Care Coordination: A Principle of 21st Century School Nursing Practice With a Focus on Case Management

Abstract

The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™, created by the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), explains school nursing practice, providing guidance, organization, prioritization, and meaning. This is the second article in a series for The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice. This article focuses on case management, one of the practice components in the principle of care coordination. Case management focuses on school nurse support of individual at-risk students and collaborative actions to reduce barriers to their academic success. This article will clarify how the terms care coordination and case management are used in context of the Framework and provide an example to help the reader apply the concept to practice. Washington’s School Nurse Case Management Program will serve as a model. The program outlines evidence for effective practice and shares practical examples of how school nurses can implement case management into their daily work. Any school nurse, no matter how large or small their workload, can provide case management.