With the new school year in St. Louis Public Schools comes an expanded collaboration between BJC HealthCare, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and SLPS through the “Healthy Kids-Healthy Minds” program designed to increase school nurse staffing in the district and provide health care to students, families and faculty.
BJC is funding four St. Louis Children’s Hospital nurses to staff full-time at four SLPS elementary schools: Pierre Laclede, Hodgen, Lexington, and Woodward. Adding nurses at these schools also brings SLPS closer to having a full-time school nurse in every school, as endorsed by both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses.
For Ta’Lisa Davis, RN, working at Laclede is a perfect fit. She has been a nurse at Children’s Hospital for 18 years, a nurse clinician for its sickle cell program and a director at Camp Crescent, which is for children with sickle cell anemia.
When The American arrived at Laclede two mornings into the new school year, the school nurse was already tending to a young patient, a little girl. A few minutes later, we went upstairs to an inviting and brightly decorated nurse’s office, and the child was all smiles as the nurse escorted her back to her classroom.
The goal is to keep students healthy and in school where they can learn, and to free up teachers to teach.
“If the teachers have to do more medical stuff, that’s not their field,” Davis said. “They need to do what they are trained to do, which is teaching, and let us help out with any type of medical issues.”
Other than a couple of minor cuts and falls, her work as an onsite school nurse has mainly been treating children with asthma.
“We have asthma packets we give out to the families introducing the program and how we will be able to treat them. The success with it is we teach them while they’re here, how to use their inhalers properly and how to have the spacer available when they use it,” Davis said. “It’s a good learning model for the kids because, some of the time, the kids can go home and teach the parents.”
When medication is needed for a child with asthma, it is available, paid for by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation. In September, Children’s mobile asthma van will come to the school to treat students.
The Children’s Hospital nurses will perform the same duties as the more than 60 nurses hired by SLPS. They will assess health complaints, administer medications and assist students with special health care needs. They will also provide intensive case management, implement vision and hearing screenings, verify immunizations and assist with any emergencies.
There are programs available where students can get free eyeglasses and dental care.
The nurses will also help manage students’ chronic health care needs that could affect educational achievement, such as diabetes, asthma, life-threatening food allergies and sickle cell disease.
Superintendent Kelvin Adams selected the schools to receive the expanded health services, a health model that includes an onsite nurse, and the expertise of a licensed clinical social worker, behavioral health services and a health professional trained in trauma-informed care. A Children’s Hospital mental health care provider will work within each of the schools to consult with staff and parents regarding social, emotional and behavioral needs of students. This could include small-group and individual counseling and behavioral assessments when needed. These providers will collaborate with the current counselors and social workers at the schools.
“Our students work hard to be their best, and these staff additions will be a tremendous addition to our dedicated nurses, who will help ensure students stay healthy – both physically and emotionally – to achieve their academic goals,” said Stacy Clay, deputy superintendent of student support services, Saint Louis Public Schools. “The partnership between our schools and Children’s reinforces the commitment we all share to St. Louis youth.”
As part of the current “Healthy Kids-Healthy Minds” program, Children’s Hospital provides immunization administration, dental care and health screenings through the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Healthy Kids Express.
Children’s also provides access to educational programs including Safety Street for K – 5 grade, teen outreach in middle schools, and food allergy toolkits.
Davis is grateful for opportunity from BJC and Children’s Hospital, SLPS and Laclede leadership, including Principal DaMaris White, to have what she already describes as an “amazing” experience.
“I really love my job,” Davis said. “It’s not a huge difference from the hospital; I just bring the hospital to the community – it’s the same population, it’s just in a different setting.”
