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Pages:
4 pages/β‰ˆ1100 words
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Check Instructions
Style:
APA
Subject:
Health, Medicine, Nursing
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
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Date:
Total cost:
$ 17.28
Topic:

The Need for Mental Health Services and Care for Students

Essay Instructions:

Scenario
You are the school nurse in a small, diverse community where you are responsible for the oversight of three schools: Alpha Elementary School (ages 6-10), Beta Middle School (ages 11-13), and Gamma High School (ages 14-17). The entire student body for all three schools is approximately 375 students evenly dispersed between the three schools. About 30% of the student body are Hispanic or Asian and do not speak English at home; English is not their primary language. No two schools are closer than 5-10 miles apart.
One month ago, there was a mass shooting at the local mall where many of the students were present. Several students from all three schools have had a death of a close family member or friend due to the current pandemic or mall shooting. This year, parents, teachers, and administrators at all three schools reported to the school nurse that many students show signs of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).
Teachers and staff report that while many students act out, other students have become very withdrawn; two middle school students committed suicide this past weekend. There has been an increased use of vaping, marijuana use, and alcohol consumption at the high school. Two high school girls were found cutting in the gym locker room.
The principals at all three schools have asked you to present an age-appropriate plan to address the mental health issues and develop an emergency/evacuation plan for their school. Currently, there are no students who use wheelchairs at any of the schools; however, you should assume there are students at each school with ADD or ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, or have a history of epileptic seizures. Two middle school students and several high school students are in their second or third trimester of pregnancy. There is one high school student on a continuous insulin pump.
Use your prior nursing experience, creativity, and critical thinking skills to complete the signature assignment successfully.
ASSIGNMENT:
Select one of the following to complete your assignment: the elementary, middle, or high school
• Select members for your planning committee and include a rationale for your committee selection from a current scholarly source
• Present the developmental stages of your selected age group
• Identify signs and symptoms of PTSD for children in your selected age group
• Develop an age-appropriate plan to address the mental health issues being reported by the school administrators, teachers, and staff. (Do not omit to address students who may not be currently showing signs of depression, stress, or anxiety)
• Develop and propose an emergency/evacuation plan for your selected school. Include the roles of the principal, vice-principal, counselors, teachers, and staff and what your specific role as the school nurse or a person you designate will be.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

School Nursing 8
Student’s Name
Institution
School Nursing 8
           Recently, the need for mental health services and care for students has increased significantly. School nurses have a responsibility to promote mental health for students by providing support to both students and their families (National Association of School Nurses (NASN), 2021). This paper discusses a school nurse’s actions to promote mental health among high school students who have post-traumatic stress disorder following a mass shooting at the local mall. 
Members of the Planning Committee
           First, the nurse would need to select different stakeholders to participate as members of the planning committee. The school nurse needs to create a plan to address mental health issues being experienced by students, and to achieve this, a planning committee is necessary. The committee should include both school and community stakeholders. Specifically, it should include school administrators, health education teachers, a representative of the school staff, mental health providers, parents, community leaders (faith and business leaders), and youth-serving organizations. Addressing mental health issues among students requires a collaborative approach. School administrators provide administrative support and facilitate resource allocation (Mathur et al., 2017). This is essential in ensuring the plan is successful. School staff needs to be included because they regularly interact with students and can be the first to identify when students are dealing with something. When provided with the right training, they serve as promoters of mental health (Mathur et al., 2017). Mental health providers are well-equipped to offer treatment to students with mental health disorders such as PTSD. In contrast, health education teachers can create awareness about mental health issues and educate students on enhancing their mental health. Parents’ and community leaders’ collaboration is also necessary because they can create safe spaces for students outside the school environment (Mathur et al., 2017). They can also play a part in ensuring that the plan is culturally sensitive.
Developmental Stages
           These students are teenagers and are going through the adolescent stage. They have started developing their personality and identity away from their family. According to Morrison-Valfre (2021), children between the ages of 14-17 are more introspective as they try to look at their inner self to determine who they are. While this helps shape their identity, it is also accompanied by changes in their attitude, behavior, and mood. They can be emotionally unstable, and they can lose their self-confidence/esteem in the absence of emotional security. Also, they are quite independent of their parents and spend less time with their parents and more time with their peers. They may detach from their family as they seek more independence and can have major conflicts with their parents (Morrison-Valfre, 2021). Another development that occurs during this stage is sexual development. Between the ages of 14 and 17 years, most boys and girls are capable of ...
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