Telehealth allows for remote nursing for schools
Heather Crouch, virtual-health manager at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, puts a device on Kathryn Price, director of nursing for Anderson County Schools, so that Myra Guillen Campbell, telehealth specialist at the hospital, shown on screen, can listen to her lungs. (photo:Ben Pounds )
Kathryn Price, director of nursing for Anderson County Schools, and Heather Crouch, virtual-health manager at the children’s hospital, spoke to the Anderson County Board of Education about the program at the Jan. 9 board meeting.
“It’s really like you have a mini urgent care in your school nurse’s office,” Crouch said.
The two of them showed off a telehealth unit to the board.
Crouch put a device on Price to listen to her lungs while Myra Guillen Campbell, telehealth specialist at the hospital, gave directions and listened to the results.
She appeared on a tablet during the meeting.
Other devices can allow remote telehealth specialists to look at students’ ears.
Price said each school already has a nurse in each building.
Crouch however, said the telehealth system allows for even more treatments and diagnoses than the school nurses would offer.
With telehealth, fewer students have to travel to hospitals, which is helpful for students whose parents don’t have a way to take them there.
Telehealth can help with treatment of conditions such as fever, sore throat, ear pain, pink eye, rash, cough, congestion, tooth pain, flu-like symptoms and skin infections, as well as serve as point of care testing for COVID-19, flu and strep.
“We had a fourth-grade class that had several kids that had lice, and they all got treated in one day,” Crouch said.
Another telehealth victory involved letting a student with asthma see a pulmonologist remotely, she said.
Claxton and Lake City elementary schools already have these devices. Director of Schools Tim Parrott said he would like to get telehealth devices for four more schools, but that proposal was not up for a vote.
Voucher opposition
The Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution opposing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed Freedom Scholarship Act.
“Vouchers and education savings accounts threaten the district’s ability to maintain the quality of its educational offerings, as [they] would divert state funds to private actors and disrupt local control of education,” the resolution stated.
Chairman Scott Gillenwaters wrote the resolution. As of Jan. 9, he was recovering from surgery, but he nevertheless got a chance to attend by way of video conferencing and watch as the Board of Education passed his resolution.
Comment periods
Citizens may soon get a chance to comment on topics during school board meetings even if they’re not on the agenda.
The measure passed on first reading at the meeting on Thursday, Jan. 10, but it will have to pass on second reading in order to go forward.
Childcare
The board OK’d $100,000 for childcare for school employees.
That’s in addition to the federal Head Start funds the program already receives.
