CLASS SPECIFICATION

SCHOOL HEALTH ROOM AIDE I

DEFINITION OF CLASS:
The work involves administering standard first aid and health room care to elementary or secondary school students with injuries/illnesses, including school staff, of the Montgomery County Public School system. The employee maintains student health records and documents and prepares summaries of health room visits. Performance of this work requires knowledge of: standard first aid and CPR practices and procedures; procedures for administering medications; procedures for assisting injured and disabled students with daily living tasks; procedures for operating and caring for various medical equipment such as Nebulizers and catheters; and School Health Services policies and procedures. Contacts include students, their parents, teachers, principals, and School Community Health Nurses to exchange information pertaining to students' health and health records, compliance with legally required immunizations, and medication authorizations. Students' needs/first aid requirements are normally readily identifiable or ascertained through asking a brief set of questions and/or administering brief tests. Assistance is usually of short duration, and referral is made to a School Community Health Nurse (SCHN) for more complex, unusual or special health needs.
Under clinical oversight of a licensed Registered Nurse (i.e., SCHN) an employee in this class may work without direct, on-site supervision, but has access to the SCHN by telephone or pager. Specific instructions or guidelines for the resolution of first aid problems, maintenance of health records, referring unusual first aid problems to the SCHN, and tabulation of health room visits are provided, but require some judgment in their application due to the variety of first aid problems. Students presenting unusual health care problems are discussed with the SCHN or Nurse Administrator if the SCHN is unavailable, either during periodically scheduled meetings or by telephone. Although most first aid and health care problems are minor, the employee must select the appropriate care to be given, and use judgment to decide whether to send the afflicted student back to the classroom, retain in the health room, or when a student becomes seriously injured or ill, call emergency 911 or the student's parents to provide transportation to professional medical attention. Most situations, however, involve following specific health service instructions/directions and standard first aid procedures. Complexity of the work is derived from determining the nature and severity of a variety of general illnesses and injuries, recognizing the meaning of readily apparent differences, and providing appropriate immediate care or taking preliminary action; from the need to prioritize cases, and provide care for the most serious cases first. Properly performed work results in the provision of appropriate first aid and/or health room care to injured and sick students, their return to classrooms in as short a time as possible, notation on various logs and health files to record health room visits and care provided, and dissemination of health-related information. Recognizing, and taking appropriate action in response to students' health related problems reduces the risk of exacerbating the problem (such as infection) by administering timely first aid treatment, facilitating access to further health services by medical professionals, and reducing prolonged absences away from the classroom. The work environment involves occasional exposure to human waste and/or body fluids. An employee in this class is exposed to some risk of such contagious diseases as viral Hepatitis or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) due to exposure to human waste and body fluids. Performance of this work involves bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or recurring lifting of objects up to 20 pounds or occasional lifting of objects up to 50 pounds.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: (Illustrative Only)
Administers standard first aid care to students who present themselves to the school health room as either injured or sick and returns them to the classroom after treatment, or arranges for parental or other transfer from school in more serious situations.
Maintains manual and/or computerized daily logs such as containing student's name, nature of complaint, and care provided for each health room visit, and documents more detailed information to individual student school health records.
Keeps School Community Health Nurse, teachers, and school principal informed of unusual health situations.
Reminds teachers of the date and time of health screenings (such as hearing and vision), pulls student's health records, and assists nurse by setting up screening schedule (or may administer screening tests as delegated by the SCHN); notifies the SCHN of any students who fall outside the acceptable range on any screening test; documents results in student's health files; and notifies parents of screening results.
Monitors compliance with immunization regulations in school to which assigned and contacts personnel of other school districts, doctors' offices and/or parents of new enrollees in order to obtain immunization records and bring health, immunization, and emergency contact records up to date.
Administers prescribed medications as ordered by physician and delegated by the School Community Health Nurse, and notifies parents when supply is low.
Administers emergency medications such as Adrenalin (Epi-pens) and Glucogen.
Assists disabled students requiring assistance of daily living activities (ADL) such as toiletting by helping them move from wheelchair to toilet seat and back, urinary catheterizations, and Gastrostomy feedings.
Orders and maintains adequate amounts of first aid supplies.
Distributes health notices and educational literature to, and discusses health care and personal hygiene with parents and students as required by nurse, school principal, or regulations.
Monitors students that self test and self administer medications such as diabetic students requiring insulin.
Cleans and sterilizes health room and such health room equipment as thermometers, catheters, beds, and pillows.
Operates and maintains various medical equipment such as Nebulizers, Gastrostomy Feeding Tubes, and oxygen tanks.
Takes note of health hazards and potential health/injury risk areas such as broken glass, sharp wire, broken pavement, and poison plant growth, and notifies appropriate authority to rectify.
Performs related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience: One (1) year experience working in a position which involved contact with children.
Education: Completion of high school or High School Certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland.
Equivalency: None.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Reading comprehension skill sufficient to permit understanding of the American Red Cross and American Heart Association manuals of Standard First Aid and Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, School Health Services Health Manual, and other relevant special procedures documents.
Ability to provide first aid treatment and CPR, administer medications in strict accordance with standard procedures and physicians' directions, and conduct hearing and vision screening tests.
Ability to maintain student health records in a clear and accurate manner, and to file alphabetically and numerically.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with individuals of different ages, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and with professional medical and school staff.
Ability to perform basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, percentages).
Ability to lift objects up to 20 pounds or occasional lifting of objects up to 50 pounds.
Ability to attend meetings or perform other assignments at locations outside the office.

LICENSE:
Within 45 Days of County Employment (within 180 days for temporary employees who have successfully completed County training): Possession of CPR Certification, First Aid Certification, and Certified Nursing Assistant Certification. Selected positions in this class assigned to routinely administer medications must be registered with the state as a Registered Medication Assistant.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD:
Individuals appointed or promoted to a bargaining unit position in this class will be required to serve a probationary period of six months. Individuals appointed to a non-bargaining unit position in this class will be required to serve a probationary period of twelve months, or if promoted to a non-bargaining unit position, will be required to serve a probationary period of six months. Performance will be carefully evaluated during the probationary period. Continuation in this class will be contingent upon successful completion of the probationary period.

MEDICAL PROTOCOL: Core Exam

Class Established: January 1979
Revised: October 1981
March 1984
July 1089
October 1991 (M)
October 1993
March 1996
October 2002 (M)
April 2010
September 2012

Formerly "Health Room Technician I"