JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER

REPORTS TO: Principal, Lead Nurse and Executive Director of Student Services

PURPOSE: School nursing is a specialized nursing practice that protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. School nurses are grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice and are the leaders who bridge health care and education. School nurses plan, implement, coordinate, and evaluate school health services that: maximize the quantity of in class time by reducing the incidence of health-related absenteeism; eliminate or minimize health problems which impair learning; achieve the highest degree of independent services to meet those health care needs; assesses and evaluates the effectiveness of the services and health care plans; collaborates with a variety of school system and professional disciplines to enhance the educational process and the promotion of an optimal level of wellness for students, families, and staff.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. MAJOR FUNCTION: Identify the individual health care needs for students

2. MAJOR FUNCTION: Health care plan development, revision, and evaluation, including Emergency Action Plans, Individual Health Care Plans, and health-related components of Individual Education Programs

3. MAJOR FUNCTION: Direct provision of nursing health care services

4. MAJOR FUNCTION: School staff instruction and supervision in the provision of care for students with special health care needs

5. MAJOR FUNCTION: Instruction and oversight for medication administration processes in schools

6. MAJOR FUNCTION: Emergency and injury care, planning and training

7. MAJOR FUNCTION: Communicable disease control and outbreak response in schools

8. MAJOR FUNCTION: Assessment of school community health and safety issues

9. MAJOR FUNCTION: Student screening for conditions that impact access to education such as vision screening

10. MAJOR FUNCTION: Member and resource for student assistance teams that develop health-related student accommodations

11. MAJOR FUNCTION: Health-related community resource liaison for schools

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree and either an LPN or RN license with at least four years of experience in the nursing field. Current BLS/CPR Certification.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Physical Requirements:

Must be physically able to operate a variety of equipment including computers, typewriters, copiers, calculators, etc.

Must be able to exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to lift, carry, push, and pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body.

Light Work usually requires walking or standing to a significant degree.

Data Conception:

Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or composite characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.

Interpersonal Communication:

Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes receiving instructions, assignments or directions.

Language Ability:

Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, press releases, etc.

Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style.

Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control and confidence.

Intelligence:

Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Verbal Aptitude:

Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions.

Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently using a variety of technical or professional languages including counseling terminology.

Numerical Aptitude:

Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; and to apply the theories of descriptive statistics.

Form/Spatial Aptitude:

Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width and shape.

Motor Coordination:

Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment.

Manual Dexterity:

Requires the ability to handle a variety of items such as office equipment. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.

Color Discrimination:

Does not require the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color.

Interpersonal Temperament:

Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions.

Must be adaptable to performing under stress and when confronted with emergency situations.

Physical Communication:

Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words.

Hearing:

Perceiving nature of sounds by ear.) Must be able to communicate via telephone.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

General knowledge of the ethical guidelines applicable to the position as outlined by professional organizations and/or federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations.

General knowledge of the principles of organization and administration.

Skill in counseling and motivating students.

Ability to coordinate the efforts of support services personnel and outside agencies.

Ability to use common office machines and popular computer-driven word processing, spreadsheet and file maintenance programs.

Ability to maintain complete and accurate records and statistics and to develop meaningful reports from them.

Ability to effectively express ideas orally and in writing.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.

DISCLAIMER

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to this job.