School Nurse

IOTA Community Schools is a network of four public charter schools in Memphis, Tennessee. We operate both "fresh start" schools and "zoned-enrollment" turnaround schools. From 6th through 12th grades, our schools serve predominantly minority and low-income populations likely to be first-generation college attendees.

The purpose of this job is to support the promotion of health care and provision of medical assistance to Scholars at IOTA Community Schools.

Responsibilities:

• Act in a professional, respectful, and welcoming manner at all times.
• Create a customer-focused climate and provide quality services and support to school and other stakeholders.
• Comply with applicable district, state, and federal codes, laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
• Enhance the education process by maximizing the health and well-being of school-aged children and adolescents, with focus on prevention of illness/disability and early detection/correction of health problems.
• Provide direction, guidance, training and assistance to employees; troubleshoots and works to resolve problem situations; responds to employee problems/concerns.
• Dispensing approved and/or prescribed medications appropriately to students in line with state and federal guidelines. Maintain appropriate medical records regarding all dispensation of medication.
• Develop and implement protocols and procedures for responding to student illness and injuries, including special intervention for occurrences of acute illness, severe injury, emotional disturbance, and communicable diseases: recommends modification of school programs to meet the health needs of the general and special populations; and assists in the continual evaluation of program effectiveness.
• Ensure compliance with established school health guidelines, safety and infection control procedures, and all other applicable laws, rules, regulations, standards, practices, policies and procedures; initiates any actions necessary to correct deviations or violations; follows safety procedures, utilizes safety equipment, and monitors work environment to ensure safety of students, employees, and other individuals.
• Provide routine and emergency medical care to students within the prescribed boundaries of training, certification, and applicable policies and procedures.
• Promote and protect the optimal health status of students; work with well children and children with acute chronic illnesses, injuries, handicapping conditions, and developmental disabilities. Work with students to promote wellness.
• Observe students for developmental and health patterns during routine assessments and provides an initial diagnosis; identifies adverse health findings; interprets the health status of students to parents and school personnel; initiates referrals to parents, school personnel, and community health resources for intervention, remediation, and follow-through.
• Assist in the control of communicable diseases through audits of immunization records, early detection, surveillance, reporting of contagious diseases to appropriate persons/agencies, and proper disinfection.
• Coordinate referrals to outside health services.
• Participate directly and indirectly in health education for improvement of health by teaching persons to become more assertive health consumers and assume greater responsibility for their own health.
• Provide ongoing health counseling to students, parents, and school personnel; maintains, evaluates, and interprets cumulative health data to accommodate individual needs of students; participates in home visits to assess the family's needs as related to the child's health; provides direct health education and health counseling to assist students and families in making decisions on health and life styles that affect health.
• Monitor inventory of equipment and supplies; ensures availability of adequate materials to conduct work activities.
• Participate as health team specialist on the Assessment Team and/or IEP-Team for students with health disabilities.
• Communicate with supervisor, employees, other departments, school officials, school faculty/staff, students, parents, physicians, pharmacists, other medical/nursing professionals, social service agency personnel, health department personnel, community organizations, vendors, the public, state/federal agencies, outside organizations, and other individuals as needed to coordinate work activities, review status of work, exchange information, or resolve problems.
• Communicate through the proper channels to keep supervisor and other appropriate personnel informed of impending problems or events of unusual nature.
• Follow established procedures for ensuring assigned areas are safe.
• Work collaboratively with school staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Attend work and arrive at work on time.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Operate a computer and other school office equipment to enter, retrieve, review or modify data.
• Operate a variety of equipment and instruments associated with school health work activities.
• Perform general/clerical tasks, which may include answering telephone calls, typing documents, making copies, sending/receiving faxes, filing documentation, or processing incoming/outgoing mail.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge/Education/Experience:

Must possess and maintain licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in Tennessee. Must possess and maintain valid CPR and First Aid certification.

Skills/Qualifications:

• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal effectively with students, educators, employees, community members, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to utilize a computer and other technology in order to enter and retrieve data.
• Knowledge and adherence to all relevant TN Health-related laws and regulations
• Access to transportation as the role involves travel between campuses on a daily basis

This employer strives for a balanced, productive workforce, which is diverse in terms of age, gender, and cultural identity. We do not base hiring or promotional decisions on factors other than performance and professional growth potential. Please note that we are unable to sponsor H1 VISA applicants.