Establishing Guidelines to Promote Best Practice for Common Ailments in School-Based Health Clinics

Author

Kaitlin Sweeney, Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleFollow
Rachael Schaefer, Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2022

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Dr. Mary Barron

Project Team Faculty Member

Dr. Bernadette Sobczak

Keywords

school-based health clinic, school-based nurse practitioner, guidelines, adolescent health, community health, and school health

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the gap in access to medical care of school-age children and identified a need for community-based health clinics to aid in its minimization. Evidence shows the creation of school-based health clinics (SBHCs) in public school districts provides a pathway for students to receive high-quality care in an easily accessible manner. Therefore, patient care guidelines for common ailments seen in SBHCs for a local federally qualified healthcare center (FQHC) were developed in conjunction with the FQHC goal to build and operate a SBHC located in southern Illinois. Eight guidelines were created to analyze the most common chief complaints for patient visits through the use of UptoDate, evidence-based practice available from various sources and in coordination with the regulations for public school attendance in the state of Illinois. All eight guidelines were presented to the Director of Operations for the SBHC’s Mobile Units at the FQHC and consulted medical professionals. Copies of these guidelines were provided for future use to promote project sustainability. A 5-question survey was distributed to collect further feedback surrounding the guidelines, indicating likelihood of use and effectiveness in capturing proper management of common ailments. Future expansion of this project may include all staff education to providers about implementation and use of treatment guidelines once the SBHCs are opperational. This project served as an initial step toward the development of standardized evaluation and treatment of common ailments in school-based health clinics.

Recommended Citation

Sweeney, Kaitlin and Schaefer, Rachael, "Establishing Guidelines to Promote Best Practice for Common Ailments in School-Based Health Clinics" (2022). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 214.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/214

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