Platte Canyon School District 1 partners with Children’s Hospital Colorado’s School Health Program to provide the safest, evidence-based health practices to the school setting. Our school health nurse, Jen Harrington, BSN, RN provides services to meet the health and wellness needs of every student. There are two health assistants (HA) who work with the registered nurse consultant. Health Assistants are not nurses but work directly with Jen to care for our students and their health needs. Lynn Griebel is the HA for Deer Creek Elementary and Deer Creek Preschool. Heidi Oswald is the HA for Fitzsimmons Middle School and Platte Canyon High School.

What services does the District Nurse provide? Provides HA/UAP with education, training, delegation and supervision in medication administration, diabetes care and emergency care including seizures, allergies, asthma, injuries, concussion and other illnesses or health conditions. The school nurse provides guidance for vision & hearing screenings, immunization review and infectious disease control and serves as a liaison for Park County public health and other community resources and the district. The school nurse also creates individualized health care plans for students with complex health issues at school and is a part of the IEP & 504 teams. What services do the Health Assistants (HA) provide? • Basic First Aid • Medication administration with training & supervision from RN • Vision & Hearing screenings • Maintain health files including immunization records • Consults with the RN about student health concerns • Performs health procedures (i.e. insulin administration, G-tube feedings) with training & supervision from RN. What services can’t be provided by the Health Assistant? • Cannot provide medical opinions or diagnose health conditions. • Cannot provide clinical services beyond basic first aid & other delegated care; HA will contact parent/guardian if students appear to need medical attention from a health care provider. • Cannot perform nursing tasks (unless trained and delegated by the RN) such as vital signs or assessments of the bodily systems.

Please feel free to contact us for any questions or concerns.