School Nurse

Mary McDowell Friends School is a K-12 college preparatory program dedicated to the success of students with learning disabilities. Grounded in the Quaker values of equality, integrity, and social responsibility, we cultivate a diverse community in which all students can reach their full potential. Our specialized teaching methodologies and challenging curricula empower students to become academic achievers, creative thinkers, and contributing members of a global society. 

McDowell Friends School (MMFS) invites applications for a part-time School Nurse beginning immediately.

Job Title: School Nurse

Reports to: Senior School Nurse

Position Overview 

The School Nurse will support the mission of the school by ensuring the health and wellness of the school community. Provide daily and ongoing health care to the school community and communicate necessary information in a timely manner. Oversee and maintain accurate and up-to-date health records for the school community. Work collaboratively with the health staff.

Essential Responsibilities and Duties 

• Oversee afterschool at the Lower School and Middle School across both divisions/buildings
• Promotes and protects the optimal health status of school-age children.
• Provides health assessments.
• Obtains an annual health history and updates as necessary.
• Observes the child for development and health patterns in making a nursing assessment.
• Identifies abnormal health findings.
• Develops and implements student health plans.
• Interprets the health status of students to parents and school personnel.
• Initiates referral to parents, school personnel, or community health resources for intervention, remediation, and follow-through.
• Provides ongoing health counseling for students, parents, and school personnel.
• Utilizes existing health resources to provide appropriate care of students.
• Maintains, evaluates, and interprets cumulative health data to accommodate the individual needs of students.
• Plans and implements school health management protocols.
• Develops procedures and provides for emergency nursing management for injuries/illnesses.
• Promotes and assists in the control of communicable diseases.
• Provides health education and anticipatory guidance.
• Provides direct health education as needed, and health counseling to assist students and families in making decisions on health and lifestyles that affect health.
• Participates in health education directly and indirectly for the improvement of health by teaching persons to become more assertive health consumers and to assume greater responsibility for their own health.
• Serves as a resource person to the school staff members in health instruction.
• Coordinates school and community health activities and serves as a liaison health professional between the home, school, and community.
• Acts as a resource person in promoting health careers.
• Engages in research and evaluation of school health services to act as a change agent for school health programs and school nursing practices.
• Manages and administers medication (including controlled substances) as prescribed by physician or designee.
• Monitors parameters and reports to parents, physicians, and teachers as necessary.
• Accompanies students and faculty on day trips.
• Ensures first aid bags are prepared with appropriate supplies, emergency medications and medications needed for trips.
• Completes accident reports for employees injured onsite timely.
• Order supplies for the nursing office as needed.

Communications

• Meets and communicates regularly with Senior School RN.
• Updates administration regarding emerging health issues for emergencies.

Competencies

• Communication Proficiency.
• Ethical decision-making to manage and evaluate patient care.
• Confidentiality (HIPAA/FERPA).

Diversity and Equity Commitments 

• Understand and participate in all school-wide diversity and equity initiatives.
• Examine administrative practice through the lens of race, identity, equity, and privilege.
• Provide an equitable framework for leadership decisions.
• Support a school culture that allows for social identities to feel welcome.

Supervisory Responsibility 

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work 

This is a part-time 20-hour, exempt 10-month position that follows the academic calendar. Evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand and will be scheduled in advance. Attendance is required on professional development and parent-teacher conference days.

Travel 

On occasion, travel between campuses is necessary for meetings, which are scheduled with advance notice and are within walking distance from each other.

Work Environment & Physical Demands 

This job requires the ability to maintain the physical capacity required to navigate the school environment and to ensure the safety of the students. Moderate physical activity. Requires handling of average-weight objects up to 25 pounds or standing and/or walking for more than four (4) hours per day. Classroom locations vary based on student schedules and work location; this position occasionally ascends/descends stairs to reach rooms in the building (one to five flights). This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets. Work environment involves exposure to potentially dangerous materials and situations that require following extensive safety precautions and may include the use of protective equipment.

Regularly exposed to the risk of bloodborne diseases; Contact with patients under a wide variety of circumstances. Exposed to unpleasant elements (accidents, injuries, illnesses), subject to varying and unpredictable situations. Handles emergency or crisis situations, may perform emergency care. Possess the ability to work accurately and in an organized fashion in a high-paced and often stressful environment.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Other Duties

Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of the activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.