Section 1.760  Standards for School Support Personnel Services

a)         School psychologists, school social workers, school counselors, speech-language pathologists (nonteaching) and school nurses, except as provided in subsection (c) of this Section, shall hold a professional educator license endorsed for school support personnel in their respective area.

b)         Registered Professional Nurse means any nurse who is licensed to practice professional nursing in Illinois in accord with the Nurse Practice Act [225 ILCS 65] and whose license is active and in good standing as determined by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

c)         School Nurse means any registered professional nurse who holds a professional educator license endorsed for school support services in school nursing, or any registered professional nurse who does not hold the professional educator license but was employed in the school district of current employment before July 1, 1976. School districts may employ noncertificated registered professional nurses to perform professional nursing services [105 ILCS 5/10-22.23].

d)         School boards that employ school nurses shall be responsible for verifying that each person holds a valid nursing license and professional educator license except as provided in subsection (c) of this Section.

e)         School boards that employ one or more school nurses for the purpose of providing professional nursing services shall develop and keep on file a written job description defining the duties of their school nurses.

f)         Any job description prepared pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section will be accepted by the State Board of Education as complying with Section 10-22.23 of the School Code if it contains at least:

1)         the duty to provide registered professional nursing practice as defined in Section 50-10 of the Nurse Practice Act; and

2)         at least one or more additional duties as the school board shall select from subsection (g) of this Section.

g)         Additional duties of the school nurse shall include one or more of the following:

1)         assessment of health care needs through screening for deficits in vision, hearing, growth and development, immunization status, and other physical defects (e.g., orthopedic, malnutrition, asthma, metabolic disorders, blood pressure, obesity);

2)         identifying student health problems, making referrals for their diagnosis, treatment and remediation, and providing follow-up for each referral;

3)         recommending modification of the school programs for a student who requires a change because of a health deficit and developing health care plans when students need special physical health care procedures to be provided at school;

4)         establishing a communicable disease prevention and control program, including blood-borne pathogen control programs, in collaboration with State and local health departments and federal and State occupational safety and health agencies;

5)         assessing the health status of students and providing health counseling (e.g., on diet, exercise) for students, parents and school staff;

6)         processing physicians' orders, administering and monitoring medication and treatment given in school (subject to local policy regarding the administration of medication at school);

7)         providing crisis intervention for students and/or staff in the advent of sudden illness or injury;

8)         establishing an accident prevention program in collaboration with the district's administration;

9)         acting as liaison between the home, school, community health agencies and the private medical sector;

10)         participating in the identification, evaluation and placement of students into special education programs (e.g., as a referring agent, a consultant to parents, teachers and/or as a member of a multidisciplinary team pursuant to the provisions of 23 Ill. Adm. Code 226 (Special Education));

11)         collecting and analyzing health-related data (e.g., immunization records, medical records, incidence of specific diseases), making recommendations based upon these data, and reporting the data to State agencies as may be required;

12)         maintaining accurate school health records and ensuring the confidentiality of their contents in accordance with the Illinois School Student Records Act [105 ILCS 10], 23 Ill. Adm. Code 375 (Student Records), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 USC 1232g);

13)         carrying out other specified duties that the school nurse is qualified to perform, provided that the school nurse shall not provide instruction to students unless the nurse holds the appropriate teaching endorsement; however, this subsection (g)(13) does not preclude a school nurse from providing limited classroom instruction as may be requested by the licensed teacher on specific health or illness topics (e.g., asthma, HIV prevention, puberty);

14)       coordinating and managing student health through care management, including delegating nursing tasks included in the individual student health plan (e.g., screening tests, diabetes monitoring) to licensed and unlicensed persons, in accordance with the Nurse Practice Act; and

15)       providing instruction to or practicum experience for nursing students enrolled in community health/public health/pediatrics courses through a written agreement between the nursing education program and the school district.

h)         The duty to provide registered professional nursing practices, as defined in Section 50-10 of the Nurse Practice Act, shall not be included among the functions assigned to any school district personnel not covered by the job description required for school nurses.

(Source:  Amended at 38 Ill. Reg. 6127, effective February 27, 2014)