Who knew the school nurse was so important?
Research has shown that school-based health centers improve utilization of healthcare services, health outcomes, attendance, grades and graduation rates. This in turn improves prospects for lifelong health, educational attainment and economic opportunity.
Recognizing the importance of school healthcare, Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital loaded up the health clinic at Sebastian Elementary School of the Arts with needed supplies before the school year began.
“We are thrilled to be part of this community and partner with the school district. These donations, led by our team members, represent our commitment to Sebastian and the entire Indian River County community,” said Christina McGuirk, chief nursing officer, Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital. “Our hope is that this inspires others to invest and meet the needs of our residents.
“In these days of reduced education budgets, nurses for school clinics frequently find themselves in the position of paying for items like bandages, gauze, and tissues out of their own pockets, just as classroom teachers sometimes end up paying for arts supplies,” McGuirk added.
The National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine says evidence demonstrates that health promotion at school can be effective in improving both students’ wellbeing and their academic achievements.
The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN) states that healthy children learn better, and better educated children grow to raise healthier families, advancing a stronger, more productive society for generations to come. School nurses work to ensure that children have access to educational opportunities regardless of their state of health.
“School nurses stand at the intersection of health and education, weaving supports needed to reduce barriers to learning and promoting healthy children, families and communities,” according to Kathleen Johnson, DNP, RN, NCSN, FNASN, writing in the OJIN.
The CDC explains that In the United States, more than 40 percent of school-aged children and teens have at least one chronic health condition, such as asthma, diabetes, seizure disorders, food allergies or poor oral health. Some students with chronic conditions may miss school more often than others, which can affect their academic performance. For these students, school nurses and health centers offer vital care managing their conditions.
School nurses or other school health services staff may also be the first to identify chronic health conditions in students during routine health exams, leading to prompt treatment that can reduce disease progression and healthcare costs.
“Thanks to an event spearheaded by Garrett Lamp, emergency medical services liaison for Orlando Health, the clinic at Sebastian Elementary School received a full year’s worth of supplies, allowing staff at the school that serves 300 students to have one less concern on their plates,” McGuirk says.
Lamp connected with Sebastian Elementary earlier in the summer to determine the school’s needs for the 2025-26 school year. He was provided with an itemized list of the items needed to fully stock their school clinic and Orlando Health responded, donating all the requested items.
Included on the list were things like first aid supplies, thermometers, exam gloves, stethoscopes, eye cups, alcohol prep pads and blood pressure cuffs.
Sebastian Elementary also expressed a need for a specific school supply, which all students need to assist them with computer work: wired earbuds. Orlando Health donated over 350 earbuds, enough to outfit every student at Sebastian Elementary, grades kindergarten through sixth grade.
McGuirk explained that students don’t benefit from the donated items only during the hours they’re at school. “They may not have the supplies at home to replace that bandage covering a wound once it has become dirty and torn, but if they’ve been given an additional one to take home with them it helps keep things safe and sanitary until that wound is healed.
“Much like the way that schools participate in programs that provide meals for students to take home, the value of the donated clinic supplies extends far past the classroom.
“It’s important to everyone at Orlando South to support the health of the community in a positive way. Something as simple as being able to take a child’s temperature at school and identify him or her as being sick can decrease the spread of germs and help keep everyone in that student’s household healthier.
“We know that school health centers and clinics can contribute to community health and it’s been a longtime philosophy of Orlando Health to invest in the community,” McGuirk adds.
