Rockwood health services reports 47 nurses, new cardiac emergency plans and rising clinic visits

Amy Wear, Rockwood's supervisor of wellness and nurses, delivered an update on the district's health services, education and staffing at the board meeting.

Wear said the district employs 47 nurses and hires only BSN-prepared nurses; nine hold master's degrees and 24 are nationally board-certified school nurses. She highlighted recent work to implement newly required cardiac emergency response plans and teams, noting the plans stem from a new state statute. "We have been working diligently this year on the newly required cardiac emergency response plans. It's a new state statute that we have to have these plans and teams in place for next school year," she said.

On workload, Wear said nurses recorded more than 120,000 visits to school health offices through the end of February this year, comparing to about 160,000 visits last year. She described the primary role of district nurses as triage and retention, saying they successfully return about 95% of students to class after their visits, which preserves instructional time.

Board members asked whether increases in visits reflect mental-health needs or chronic medical complexity; Wear cited a range of causes including chronic conditions (for example, students post-transplant who require multiple daily medications) and higher counts of chronic-care students such as diabetics. The update also referenced ongoing CPR training and drill scheduling, and the district's wellness assessment that recommended a designated implementation lead in each building to support compliance.

Board members praised nursing staff and noted operational challenges when substitute nurses are not available; the board approved a separate proclamation honoring school nurses earlier in the meeting.