- Guidelines for Toilet Training and Incontinence Management in Schools
- Auditory Screening Rule: Opportunities for Feedback
- Reminder: Mandatory Student Head Injury Reporting
- Save the Date: Heartsafe Schools and Cardiac Emergency Response Plans Webinar
- Washington State Nursing Clinical Placement Initiative Survey
- New Department of Health Webpage
- Early Care and Education Webpage
- Standing Orders
Guidelines for Toilet Training and Incontinence Management in Schools
OSPI is pleased to offer new Guidelines for Toilet Training and Incontinence Management for Schools. These guidelines were created through a joint effort between OSPI Health Services and Special Education divisions with input from the Departments of Health (DOH) and Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) as well as other agencies and community members.
Auditory Screening Rule Change: Opportunities for Feedback
The Washington State Board of Health (Board) and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) want your feedback on the rules for yearly hearing screenings in K-12 schools (chapter 2546-650 WAC).
Survey for School Staff
As part of an ongoing rulemaking project, Washington State Board of Health staff have created a survey to learn more about K-12 hearing screening programs in schools. Staff want to hear from school staff responsible for completing these screenings or running the screening program for their school or school district. All responses will be anonymous, and the information you provide will help inform the current rulemaking on this topic. We anticipate this survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Take the survey here.
Online Meetings
In November and December, the Board and OSPI school health staff will host two online meetings to share proposed updates to the hearing screening rules. These meetings will give school nurses, hearing screening staff, organizations interested in hearing screenings, and parents a chance to share their opinions on the changes to the rules. The meetings are part of an effort to get input from people who care about school hearing screenings. Below are the dates and times for these upcoming meetings:
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Thursday, November 21, 2024, from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2024, from 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Every effort will be made to provide Spanish interpretation and American Sign Language (ASL) during these webinars. Should you need confirmation of these services, please email molly.dinardo@sboh.wa.gov before the meeting dates.
These webinars will be open to the public. To access the meeting online please go to:
November 21st, 2024 - 3:30-4:30PM
Zoom Link - Meeting ID: 884 8540 6476 - mobile:12532050468,88485406476# US
December 4, 2024 - 3-4PM
If you're interested in being included in future updates for these rules (e.g., email notices with the next steps on this project and other opportunities to be involved), you can fill out the auditory screening rulemaking interest form online here: Rule Making Interest Form
Reminder: Mandatory Student Head Injury Information Reporting
All public schools are required by RCW 43.70.435 to report all diagnosed concussions of students participating in school activities, including athletics. Reporting can be done at any time, but all reporting must be completed by June 30th of every year.
A report to the legislature on 2023-2024 data shows that 43% of Washington school districts reported concussions last year. Please see the Department of Health's Student Health Injury Reporting webpage for information about the reporting process, video trainings, and resources as well as contact information for technical assistance.
Save the Date: Heartsafe Schools and Cardiac Emergency Response Plans Webinar
Please join us for a webinar designed for schools interested in learning more about implementing cardiac emergency response plans, Heartsafe School designation, or in applying for the upcoming AED grants.
December 10th, 2024 - 2-3PM
More details and registration information to come
Washington State Nursing Clinical Placement Initiative
You are invited to participate in the Washington State Nursing Clinical Placement Initiative survey. All healthcare employers with current or potential clinical placements for nursing students are invited to participate. (This includes school health services.)
This initiative was funded by the Washington State Legislature to facilitate communication between nursing education programs and healthcare facilities for the purpose of increasing clinical education and practice experiences for nursing students. One of the goals of this initiative includes gathering data to assess current clinical placement practices and your involvement is crucial to the success of this initiative.
Hospitals – The Washington State Hospital Association members will receive the survey via WSHA outreach.
Non-hospitals - This survey is aimed for non-hospital settings and includes, but is not limited to: rural health clinics, dialysis centers, ambulatory settings, senior living settings, SNF, long-term care, prisons and corrections facilities, K-12 schools, public health, urgent care, rehabilitation centers, infusion centers, wound care, behavioral health, all clinics, primary care, community services, rural services, non-clinical services included, etc.
The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Please see the attached copy of the survey questions as you may need to gather some data in advance to complete the survey. All questions are not required.
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2GYWDSN
New Department of Health Webpages
Early Care and Education
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH),in partnership with The Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and local public health, launched the Early Care and Education (ECE). This website is meant to be a companion site to the Schools | Washington State Department of Health; you may see some overlap of resources.
The Early Care and Education (ECE) page is a one-stop-shop for early learning and child care providers to find cross-agency resources for the health and safety of children, ages birth to five. A companion page to the Schools | Washington State Department of Health site, it features similar resource topics with the addition of a “Frequently Used Guides” box and a “Data and Statistical Reports” section. If you have feedback, questions about this new page, or suggestions for content, please email the DOH’s K-12 Engagement team.
Standing Orders
RCW 43.70.183 authorizes the Secretary of Health or their designee to issue a prescription or standing order for any biological product, device, or drug to control and prevent the spread of, mitigate, or treat any infectious or noninfectious disease or threat to the public health.
From these efforts, DOH published a new Standing Orders webpage to help public health partners:
- Understand what standing orders are
- Figure out if a standing order is a good solution for an issue
- View current standing orders issued by the Secretary of Health
- Learn how to request a standing order
If you believe a standing order may help meet a public health need, we encourage you to visit the Standing Order page. You can also access the Standing Order page on the main Public Health and Provider Resources page.
Please contact us at healthservices@k12.wa.us or by phone: (360) 725-6040
We check phone message intermittently. Email is the best way to contact Health Services staff for a more immediate response.
School Health Services | OSPI (www.k12.wa.us)
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