DPH Weekly Updates 12/3/15
Dear Colleagues:
Only a few short weeks for time off for winter holidays!I am sure the excitement of the holiday season in brewing in your schools, but I want to thank you all for what you do for children who are not feeling this excitement for multiple known and unknown reasons.You meet their needs in so many ways allyear long, but I know you will be working extra hard in the coming weeks to ensure that all children in your care will feel special during this holiday season.
We have had multiple inquiries from school attorneys, advocates, parents and local endocrinologists over the past few weeks concerning the issue of self-administration and independent management of diabetes care in the school setting.Any self-administration of any medication (including the use of insulin delivery systems) in the school setting must be established by a school committee policy.If self-administration of any medication, including the self-management of diabetes, is permitted under the school district policies, the school nurse must "develop and implement a plan to monitor the student's self administration" according to DPH regulations governing medication administration in schools, 105 CMR 210.006(B)(9).If self administration is permitted under a school policy,the school's policy must define what the monitoring will look like.(The regulations are very specific as to what should be included in the plan for monitoring, including notification of the licensed prescriber or parent/guardian of any variations from the plan). In other words, the school policy must define what this monitoring will include; the policy must not allow for lack of any monitoring of medication administration by a student in the school setting according to our regulations.
The Massachusetts Standard of Diabetes Care established through the joint work group with MDPH School Health Unit, MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, parents, physicians and school nurses, states that because diabetes is a complex, multi-dimensional chronic disease, "Adult supervision/involvement is recommended throughout childhood and adolescence. The sharing of diabetes decision-making tasks fosters communication between students, parents/guardians and members of the student's health care team to promote safe acute and chronic diabetes care outcomes for children and adolescents.In the school setting, this shared diabetes-decision making and supervision should be provided by a licensed school nurse on a daily basis."No student with diabetes should be considered “independent” in the management of diabetes during the school day.This does not meet the standard of nursing care of students with diabetes in our schools.Please contact us or your Regional Consultant (contact information below) if you need further clarification of these regulations.
Thank you again for all you do!Happy December!
Mary Ann, Carol and Janet
From the MDPH Environmental Health Bureau:
The 2015-2016 Pediatric Asthma & Diabetes surveillance forms will be sent out to you in mid-January 2016.We would like to “go green” 100% and reduce the amount of paper and associated postage costs. Tell us how you would like to receive the survey by selecting one of the following options for your district:*
1. Email survey to the nurse leader who will electronically forward to public, private, charter* and parochial schools in district.
2. Email survey to the nurse leader who will electronically forward to only public schools in district.
3. Snail mail paper surveys to the nurse leader and include private, charter* and parochial schools in district.
4. Snail mail paper surveys to the nurse leader but DO NOT include private, charter and parochial schools.
5. Snail mail paper surveys directly to each individual school nurse in the district.
*Charter schools vary by district so please specify which, if any, charter schools should be INCLUDED.
1.hit the “forward” tab and copy & paste ilto:> in the “To” box
2.in the “Subject” box, type the name of your town district (or the name of the regional district)
3.copy and paste your one delivery preference (from the 5 choices above)
4.hit “send”
Call me 617-624-5757 or email me at ilto:> if you have any questions or concerns.
THANK YOU!
PS:Pediatric asthma & diabetes data is now available at 2007 to 2012). Earlier data (years 2002-2009) can still be accessed at
School Nurses in the News:
School nurses in MA continue to make the news!Thanks to Toni Vento, School Nurse Leader in Medford, for her input into this Channel 5 story and thank you to all those who responded to our survey in October in which the data used in this story was collected.
Another story on implementing a naloxone administration program in schools by school nurses!Thanks to Kathy Riley, School Nurse Leader in Monomoy Public Schools for her participation in this story.Article from: Chatham Edition - November 19, 2015, “Opiate Crisis Could Mean Narcan In Area High Schools - The Cape Cod Chronicle”. Follow the link below to view the article:
Mental Health Training Intervention for Health Providers in Schools (MH-TIPS):
MH-TIPS, provides an innovative, FREE, online training and implementation support system for school health providers. MH-TIPS aims to enhance school health providers' competence in managing the needs of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties that interfere with learning. Given their pivotal role in student mental health care, school nurses report increased need for professional development in addressing student mental health concerns 15. The NASN, the national Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the Center for Mental Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health developed the Mental Health Training Intervention for Health Providers in Schools (MH-TIPS) to address this need.
MH-TIPS is an innovative in-service training and implementation support system for school health providers aimed at enhancing their competence in managing the needs of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties that interfere with learning. The MH-TIPS training includes five core training content components linked to the school nurse context with respect to student mental health issues:1) Strategies and Skills to Promote Positive and Supportive Interactions for Student Mental Health Issues, 2) Mental Health Identification and Assessment, 3) Mental Health Referral and Resource Mapping, 4) Mental Health Crisis Response and Safety Assessment, 5) Mental Health Intervention Best Practices for School Health Providers and, 6) Psychotropic Medication.
The entire MH-TIPS curriculum is currently available, free of charge, via an interactive online training platform at MH-TIPS interactive online platform includes implementation training videos, school nurse mental health video vignettes, downloadable resources and tools, frequently asked questions and interviews with experts.Continuing education credits are available upon completion of the online curriculum.The MH-TIPS program has the potential to increase school nurse ability to address student mental health concerns. It also supports the expansion of the capacity of school-based professionals to address the critical need for additional mental health care for children and adolescents and facilitate comprehensive, interprofessional mental health care both within the school and community.
From the American Heart Association (AHA):
In October 2015, the American Heart Association (AHA) released the newly revised guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) as well as updates for the delivery of first aid. The AHA continues to emphasize the importance of HIGH QUALITY CPR in an emergency cardiac situation. Please find these updates at: and be sure to update your trainings as necessary!
Contact Information for Regional Consultants:
Region
Name
Office Phone
Central
Kathleen Charette
978-567-6190, ext 1122
ilto:
Metrowest
Jean Afzali
781-314-5543
ilto:
Northeast
Lisa Cross
508-782-6892
ilto:
Southeast
Ann Klaver
508-894-4329
ailto:
West
Diane Colucci
413-750-2511
ailto:
Therese Blain
413-750-2007
ailto:
Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN
Director of School Health Services
MA Department of Public Health
250 Washington Street – 5th Floor
Boston, MA02108
ilto:
617-624-5427
Website: