Seizures In The School Setting

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Helpful School Nurse Tip In 2001 I was preparing my thesis project for my masters degree. It was then I learned that many teachers were nervous when a student in their class had a known seizure disorder. I created these teacher tips to help teach the teachers what they needed to know about a variety of health conditions in the school setting; even seizure disorders.

What are Teacher Tips & Why School Nurses should use them?

As nurses, we often take our knowledge for granted. There might even be times when we assume others understand or have a similar knowledge base regarding certain health conditions. However, many times they do not. Since school nurses are often viewed as the medical expert within the school setting one of our roles to educate others. The goal is educate enough so they understand what they need to know about certain medical conditions.

Teacher Tips cards provide an opportunity to educate others within the school on a specific health condition. These digital and partially editable "cards" give broad information on a health condition and allow you to provide more specific details as needed.

How can you use Teacher Tips?

Many years ago (when email was optional!), I used to print Teacher Tips om paper, write student specific information, and hand deliver to teachers or put them inside their teacher mailbox. Now, I include these digital Teacher Tips digital health information cards within the body of an email message to teachers and/or add them as an IHP attachment in Skyward for a specific student.

EMAIL: Since the Teacher Tips cards offer broad information, I have the option of including more student specific details within the body of the email; information staff would need to know. I can also include a copy of the 504 Plan or ask teachers to reference the 504 Plan for even more specific information.

SKYWARD: Use Skyward to your advantage! If you have access to the Skyward Health module then consider uploading the Teacher Tips cards within the Health tab of Skyward Student Management. Do you know how?

Once you have your student screen open select IHP
Then “Add File”
Enter a form description
Then Choose the Teacher Tips file you want to attach (download as a PDF from Google prior to attaching in Skyward)
Don’t stop there- Use the Comment box to add student specific information or more detailed information you want to the teacher to be aware of.

This is an excellent communication tool and resource between you and the teachers. Especially at the 6-8 or 9-12 grade levels when student schedules change mid year or without notice. Do you utilize the Health Condition tab in Skyward? Another great tool and would make for another informational Diary Of A School Nurse blog post!

... Moving on to Teacher Tips for Seizures ...

Teacher Tips for Seizures

Here are some tips when you are looking at items listed for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers; whether it is The School Nurse store or any other store:

Read product descriptions carefully so you know what you are purchasing
Look at all of the pictures provided of the product- even the product preview pictures
Read the reviews and the responses to the reviews
Check out the custom categories list the store
Start with a FREE TpT product- The School Nurse store offers 17 FREE digital products

The goal is to provide school staff the education and training they need to feel confident they can help a student during a health emergency situation until the school nurse or another trained staff member arrives and can take over care. Many times a seizure is over by the time the nurse arrives and we want school staff to feel comfortable and confident in providing initial care to students.

Teacher Tips related to Seizures in the School Setting

Vagus Nerve Stimulator VNS
Let's start with the FREE product- the VNS Teacher Tips. It provides a good overview of the other 3 seizure related products & it has a 5 star rating!

This is a Google slides product and you will need to allow TpT access to your Google drive. Once available, you'll be able to view the actual product and edit as needed. The wording below each of the yellow areas is fully editable.

The digital health conditions card provides an easy to understand overview of what a VNS is and includes a "What You Need To Know" section with 7 editable items. There are links to a sample Seizure Action Plan and a Vagus Nerve Stimulator training video too.

The product includes the original black / white card and also the newly updated blue font card :)

Grand Mal Seizures

If you're downloading the free VNS Teacher Tips card because one of your students is living with one, then you might also be interested in this Grand Mal Teacher Tips card.

This Teacher Tips digital health card provides a general overview of Grand Mal seizures. There are also 12 editable "What You Need To Know" Teacher Tips. Just as with the VNS card, you can edit these Teacher Tips to include more or less information as needed.

Petite Mal Seizures / Absence Seizures

This Teacher Tips digital health card provides a general overview of Petit Mal / Absence seizures. There are 6 editable "What You Need To Know" Teacher Tips. This area of the card is editable too, so you can include more or less information as needed.

Complex Partial Seizures

This Teacher Tips digital health card provides a general overview of Complex Partial Seizures. There are 10 editable "What You Need To Know" Teacher Tips. The "What You Need To Know" area of the card is editable too, so you can include more or less information as needed.