Administration of health services in public or private

[Smiley74]

Maybe this isn’t a specific IDEA issue, but, absent health emergencies, can (not should) a school deliver health services in private?  Should school perform non emergent pulse ox and chest examination in public view of other students (on a sidewalk outside school) or in privacy of the nurses office or other private area?

[Carolyn Rowlett]

They CAN, but with the caveat that they might want another adult in the room, just like a doctor does during an examination, to avoid claims of misconduct toward the student.  As far as whether they SHOULD, HIPPA does not apply to public schools.  But FERPA does (a student's medical records are considered part of their "education record"), so maybe an argument could be made under FERPA that they are not following the law regarding keeping student information private (i.e., performing such examinations in view of other students is the same as telling those students about a medical condition).  Emphasis on MAYBE because I did not do any research on this exact situation nor can we provide legal advice on this site.

The best solution would be to ask the school nicely to perform such examinations in a more private setting and hopefully they would understand and cooperate.

[JSD24]

My opinion is, given FERPA, medical things should be done in the privacy of the nurse's office.  Doing this on a sidewalk infers that a student has a medical condition and that info should only be shared on a need to know basis.  People on a sidewalk don't need to know that a student gets pulse ox and chest examination from the nurse.  It is possible that the doctor calls for this to be checked when the student is outside so the nurse might not be able to do this in their office.

You are right that IDEA doesn't address this because medical tends to fall under Section 504.  504 accommodations can be included in an IEP but it's still 504 that would cover these.

This is something that can be asked of the state agency that licenses school nurses.  You might also be able to look up their practice act and see what it has to say on where medical monitoring should be happening at school.  You'd need to know what the doctor's orders say to know if 'outside' is required as part of the accommodation so you can tell if the nurse is doing it as ordered or not.