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DoDEA School Health Services Manual 2942.0 Volume 1 Revised: 2016 DRAFT
C-4 Regulation of Nursing Practice
The minimum requirements for DoDEA school nurse is to be a graduate of a
baccalaureate degree program from an accredited college or university and be state
licensed as a registered nurse (RN). DoDEA encourages but does not require national
certification of school nurses through the National Board of Certification of School
Nurses (NBCSN).
The school nurse in DoDEA is a licensed registered nurse whose ability to
practice nursing is governed by laws and regulations of the state in which the nurse is
licensed by. The school nurse must maintain an active nursing license that meets
nursing licensure requirements from their state of licensure. Each school nurse must be
aware of the nursing practice act of the state in which they are licensed and be aware
of requirements for renewal of their nursing licensure.
School nurses must meet and maintain current DoDEA requirements stated on
the DoDEA Human Resources employee licensure webpage, for information regarding
DoDEA Educator License Renewal (Recertification) see:
http://www.dodea.edu/Offices/HR/employees/licensure/renewal.cfm .All School nurses have the professional responsibility to maintain their
competence in their school nursing practice and must seek professional development
and continuing education to increase critical thinking skills and professional judgment as
well as to maintain competence in their role.
School nurses should be involved in their own professional growth. The school
nurse develops a professional growth plan designed to increase the individual school
nurses’ professional school nursing competencies. Suggested types of activities might
include, but are not limited to:
•
Participate in the NBCSN certification examination. Certification must be
renewed every five years through professional development or
reexamination. Appropriate documentation for recertification must be
maintained as well as employment records and current nursing licensure.
More information is available at
http://www.nbcsn.com/ .•
Research a topic or school health issue the nurse wishes to learn more
about, i.e., BMI, insulin pumps in the school setting or asthma monitoring
using peak expiratory flow rates. Conduct a journal review to study
current trends.
•
Participate in DoDEA’s “Project Read” Program, an independent study
program developed by the University of San Diego’s Division of
Professional and Continuing Education in conjunction with educators from
DoDEA.