School Nurse Websites: What Do They Tell Us About School Nurses?

Abstract

Problem:

Stakeholders often misunderstand the role of the school nurse resulting in underutilization or elimination of school nurse positions. Social media and school nurse websites are recommended to increase school nurse visibility and change the public narrative of school nursing.

Objective:

The objective of this needs assessment is to determine whether school nurses are using web presence to increase their visibility to affect the narrative of school nursing.

Method:

An evaluation was conducted to determine the presence and content of school nurse websites in 50 schools and their school districts across the nation.

Results:

Fewer than one third of school nurses have websites, three fourths of districts have a school district health websites, and there was no evidence of a nurse in 10% of the school websites assessed.

Anticipated Contribution to Practice:

The needs assessment determined that nurses are not maximizing school websites to communicate their role to stakeholders.