Clean, accurate data, also known as data fidelity, support school nurses’ professional credibility in the school setting by allowing them to report their work and outcomes to important stakeholders. School nurses collect data every day through documentation, creating an essential record of the health needs of students and how school nurses meet those needs. To report these data effectively, school nurses should use standard definitions, technology, or standardized forms and review their data regularly to maintain accurate data. All school nurses, no matter how they document, should be thinking of data fidelity. This is the fourth article in the 2018-2019 NASN School Nurse article series on data.
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BergrenM. D.MaughanE. D.JohnsonK. H.WolfeL. C.WattsH. E. S.ColeM. (2017). Creating a culture of accurate and precise data. NASN School Nurse, 32, 39-41. doi:10.1177/1942602X16682733
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JohnsonK. H.MaughanE. D.BergrenM. D.WolfeL. C.GerdesJ. (2017). Step up & be counted! Strategies for data collection. NASN School Nurse, 32, 355-360. doi:10.1177/1942602X17733241
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LepkowskiA. (2017). Unlocking data collection: Practical tips for school nurses. NASN School Nurse, 33, 27-28. doi:10.1177/1942602X17744214
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MaughanE. D.JohnsonK. H.BergrenM. D. (2018). Introducing NASN’s new data initiative: National School Health Data Set: Every Student Counts! Make this YOUR year of data. NASN School Nurse, 33, 291-294. doi:10.1177/1942602X18791572
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MaughanE. D.SchneiderL. J. (2019). Comparing apples with apples: The importance of clean data. NASN School Nurse, 34, 104-106.
