A nurse-designed health care program in Hawaiʻi has been recognized for its impact on students at schools.
The Hawaiʻi Keiki program started in 2014 to address the needs of schools with high rates of student poverty. It aims to enhance and build school-based health services.
This year the program was one of four in the nation designated as an Edge Runner for the American Academy of Nursing.
Hawaiʻi Keiki Senior Practice Director Deborah Mattheus said having a school nurse helps both students and school staff.
“Having a school nurse available to students really allows the teachers and administrators to do the work that they need to do," she said in a statement. "They are able to provide education while our nurses are there to be able to take care of the health, physical and mental needs of our students.”
The program is a partnership between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Nursing and the state Department of Education.
Since 2014 the program has expanded to all the state's public schools and is flexible so it can respond to student, school and community needs as well as the availability of funding.
The program offers school nursing, telehealth, mental health services, dental sealants and vaccinations.
Many of the Hawaiʻi Keiki program nurses serve in the communities where they were born and raised.
During the last school year, 75% of students returned to class instead of being sent home following a visit to the Hawaiʻi Keiki clinic. More than 80% of Hawaiʻi public schools participated in a training initiative to reduce potential opioid overdoses on campuses.
The program's dental services, which have been in place since 2020, provided dental sealants to 61% of students last year who received dental assessments.
