The Department of Education is pleased to announce the release of the School Health Annual Report summary for 2017-18. This report is a combination of the required reporting for Maine and optional data that is being collected as part of the national initiative with the National Association of School Nurses, Every Student Counts™. Collecting school health data informs local, state, and national student health policy and helps to promote best practices in school health services. Creating data driven polices to advocate for the needs of students, we can increase evidence-based school nursing practice and improve youth health outcomes.
To highlight a few points of interest in the report, students seen by a registered nurse in the health office returned back to class 91% of the time, compared to only 85% when seen by a health aide or unlicensed person in the school. There were 41 reports of epinephrine being administered in Maine schools for suspected anaphylaxis. 29% of those were for a peanut allergy and 25% were to people with a previously undiagnosed life threatening allergy.
As a reminder, there will be a change in the way this report is collected starting with the report for 2018-19. In the past, this report has been done by each school. The reporting link will be sent to the superintendent listed in NEO for each district, who will need to select and forward it to one point person to be responsible for compiling and submitting the data from all schools within the SAU.
The following is a list of the data points that are being collected:
- Number of students screened for distance acuity, near acuity, and hearing in the required grades and the number of students referred/number of students with completed referral (required reporting per Chapter 45)
- Summary of epinephrine administration (required reporting per Chapter 40)
- Staffing levels for health services (direct services, supplemental staff, special assignments, supervisory position provided by RN, LPN, and health aides)
- Number of students with a diagnosis (from a health care provider) of asthma, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, seizure disorder, life threatening allergy
- Health office visits & disposition (number of students seen face to face by RN, LPN, health aide and resulting disposition: return to class, sent home, or 911 call)
If you have questions about the School Health Annual Report or Every Student Counts™, please contact the School Nurse Consultant, Emily.Poland@Maine.gov or 207-624-6688, or visit the Every Student Counts™ Website.