Wende Brown | Support HB360

To whom it may concern; I am a baccalaureate trained nurse in practice for over 30 years. I have practiced as a School Nurse and have worked in this setting in California, Massachusetts and New Hampshire for over 7 years. I stand in support of HB360 as I believe the school setting isn't the appropriate venue for state-based health clinics. My concerns are many but most of my hesitations arise from my support of parental involvement regarding the medical care of their children. As nurses, our scope of practice is limited to assessment, we cannot diagnose. Anyone suggesting for example that doing finger sticks for diabetic students is considered diagnostic, it is not, it is an assessment and a licensed MD provides orders to respond to the values we obtain during this assessment, just as in the hospital setting. Most of the diabetic students I've worked with have their blood sugars monitored via a device called a CGM. Other concerns involve the scope of these clinics. It has been suggested in other states that promotion of gender affirming care can fall under the auspices of schools with some even suggesting that parents should not be notified. Could implementation of school-based clinics be the start of mission creep to that end? As a school nurse, we have medical orders pre-approved and authorized by our parents where necessary. Obviously, both education and the medical fields are important to the welfare of our children. As school nurses we are there to intervene in order to promote wellness in the school setting and help students maintain educational objectives with good health as our goal. We can assess and provide interventions in conjunction with parental authorization. I just don't believe that bringing school-based clinics into the education arena is a viable option in order to assure parents are involved in the care of their children. Thank you for your consideration. Respectfully, Wende Brown RN, BSN