Private Duty Nurse Orientation - GPISD

Private Duty Nurse Orientation

Grand Prairie Independent School District

Special Education Services

Health Services

August 2019

Private Duty

Nurse

Orientation

A Guide to Policies, Procedures

and Expectations

Private Duty Nurse Orientation

• Guidelines and Policies

• Private Duty Nurse (PDN) Expectations

• Teacher Expectations

• School Nurse Expectations

• Parent Expectations

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

Private Duty

Nurse

Orientation

• Grand Prairie ISD provides campus nurses

for nursing care but sometimes parents wish

to have additional care provided for their

children who are medically fragile. It is our

goal to work together to provide the best and

safest educational experience for the child for

whom you are contracted to provide care.

Prior to

initiation

of services

• The parent of a medically fragile child may make a request that GPISD allow their parent-contracted Private Duty Nurse (PDN) also provide nursing services while the student is at school.

• The District's designee will conduct an assessment to determine the student's health needs during the school day.

• If nursing services are required, GPISD will offer appropriate services and develop an Individualized Health Plan (IHP).

• If the parents decline GPISD's services, the District may, but is not obligated to, allow the parent-contracted PDN to accompany the student to school.

• The campus nursing staff will provide nursing support only if/when the PDN is absent or unavailable, except for the provision of state mandated campus-based hearing, vision and scoliosis screenings.

• Before PDNs may be allowed on campus:

• An ARD or 504 Meeting must be held.

• Background check and fingerprinting of the PDN is conducted.

• Necessary documents are acquired from the PDN's agency.

• Agreement between parent and district must be completed/signed.

• PDN Orientation is provided to parents, PDNs and staff.

Regulations and Laws

• GPISD is guided by federal and state guidelines and laws, as well as local

school board and district policies.

• We are required to know who is on campus and why they are present.

• We are also required to ensure the safety of ALL students by conducting a

criminal background check for individuals who may come in contact with

them during the school day.

Individual Health Plan (IHP)

• If a student requires medical care, an IHP shall be developed through the

ARD committee. This is much like a nursing care plan for schools.

• The IHP will address the child's health needs, who will be providing

necessary health services and when the services will be provided.

• This plan will detail the student's health goals while at school and may

include Private Duty Nursing, if approved.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

Private Duty

Nurse

Expectations

• The PDN accompanying a student to school is to attend to the ongoing and emergency medical needs of the client in her or his care, as outlined in the Parent Agreement.

• The PDN is responsible for providing a copy of the most recent or updated medical orders (usually via a Plan of Care, or POC) and MAR(medication administration records) to the school nurse within 1 school day of changes. It is the PDN's and parent's responsibility to provide new orders as soon as they are received.

• The PDN is responsible for orienting the campus nurse to the student's specific equipment and procedures, in the event that the student is at school when the PDN is not.

• The PDN is responsible for having weekly communication with the campus nurse regarding the student's medical needs and to provide weekly documentation of treatments and medication administered.

Private Duty Nurse

Expectations

•The PDN is responsible for

signing in and out daily:

• electronically at the main office

of the campus.

•on a paper log in either the school

clinic or classroom.

•Please do not proceed to

the child's classroom without

signing in.This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

• If the PDN must leave campus for ANY reason

(including personal illness), the campus nurse,

classroom teacher, as well as the parent and

agency, must be notified.

• Remember, as a nurse, this is a transfer of care

and communication is imperative to ensure safe

care for the child.

• Before services may be provided by

campus nursing staff, current GPISD medication

and procedures forms must be completed by the

physician and parent. If necessary, student-

specific training will be required, as well.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

• The PDN must not video record, audio record, and/or photograph students, campus locations or campus staff for any reason.

• Cell phone use by the PDN is restricted to personal breaks, if allowed by agency contract, and is not allowed in the educational setting.

• Violation will result in notification of your employer.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

• The PDN is only responsible for medical services for

his or her client and shall not provide medical

services of any type to any other students, staff or

visitors. They shall only provide care for the students

for whom they are contracted.

• The PDN is responsible for ensuring that parent-

provided medications, equipment and other supplies

are with the student on a daily basis and are in

appropriate working order.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

• The PDN shall make every effort to ensure that

the medical services he or she provides to his or

her client shall be as non-disruptive and non-

intrusive as possible and does not disrupt the

student individual education plan (IEP).

• Just as it is important that nurses provide timely

medical care, it is important that we in

GPISD provide every educational opportunity

for the child.

Private Duty Nurse Expectations

• PDNs are not to be a conduit, or means of communication, between the school and the parent regarding educational matters.

• Just a laypersons (non-medical staff) are not aware of all details in a patient's Plan of Care, nursing staff are also not privy to details of a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

• Violating this boundary leads to miscommunication.

• If parents have questions, refer them to the appropriate campus staff.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

Private Duty Nurse

Expectations

• The PDN shall follow all

classroom, campus and district

health and safety procedures,

including handwashing, cleaning

and hygiene.

• Please wash your hands before

providing medication, feeds or

treatments. Also, please wash

your hands after using the

restroom, feeding a child, etc.

Teacher Expectations

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

Teacher Expectations

• Teachers and other school

staff shall not expect or

request the PDN to assist

with any tasks, medical or

otherwise, for any

students other than the

PDN's own client.

• Please respect the

boundaries for the PDN.

Teacher Expectations

• Teachers and other school staff shall consider the

student's medical needs and schedule when

planning the student's educational program.

• Space may need to be set aside for the student's

medical equipment.

• We are still responsible for providing for all

services in the student's IEP.

Teacher

Expectations

• Teachers and other school staff shall not share educational information with the PDN unless it is necessary for medical planning purposes for her or his client.

• Remember, FERPA requires that we keep all educational information about students confidential.

• Please use means for communicating with parents that you use with all your students.

Teacher Expectations

• Teachers and other classroom staff

shall direct the private duty nurse to

the campus nurse if there is

knowledge of any changes in the

student's medical needs or care.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

Teacher

Expectations• If there is any concern

regarding the provision of medical services or care by the PDN, the teacher and/or other school staff shall notify the campus nurse and Principal, who will coordinate with the Special Education Nurse Liaison to determine if the PDN's agency and the student's parent should be contacted for clarification or further action.

• The student's health and safety must come first.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

School Nurse Expectations

• When parents request to have a PDN on campus, they waive having the campus nurse provide care when the PDN is present.

• An exception is the provision of state mandated hearing, vision, scoliosis and dental screenings.

• Before services may be provided by campus nursing staff, current GPISD medication and procedures forms must be completed by the physician and parent. If necessary, student-specific training will be required, as well.

• In the event of unexpected circumstances with the PDN, GPISD Health Services Staff will provide care.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.

School Nurse Expectations

• The school nurse will review the student's Plan of Care with the PDN.

• The campus nurse will coordinate with the parent to acquire new physician orders for any services GPISD nursing staff may provide, if made aware of any changes to the POC.

• The campus nurse will orient the PDN to the campus and maintain copies of necessary documents.

• The campus nurse will ensure weekly communication with the PDN and receive documentation of health-related services provided, including updates and changes to the student's medical needs.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

School Nurse Expectations

• The campus nurse will participate in the ARD or 504 process, including the formation of an IHP (Individualized Health Plan) for the student's medical needs.

• The campus nurse will ensure weekly communications with the PDN related to updates or changes to the student's medical needs.

• Although the responsibility for updating the campus nurse remains with the PDN and the parent, we expect the campus nurse to reach out to assure the communication of changes is occurring regularly.

School Nurse Expectations

• If there is any concern regarding the provision of medical services or care by the PDN, the campus nurse shall notify the campus Principal and the Special Education Nurse Liaison. If needed, the PDN's agency and the student's parent will be contacted for clarification or further action.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Parent Expectations

• The parent waives campus nursing services related to

the provision of school health services and related

services to the student, except for the provision of

state mandated hearing, vision, dental and

scoliosis screening.

• As mentioned earlier, Grand Prairie ISD provides

campus nurses for nursing care but sometimes

parents wish to have additional care provided for

their children who are medically fragile.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.

Parent Expectations

• The child's parent is responsible for providing all necessary medication, equipment and supplies that are required for the PDN to implement the child's Plan of Care.

• It is also important that the parent communicate with the campus nurse in the event that there are changes to the agency nursing services or if the agency nurse is unable to attend school with the child.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-ND.

Parent Expectations

• If the parent requests new services

or adjustments to the student's

health services, the parent will

request an ARD committee

meeting for consideration of any

changes.

Parent Expectations

• The parent shall provide a copy of any and all doctor's orders for the student.

• Any doctor's orders must be provided prior to the start of any nursing services in the school setting and when there are any changes.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

Parent Expectations

• The parent understands that the PDN may not share

information regarding their child's educational or

instructional services. They may also not ask the

PDN to share any information regarding other

student's medical or educational needs.

• Confidentiality for all students is important.

• Teachers may not share educational information with

your PDN.This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

Thank you!

• We appreciate you taking the time to understand more about our Private Duty Nursing processes in Grand Prairie ISD.

• Please direct any questions to the Special Education Nurse Liaison.

• Acknowledgement of viewing and understanding the content is part of the annual District and Parent agreement.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.