Oral

The theme of this session is school nurse sensitive outcomes. Three different projects that all relate to identifying school nursing outcomes will be presented. Much has been done regarding hospital acute care nursing outcomes but not in other settings such as school nursing. In the age accountability it is critical for school nurses to identify outcomes they can measure and use nationwide to illustrate the impact nurses have on health and academics. This is a critical workforce issue as the role of the school nurse is often not well understood; with no quantifiable measures of accountability, they are often cut or spread too thin. Lack of school nurses also impacts the health of children, families and communities. The purpose of this session is to discuss how outcomes were identified; provide examples of work being done to determine if certain outcomes are school nurse sensitive; and discuss the process of narrowing the outcomes. The session will also promote the use of critical population-based outcomes in research, evaluation, and policy worldwide. Although the session will focus on school nursing, the same principles apply to public health nursing and other of its subspecialities. Time in the discussion will be used to discuss how to work together in identifying population-based nursing outcomes.

Session Objectives: 1.Describe the process of selecting school nurse sensitive outcomes. 2.Describe the evolution of the “failure to rescue” (FTR) concept as a nurse sensitive outcomes measure in various practice settings. 3.Identify strategies on how school (and public health) nurses can influence school-based injuries and absenteeism related to the injuries. 4.Analyze how various efforts in identifying school nursing outcomes can be applied to other population-based outcomes.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)