• Competency 1: Explain the effect of health care policies, legislation, and legal issues on health care delivery and patient outcomes.
  • Explain the laws that relate to adolescent safety and health privacy in a school setting.
  • Explain how the privacy laws affect schools, students, and school nurses.
• Competency 3: Apply professional nursing ethical standards and principles to the decision-making process.
  • Describe health and wellness issues specific to the adolescent population.
  • Recommend evidence-based ethical strategies relating to health and wellness privacy communication by the school nurse.
• Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is consistent with expectations of nursing professionals.
  • Write content clearly and logically, with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
  • Correctly format citations and references using APA style.

Context

School nurses confront numerous legal issues in their daily work. It is important to know the standards of nursing practice specific to the state of licensure, as well as legal limitations and responsibilities of the school nurse.

Questions to Consider

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community.

• What is FERPA?
• What is HIPAA?
• How do FERPA and HIPAA affect school health privacy?
• What unique health concerns might young people have that differentiate them from adults?

Resources

Suggested Resources

• Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

• U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). FERPA general guidelines for students. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule allow parents the right to see their children’s medical records? Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/faq/right_to_…
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education. (2008). Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) And the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) To Student Health Records. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/doc/ferpa-hipaa-guidance.pdf

Assessment Instructions

You are the parent of two teenagers and an active PTA member at their school. The principal approached you about an upcoming professional gathering for middle- and high-school nurses in your district. She asked you to make a short presentation on school health privacy and how it can affect nurse-student care within the teen population, where personal health issues and privacy concerns often collide.

Preparation

Research and gather information about the issues facing school nurses in your state of licensure, as well as state and federal privacy laws that govern your school health privacy information. You will also need to learn about the legal limitations and responsibilities of the school nurse.

Directions

Create a 6–8-slide PowerPoint presentation that examines the privacy issues unique to nurses serving the high-school age population. Address the following:

• Describe the types of health and wellness issues that can affect adolescents in their high-school years. Be sure you think beyond the usual things and really research the types of issues that are affecting young people today.
• Explain how privacy laws can impact the school nurse in regard to patient safety and health outcomes for adolescents.
• Explain how privacy laws benefit the student, the school, and the school nurse.
• Recommend two specific evidence-based ethical strategies regarding health and wellness privacy communications in a school environment.

Use the notes section of each slide to expand your points and cite your supporting evidence. Also, include a title slide and a reference slide that lists the resources you used in this assessment.Be creative. Consider your intended audience.

Additional Requirements

Your presentation should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• References: Include a reference slide with a minimum of three references; a majority of these should be peer-reviewed sources. All resources should have been published within the last 5 years.
• APA format: Resources and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
• Length: 6–8 slides.

Nursing Practice and School Health Privacy Scoring Guide