School Health Rooms
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Visit your school's website for information on your health room staff and more!School Nurses are at each elementary school one or more days a week; at each middle school for two days per week; and at each high school three days a week. Health Room Assistants who are trained by school nurses are full time unlicensed staff who work in health rooms at each school. School nurses delegate to Health Room Assistants and other staff certain procedures required to keep students safely at school. Other procedures cannot be performed by anyone other than a licensed practical or registered nurse per the Nurse Practice Act of Washington State.School Nurses carry out many responsibilities at their assigned schools and across the district. They do vision and hearing screenings, ensure immunization compliance, provide physical and mental health supports to students and carry out clinical assessment requiring a high degree of skill and judgement. They are part of each school team in determining students who may need additional supports and then linking children, youth and families to social and health resources.
District Health Information
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All health rooms will be available before school starts to drop off required paperwork and medications that need to be on file before your child can start school, such as epi-pens, diabetes orders and supplies, and critical medications. All students with life-threatening conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes, seizures) need to have orders and medications in before they can attend school. If you have any questions, call your school's Health Room or Office.
New MMR Vaccine Requirement
The State of Washington recently passed a bill that removes the personal and philosophical option to exempt children from the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine required for school and child care entry. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee on May 10, 2019. The new law will take effect July 28, 2019, and those children that do not have a religious or medical exemption and have not received the MMR vaccine will not be allowed into school. Please contact your health room personnel before summer or Student Support in the District Office if you have questions.Helpful Websites
- NEW MMR Vaccine Exemption Law Change 2019 (Dept of Health Website)
- MMR Vaccine Requirement Letter to parents who have exempted
- FAQ About Washington's Immunization Status and Exemption Laws (PDF) (Dept of Health Website)
- North Thurston Public School's Policy on Medication Administration (PDF)
- Washington Department of Health's Immunization Website
- North Thurston Public Schools Policies on Immunization: Policy 3413 & 3413P