SCHOOL NURSES

Nurses make it better!

School nurses work with children, their families, school educators and the community. The school nurse’s role was historically viewed as providing episodic care to individual children. However, school nurses now often provide highly skilled nursing care to chronically ill and medically fragile children. School nurses are also responsible for educating the school community on health practices such as hearing and vision screening, prevention of injuries, prevention of communicable disease through immunization and promoting health through education. As a public health agency, we partner with school nurses to ensure they have the necessary resources to educate on infection prevention and promote overall health.

School Audits

To ensure compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:57 New Jersey State Sanitary Code, Immunization of Pupils in Schools, an annual audit of school immunization records is completed. Conducting an audit allows for accurate capture of current and pertinent data for assessing immunization status of a school community as well as any vulnerabilities should an outbreak occur.

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• Annual Immunization Status Report - must be completed by February 1st of the respective academic year.

• Immunization Requirements for Auditing for students in grades K-12

• Immunization Requirements for Auditing for preschool students and students in childcare/daycare centers

Immunization Audit Information

• "B" Smart About Hepatitis B

• Immunization Regulations Pertaining to Children Attending School/Higher Education (NJ) Department of Health Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program)

• (IMM-8 Form) Standard Immunizations for 3 Year Olds

• (IMM-8 Form) Standard Immunizations for 5 Year Olds

• Examples of Standard School/Child Care Center Immunization Records for children 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 3 years old and 5 years old

Tuberculosis Testing in NJ Schools

• ​TB FAQ Sheet

• TB Screening Guidance

• TB Annual Reporting

• TB Instructions for Annual Reporting

• TB Required Testing

• TB Statement of Non-Infectious for Individual With TB

• TB Statement of Non-Infectious for Symptomatic Individual

• TB Symptom Assessment Religious Exemption

• TB Symptom Assessment

Guideline for Outbreak Investigations in Schools

New Jersey Administrative Code mandates that each school district/child care center immediately report any communicable diseases that are identified as reportable pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:57‐1, whether confirmed or presumed, by telephone to the health officer of the jurisdiction in which the school is located. These regulations pertain to youth camps, child care centers, preschools, schools and institutions of higher education.

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• Outbreak Guidelines

• School Exclusion Criteria

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Food Allergy & Epinephrine Policies, Protocols and Reporting

School nurses play an important role in implementing policies and protocols that help ensure the timely treatment of anaphylaxis in their schools.

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• Guidelines for Management of Allergies in School

For more information regarding NWBRHC's Nursing Services, please contact:

Kirsteen Diaz-Pinto, BSN, RN-BC
NWBRHC's Public Health Nurse
Phone: (201) 445-7217 ext. 207
Email: phn@nwbrhc.net

Or

Chantal Folkes, MA
NWBRHC's Health Educator
Phone: (201) 445-7217 ext. 205
Email: healtheducation@nwbrhc.net