The School Nurse & Special Services in the School Setting
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As a school nurse, you play an essential role in supporting students with special needs, whether they’re receiving an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 plan. While these two plans serve different purposes, both are designed to ensure that students have access to the education they deserve. But it’s not just about paperwork—your involvement is crucial to making these plans effective and ensuring student health and safety.
From attending IEP meetings to collaborating with teachers and staff, the school nurse helps identify health-related needs and provides key information that can guide the development of a student’s plan. Whether it's addressing medication needs, monitoring chronic conditions, or providing specialized health services, your expertise ensures that the student’s health is taken into account in their educational plan. This involvement is not only necessary for compliance but also for creating an environment where every student has the support they need to succeed.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into how the school nurse contributes to both IEPs and 504 plans, with a special focus on the health-related domains that you need to be aware of. Whether you're new to the process or a seasoned pro, this will help you understand your role and how to advocate for your students’ health and well-being.
IEPs & SCHOOL NURSES: AN ESSENTIAL BEGINNER BASIC COURSE
First stop IEPs... Now there would be a lot of ground to cover in one blog post, so I want to highlight a continuing education course you can take to learn all of the basics. Then, the next section of this blog post will dive a little deeper in the health domain portion of the IEP paperwork and lastly we'll talk a little about 504 Plans.
As a school nurse, you are a vital part of the special education team, and your role in supporting students with disabilities is essential. Navigating the world of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) can feel overwhelming at first, but understanding the process and knowing how to contribute effectively is key to making a positive impact on your students' educational experience.
Get Started with the Basics: IEPs and School Nurses
If you're looking to get a better handle on the IEP process, I have just the course for you! "IEPs and School Nurses: An Essential Beginner Basics Course" is designed specifically for school nurses, like you, who want to feel more confident and competent when it comes to special education services. This course covers the foundational knowledge you need to understand IEPs, helping you navigate the process with ease.
You’ll learn about the 13 disability categories outlined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which determine eligibility for special education services. This is a crucial piece of understanding how IEPs work and ensuring that students get the support they need. You’ll also become familiar with the required IEP team members and the essential steps of the IEP process, from initial referral to implementation. Plus, you’ll receive a handy PDF of common special education acronyms and abbreviations to keep as a reference!
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:
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Recognize the 13 IDEA disability categories for special education services
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Identify the required IEP team members
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Understand the steps involved in the IEP process
And don’t forget to check with your school district about reimbursement opportunities for continuing education, especially since maintaining your nursing license requires ongoing learning.
Completing an IEP Health Domain
Hopefully Helpful School Nurse Tip: Being involved in the special education process can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re new to completing your sections of an IEP. But with a clearer understanding of what’s involved—and a few practical tips—you’ll feel confident and ready. Let’s start by tackling the Health Domain portion.
What is a Health Domain?
To understand the health domain, it helps to know a bit about the overall Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. An IEP is a formal document outlining goals and intended outcomes to support a student’s educational success. Before setting specific goals, a team assessment reviews different “domains,” or areas of development, to identify any factors that may impact learning. To learn more about the IEP process and how students qualify for services, sign up for this 1 hour continuing education course- IEPs & SCHOOL NURSES: AN ESSENTIAL BEGINNER BASICS COURSE.
The Role of the Health Domain in Special Education
A domain meeting is held as part of the IEP process, where each team member presents findings in their specialty area. This may include academics, social-emotional well-being, cognitive function, and more. The school nurse completes the Health Domain review. There are eight domains to review:
- Academic Achievement
- Functional Performance
- Cognitive Function
- Communication Status
- Health
- Vision and Hearing
- Motor Ability
- Social/Emotional Conditions
Based on the findings presented at the meeting, additional evaluations may be requested, pending parental consent. If the health-related findings suggest further assessments or accommodations might support the student’s learning, the nurse or another team member may recommend these additional evaluations. Any follow-up information gathered would then be presented at a future meeting.
Who Completes the Health Domain?
Guidelines for completing health domains vary by state. For example, in Illinois, only a School Nurse holding a Professional Educator License (PEL) can complete the health section of the IEP.
In Illinois school districts without a PEL nurse, a Registered Nurse (RN) may complete this work if they’ve passed the state-approved RN with IEP designation course offered by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Be sure to check the requirements in your state to ensure compliance!
How & Why is a Health Domain Completed?
Completing the health domain involves a school health chart review and any registration health updates, a critical step for gathering student health information. During this review, school nurses document any relevant health diagnoses, medications, health action plans, and Individualized Healthcare Plans (IHPs) that may impact a student’s educational experience. This information will be presented at the Domain Meeting to help determine if further health evaluations are needed.
How The School Nurse Completes Health Domains
- Print my calendar invitation to attend the meeting
- Pull the school health chart for the student listed on the calendar invitation. I keep the invitation upright so I can see the date of the meeting and know that is my deadline to complete the domain paperwork by
- Print this Health Domain Document- I'm old school & like to complete with paper and pen, but you could easily complete this electronically and just "make a copy" for each new meeting, ditch the lines & just type the information
- Fill in the information listed on the Health Domain Document by completing a school health chart review
- Enter my findings into my school district's web based special education system
- Print a copy of the electronic report and file that along with my paper Health Domain Document into the student's school health chart
504 Plans and The School Nurse
Navigating 504 Plans: A Key Role for School Nurses
In addition to IEPs, school nurses also play a big role in helping students with 504 plans. A 504 plan is all about providing accommodations for students with disabilities who don’t need specialized instruction but still need a little extra support to thrive in school. While IEPs are for students who qualify for special education, 504 plans make sure that students with disabilities—like ADHD, asthma, or anxiety—get the help they need to fully participate in school activities.
As a school nurse, your part in a 504 plan is all about making sure health-related accommodations are clearly outlined and that students’ medical needs are met. For example, if a student has a chronic condition, you might help set up a plan for administering medications, or make sure staff know how to handle any health emergencies. You’ll also be involved in keeping track of how the accommodations are being followed and stepping in to help if something needs to be adjusted.
Because every 504 plan is personalized, your input is crucial in documenting health information and working with teachers and staff to help meet each student’s needs. As a school nurse, your role is vital in keeping students safe and supported, so they can succeed in the classroom and beyond.
To help make things easier, I’ve created 41 pre-made, editable 504 plan templates that school nurses can use to save time and stay organized. These templates cover a wide range of conditions, from asthma and ADHD to epilepsy and diabetes. With these templates, you can quickly customize each plan to meet your students' unique needs, making sure their health accommodations are taken care of.
Not only do these templates help you document everything clearly, but they also streamline the process of creating 504 plans, giving you more time to focus on supporting students rather than getting bogged down by paperwork. You can download the templates, make any changes you need, and use them to help students with health-related needs get the right accommodations.
If you're interested in checking out the 41 editable 504 plan templates, click HERE.RESOURCES
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