New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has started its School Nurse Professional Development Program, which educates nurses on the latest developments in healthcare and provides them with hands-on clinical practice.
The program was created in response to a growing demand for education and resources among school nurses in New York state. "School nurses are often siloed from education on the newest medical treatments and technologies," said Matthew DePace, Northwell's regional director of community relations for Long Island and Queens.
The health system has offered informational sessions for about 1,000 school nurses on a myriad of healthcare topics over the past two years. The new program expands upon these sessions by adding clinical instruction courses with hands-on practice, interactive demonstrations and skill assessments. It will also continue offering a popular program on addressing the opioid epidemic.
Clinical classes will begin in the 2019-2020 school year. They will specifically cover best practices for handling anaphylaxis in a school setting and caring for students with diabetes or seizure disorders.