Tele-Nursing in Use at Northwestern

By Chris Fischer
The use of telemedicine has been on the rise. Northwestern Area School benefits from this technology. The school has been using Avel eCares virtual nurse service since 2023.
Northwestern Superintendent Rob Lewis said Were a small district, so hiring full-time nurses is tough. The district pays a fee, as well as a charge per student. For this, the school has on-demand access to a licensed nurse via telehealth. Lewis added Its way more cost-effective for a district our size than to have a full-time nurse on staff.
Lewis used to work for a larger district. He said I was in Redfield for 17 years, and we had a full-time nurse that whole time. You dont realize how much you use them until you dont have one. Being in a smaller district had some different challenges. He said Theyre busy in a bigger school, and here I dont know if we could keep them gainfully employed or busy all day every day. So this (virtual nursing) just works. He had considered hiring a nurse for a couple of hours a day. But, he said, Thats good while theyre here, and you know some of the needs that we were specifically looking to get covered would have been met. But if someone falls and hits her head or breaks her arm on the playground when theyre not here, you still dont have anything.
Lewis heard about Avel eCare from other education professionals. He had been looking for ways to best support a students needs. He looked into the company, and It was just a good fit for what we needed.
Lewis explained how it works: A student says they dont feel good. The student will tell the teacher, and theyll either bring them down here, or send them to the office. Weve got an iPad that we use to do a Facetime visit with Avel ecare. They have several nurses around I think many of them work from home, and some go to an office. We just get in a queue. Usually its 1 or 2 of them that do most of our nursing, and they check out the students.
The school has equipment to use for these visits. Lewis said We have the ability to monitor their temperature. Weve got a little camera that can look in their throat and their ears. Weve got a blood pressure cuff those types of things. Theyre able to measure heart rate and things like that, and do an overall evaluation. A trained member of the school staff stays with the ill student, and follows instructions from the nurse.
The nurse will decide if further action is needed. Lewis continued If its something where they think that the student needs to see a doctor, the Avel eCare nurse reaches out to parents or guardians. They close the loop there. Even if they just see someone for a tummyache, they will follow up with a parent to say Rob was in today. He just saw me for a tummyache. Heres what I thought. So the parents are always informed, and its actually a medical professional informing them about whats going on, instead of a school person.
Lewis said that the school averages 55-65 nurse visits a month. He wasnt sure if Northwestern had ever had a nurse on staff. Ten members of the school staff are medication trained.
An emergency situation can happen at any time. He said We’ve had people fall on the playground and break their arms. We’ve had people with concussions. That whole gamut still happens. He expressed appreciation for the virtual nursing service. Three years ago, when I first got here, there was us trying to figure it out and then calling parents. Now we’ve got a medical professional. We’ve had a couple medical emergencies in the building in the last couple years. Having them there to help guide us until an ambulance got here or parents got here or has been very, very helpful.
Virtual school nursing companies help fill in gaps in service, particularly for rural school districts. Its a great opportunity. Lewis said.