Reaching Out to Children in Poverty: The Nurse Practitioner-Managed School-Based Health Center

<h1>Abstract</h1> <p>The School-based health center (SBHC) has become a means to improve access to health care among school-aged children. These health centers offer on-campus support to students suffering from minor, chronic, and acute health problems. Historically, the SBHC has provided access to health services for children facing financial, and geographic barriers (Council on School Health, 2012). The stresses felt by these children often manifest as changes in physical, and emotional wellbeing. The San Francisco Council for the Homeless stated that without the support of school-based health professionals, it would be virtually impossible for these students to get an education (The San Francisco Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness, 2004; San Francisco Ten-Year Planning Council, 2004).</p> <p>The purpose of this project was to develop a Nurse Practitioner (NP)-managed school based health center (SBHC) in a private elementary school in San Francisco, California. Nearly all of the students enrolled in this elementary school live at or below the Federally established poverty line. In order to manage health issues that arise in the school setting, the NP in the SBHC setting has the potential to improve access to care by providing primary health care and linking these services with existing health services in the community. .</p> <p>Faculty and staff members were interviewed before and after the introduction of the SBHC and used Likert-Type scales to rank the effect of having a SBHC available on campus. Results of these interviews showed that the faculty and staff were more confident in their knowledge of health issues (48%) that can be managed in the school setting, and they felt that the students were safer (53%) with the presence of the SBHC.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Level thesis:degree_level

Restricted Project - USF access only

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Cogan, Maria (Dupi) Gomez

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Jo Loomis
• Dr. Stefan Rowniak
• Dr. Susan Pauly-O'Neill

• absenteeism
• academic achievement
• healthcare access
• nurse practitioner
• school-based health center
• school nursing
• and unlicensed assistive personnel
• Nursing

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/68

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.usfca.edu:dnp-1079