Sidwell Friends School is a Pre-K through grade 12 institution with a student population of 1,100. The school is spread across two campuses, with a lower school in Bethesda, Maryland and middle and upper school in Washington, D.C.  

Since 2013, Sidwell has used Magnus Health to manage student health across both campuses. We recently spoke with Anneke Collins, RN, upper school health coordinator, about her favorite Magnus Health features and how Sidwell Friends School manages student health information.  

Managing Student Visits 

As any school nurse knows, the health office can get quite busy. Data from the Albert Shanker Institute shows that the average health office sees 4% of their student population daily. (The actual number is likely considerably higher as this data was pre-COVID.) For a school like Sidwell with 1,100 students, that’s roughly 44 student visits each day.  

Sidwell uses Magnus Health to track student visits to the health office with the check-in feature. This makes it easy to see who stopped by, even if they left before an official visit. It also gives health staff a reliable backlog of student names and medical information in case they weren’t able to complete their treatment notes right away. They can review the check-in queue and see which students completed a visit.  

“The check in feature has been great. Our office can get wild some days,” says Anneke. 

Monitoring Medications 

Sidwell also uses the medication schedule within Magnus Health to stay organized and communicate with parents about their child’s medications.  

“The medication schedule makes it easy and fast to document medications,” says Anneke. “We don’t need to write a whole note; we just need to document that the medication has been given. I love the countdown feature, too. It’s really helpful for controlled meds!” 

The countdown feature shows health staff how much supply they have of a particular medication. It’s easy to see when the supply is dwindling and to send an automatic reminder to parents to refill their child’s medication.  

Improving Compliance 

Reaching one hundred percent compliance by the first day of school is a lofty goal for many health offices. Instead of manually reaching out to each family about overdue health requirements, Sidwell utilizes the automated parent reminders within Magnus Health. This feature helps school staff streamline communication and reach their compliance goals.  

During the summer, Sidwell sends an automated weekly reminder to parents with missing student health forms. This saves Anneke and her team valuable time as they no longer have to manually identify which parents to email and what to say. Anneke has observed that parents are more likely to respond to the automated reminders than to her emails. They’ll reply with information about their child’s upcoming physical and set expectations for when their forms will be completed. 

Additionally, it’s easier to manage compliance across both school campuses with one shared platform. This is a huge benefit since the campuses are located in two different states and have their own health requirements. Instead of having to manage multiple student health solutions, the health office can see everything they need within Magnus Health. As students move from the lower school to the middle and upper campus, their health data moves with them. 

Preparing for Emergencies 

Another useful feature is Magnus911. As an emergency response tool, Magnus911 arms Sidwell with quick access to vital health information and emergency contacts. This is especially helpful for off-campus events like away games, field trips, or overnights. Anneke gives the 911 cards to authorized personnel so that they’re prepared for any type of incident. 

“We like that we can customize them to see what kind of information is there,” says Anneke. “It’s helpful for coaches and non-nursing staff. We train them on how to help students during an emergency.” 

Keeping Student Data Safe 

Before adopting an SHR, Sidwell relied on paper charting and written documentation to manage student health. This method was not only manual and laborious but opened the door to data privacy and security concerns. 

Now? Sidwell’s student health data is protected with hospital-grade security and strict user permissions that ensure only authorized health staff have access to sensitive student data.   

To learn more about Sidwell Friends School and Magnus Health, catch up with our on-demand webinar.