Creating a Culture of Accurate and Precise Data

There are many stakeholders for school health data. Each one has a stake in the quality and accuracy of the health data collected and reported in schools. The joint NASN and NASSNC national school nurse data set initiative, Step Up & Be Counted!, heightens the need to assure accurate and precise data. The use of a standardized terminology allows the data on school health care delivered in local schools to be aggregated for use at the local, state, and national levels. The use of uniform terminology demands that data elements be defined and that accurate and reliable data are entered into the database. Barriers to accurate data are misunderstanding of accurate data needs, student caseloads that exceed the national recommendations, lack of electronic student health records, and electronic student health records that do not collect the indicators using the standardized terminology or definitions. The quality of the data that school nurses report and share has an impact at the personal, district, state, and national levels and influences the confidence and quality of the decisions made using that data.