§ 7-417. Health care providers in Caroline County

   (a) Assignment. -- In Caroline County the nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other appropriate health care provider will be assigned, to the extent practicable, to elementary and middle schools.

(b) Services included. -- The services provided by the nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other appropriate health care provider shall, to the extent practicable, include:

   (1) Assessment of the health status of all targeted students in the selected elementary and middle schools including history, physical examination, neuro-developmental evaluation, and all required early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs;

   (2) Provision of health care including well-child care and treatment of common injuries and illnesses; and

   (3) Integration of health care with existing health care providers and health education programs directed at students, teachers, and parents.

(c) Duties. -- The nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other appropriate health care provider shall:

   (1) Collaborate with board certified or board eligible pediatricians in the health management of the school children;

   (2) Concentrate on the early identification, health counseling, and referral for mental health problems, with an emphasis on suicide prevention; and

   (3) Assess, to the extent possible, whether school health programs could be used as a basis for advising other family members of the student of other sources of primary care.

HISTORY: 1980, ch. 754; 1981, ch. 524, § 2; 1991, ch. 114; 1996, ch. 10, § 16.