What is a Nurse Practitioner?

The mission of the Regional Alliance for Health Schools (RAHS) is to provide school-based health programs and clinical services that improve the well-being of students, their families, and their communities. This mission has common threads with the philosophy behind the clinical practice of Nurse Practitioners – common good, professional care, compassion, patient advocacy, and individual and collective excellence.

Nurse Practitioners are educated as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and provided services in a variety of health care settings. NPs are health care providers that work collaboratively with physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, and other health care providers with one common goal: to deliver high quality patient family centered care. In a school-based health center, the focus of the Nurse Practitioner is to reach children and families in the community that may not have direct access to medical treatment. Having a Nurse Practitioner in a school-based health center allows for safe and effective access to health care. The goal is to create an environment that yields both health promotion and risk reduction.

Each of the RAHS school-based health centers has a Nurse Practitioner (NP) on site who is available to meet the direct and immediate health care needs of the students. RAHS Nurse Practitioners and their teams of support staff recognize the needs of the students in their schools, and work hard to develop relationships within the community to help deliver additional services such as vision and dental screenings, reproductive health care, and care for the uninsured.

RAHS has both Pediatric and Family Nurse Practitioners delivering high quality health care to the students they see in the clinics daily. RAHS Nurse Practitioners use evidence-based medicine to help guide clinical decision and create treatment plans for our patients. They are responsible for diagnosing illnesses, developing treatment options, referrals to specialists when necessary, and prescribing medication. RAHS NPs also provide primary care such as well child exams, sports physicals and immunizations.

RAHS Nurse Practitioners are not only experts in their field; they have a unique approach to healthcare delivery, combining a blend of nursing and medical care. They strive to provide patient centered comprehensive health care, health education, and counseling with a personalized style. They are committed to helping patients and families conquer illness and make lifestyle changes that will enable them to stay focused and healthy.

Healthy Students Make Better Students. Be well!