NCSN case studies
NCSN · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The National Certified School Nurse (NCSN) credential is a voluntary professional certification for registered nurses who practice in pre-K–12 school settings. It is administered by the National Board for Certification of School Nurses (NBCSN) and is intended to recognize a level of knowledge and judgment beyond entry-level nursing practice - the ability to manage a caseload of students, run a health office, and make defensible decisions inside an educational system rather than a hospital one. The NCSN case studies are 5 cases and about 4,227 words.
1The Transfer Student Who Failed Screening in a Gym
November, a K–8 building of 612 students. The nurse is closing out the state screening window.
811 words, about 4 min2The Overnight Field Trip and a Pump the Nurse Won't Be Attending
Daniel, age 13, has type 1 diabetes, wears an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor, and has a 504 plan. He checks his own glucose and counts carbohydrates but does not calculate or give boluses without an adult checking; at school, the nurse supervises.
819 words, about 4 min3Epinephrine at 11:24 and a Parent Who Wants to Drive
11:20 a.m., fourth-grade lunch recess. Jayden, age 9, has a known peanut allergy and an epinephrine auto-injector kept in the health office.
803 words, about 4 min4A Stomachache, a Disclosure, and Forty Minutes to Dismissal
Sofia, age 15, comes to the health office with a stomachache. While the nurse is taking her temperature, Sofia says quietly, 'I don't want to be here anymore.' Over the next ten minutes she discloses that she has been cutting her thigh for about two months, that she has thought about taking her mother's sleeping pills 'if it gets bad,' and that she has a therapy appointment in three weeks.
934 words, about 5 min5The Subpoena, the Custody Letter, and the Principal's Advice
A school nurse receives a subpoena duces tecum from an attorney representing a student's father in a custody dispute. It demands 'the complete cumulative health record' of a 16-year-old, including nurse's notes and a referral related to STI testing the student requested herself.
860 words, about 4 min