some of those services are:
- Case Management of students with special healthcare needs
- Disease surveillance
- Emergency and sick child care
- Health screenings
- Medication management
- Parent conferences
- Immunization management
- Health education
- Establishing linkages and making referrals to community health resources
- Dental care in collaboration with the City of Austin and St. David’s Hospital
Please contact your child’s School Nurse for additional information or call our main number at 324-0195.
