LawSense Law for School Nurses

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Program

10.00    LawSense Welcome

10.05    Chairperson’s Introduction

Michelle Taylor, Nurse in Charge RN (Div 1), Ivanhoe Grammar School; President, Victorian School Nurses Association (VSNA)

10.10    Student Disability – Camps and Trips: Assessing Disability, Making Recommendations, Implementing Adjustments and Learning from Case Studies

• Exploring the range of disabilities encountered by schools and the role of the school nurse
• Examining reasonable adjustments:
  • interpreting and applying obligations to make reasonable adjustments with school camps and trips. When can you say a student cannot attend a camp or trip?
  • how should you approach determining the limits of reasonable adjustments required in each circumstance?
  • exploring particular challenges with overseas trips
  • understanding your options where a parent is not providing adequate or complete information
  • managing experts: responding to experts, briefing, and dealing with school experts
• Learning from case studies and examples:
  • exploring the extent of adjustments in managing a student with chronic illnesses
  • implementing adjustments for students with mental health issues
• Documenting steps and judgments regarding reasonable adjustments and developing support plans

Medication Management

• Exploring challenges and risk management in medication management in school camps
• Examining a school nurse’s duties:
  • meeting scope of practice requirements
  • where students self-administer – what level of monitoring is required from the school nurse? What are your duties where you suspect the student is not having the medication?
  • monitoring side effects of medications or failure to administer.
  • delegating administration of medicines
• Examining best practice in storing medication
• Implementing best practice in documenting medicine administration
• Dealing with medication errors

Bernadette Fay, Director of Risk & Compliance, Barker College

Commentary: Lisa Chalmers, Director of Health & Wellbeing, Barker College; Board Member, APNA

11.20    Break

11.30    Exploring Duty of Care Grey Areas and Cases: Recent Cases/Inquests, Managing First Aid Staff, Contractors, Non-Clinical Staff

Recent Cases Analysis and Learnings

• Examining recent cases and learnings, including coronial inquests:
  • Lachlan Cook
  • Timothy Fehring

Managing First Aid Staff, Contractors, and Delegation

• First aid staff:
  • exploring the limits to the scope of work first aid staff should perform in schools
  • understanding your potential liability for the work of first aid staff and the level of supervision required
• Contractors or third parties providing clinical support:
  • managing your potential liability, including required due diligence, monitoring and supervision
  • managing privacy/confidentiality

Training/Instruction of Non-Clinical Staff by School Nurses

• Exploring duties, potential liabilities and scope of practice in educating school staff about illnesses, conditions and medication. When should and shouldn’t you train non-clinical staff?
• Non-clinical staff supervising a student self-administering medication – examining potential liabilities for school nurses and exploring best practice management
• Key aspects to consider and cover in education or training non-clinical staff

Nevena Brown, Principal, Meridian Lawyers

Commentary: Lisa Chalmers, Director of Health & Wellbeing, Barker College; Board Member, APNA

12.30    Break

12.40    Examining Gender/Transgender Issues Presenting in School Students and Reviewing the Latest Research, Medications and Treatment: A Guide for School Nurses

Clinical Overview:

• Unpacking LGBTQIA+ and other concepts currently used to represent gender
• Understanding gender dysphoria and how it can present in students
• Outlining and interpreting the latest research relevant to gender issues in school students
• Exploring the role that social influences play, including peer groups, in gender expression of students – navigating potential student “confusion” or peer induced gender expressions
• Identifying and distinguishing the level of action or intervention taken in response to different gender expressions or wishes of the student including:
  • understanding how students are assessed
  • therapy for gender dysphoria
  • medication delaying puberty, including side effects
  • other medical treatment or interventions

Professor Rachel Skinner, Adolescent Physician, Department of Adolescent Medicine, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network; Senior Clinical Advisor in Youth Health and Wellbeing, NSW Ministry of Health

Cristyn Davies, Senior Research Associate, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney University Clinical School, Children’s Hospital at Westmead

School Responsibilities:

• Understanding key laws applying to LGBTQIA students – duty of care, discrimination, WHS and conversion therapy laws
• Examining how schools have applied their obligations and implications for school nurses

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers; Legal Consultant to Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)

2.00      Chairperson’s Conclusion

2.05      Close Webinar

Presenters / panelists include:

	Michelle Taylor started her nursing career as a graduate at the Alfred Hospital working in burns, cardiothoracic, hyperbaric unit and in the road trauma unit. She then moved to Ballarat where she joined Ballarat Federation University as a clinical educator for the nursing students and obtained a graduate certificate in Critical Care. Michelle moved back to Melbourne and joined the intensive Care team at Monash Clayton where she found her passion for Paediatrics. She was institutional in the move to set up Monash Children’s hospital Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and loved her roles as Clinical Nurse Specialist, Associate Nurse Manager and Acting Nurse Manager. Transitioning to school nursing was a lifestyle choice and a great new exciting chapter where the focus is now on health promotion, education and delivering primary first aid care to the school community.
	Bernadette Fay started her career in emergency and trauma nursing in Sydney before moving into leading Public Health roles including serving as the Queensland Women’s Health Officer. Bernadette was admitted as a solicitor in 2006. Bernadette became the lead investigator and managed enterprise risk for NSW Health in clinical and corporate governance roles before joining the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, including leading the dispute resolution division. Bernadette has moved into the education sector, joining Barker College as the Director of Risk & Compliance.
	Lisa Chalmers has a Bachelor of Nursing and master’s in public health with a background in epidemiology/ vaccine research and surveillance. Lisa began her nursing career at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne in NICU and commenced her school nursing career as ‘Matron’ at an International Boarding School in Singapore in the 1990’s caring for the children of expats from all over the world. She has worked extensively in both hospital and community roles in Singapore, Dublin and Fiji where she headed up the Health Centre at the US Embassy.
	Nevena Brown brings a common-sense confidence to her work, and more than 25 years’ experience. Her experience with liability claims is enhanced from having worked as a senior solicitor at NZI/CGU Insurance Ltd for five years. Nevena has advised and defended claims for GIO General Ltd, Vero Insurance, NZI/CGU Insurance Ltd, QBE Europe and other major insurers.
	Professor Rachel Skinner is a teaching and research clinical academic in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney University, and Adolescent Physician at the Children’s Hospital Westmead.She is Deputy Director of Wellbeing, Health and Youth, NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Adolescent Health: a collaboration across 5 Universities, based at Sydney University. She is also Senior Clinical Advisor in Youth Health and Wellbeing at NSW Ministry of Health.
	Ben Tallboys provides sector-specific, practical legal solutions to schools across Australia. Ben is a passionate and effective advocate for principals dealing with complex matters relating to parents, staff and students, as well as their own employment.

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