Student Handbook – Student Health Services
◄ Education & Research Activities Release
Health Services – Residential & Non-Residential Students
The Indiana Academy nurse’s office is located in Wagoner Hall room 155 and assists with the healthcare needs of Academy students (illness/injury/medication/etc.). The office hours are Monday thru Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office phone number is (765) 285-7360 (fax 765-285-0063).
Nikki Al Khatib, RN (Nurse Manager) – nalkhatib
April Smith, LPN – adsmith
Health Forms & Other Requirements – Residential & Non-Residential Students
The following items are due to the nursing office no later than move-in day.
- Complete medical information section on PowerSchool Registration, including:
- Healthcare Consent Form (residential students only, signed by guardian annually)
- Copy of Insurance Card, front & back (residential students only, upload via PowerSchool Registration)
- Copy of Immunization Record for all students attending in-person classes. Vaccinations are required to be current prior to the first day of school.
- Prescription Medication Form (if applicable)
- Action Plan (if applicable)
- Other forms as applicable to your student (upload via PowerSchool Registration).
Excused Absence Policy
Non-residential students: If you become ill while at school, you must see the school nurse prior to going home OR your parent/guardian may call the Attendance Secretary to inform the school that you are leaving for the day.
Residential students: You must be assessed by the school nurse prior to missing class. In the absence of a nurse, you should report your illness/injury to the front desk or SLC on duty.
If you have symptoms that you feel may indicate infection (such as high fever, vomiting, or severe congestion), you may call the nurse to be assessed over the phone. Outside of office hours, you will be assessed by the SLC on duty. Emails to report illness while in residence are not acceptable.
Staff may determine that students need to return home for isolation requirements according to the current Ball State University policy and/or guidelines. Guardians will be required to pick up the student within 24 hours if isolation is necessary.
Sick At Home: The student’s guardian should call the Attendance Secretary, Renee Drumm (765-285-8110) each day that a student is home for an illness. A healthcare provider’s note is required if you miss more than three consecutive school days.
You are encouraged to schedule routine/maintenance appointments around our school calendar. If that is not possible, you will either need to complete a pre-arranged absence form (prior to the appointment) OR turn in a doctor’s note upon returning to school.
Excused Absences and Academics: Students should be aware of each teacher’s policy on excused absences and missed work. Tests will generally not be excused unless you are injured or infectious. The nursing staff has no jurisdiction over BSU or Burris classes and therefore cannot excuse students from those classes. Students are encouraged to follow relevant policies from BSU or Burris for those classes.
Sick card: Nurses may issue a sick card if students need to rest and recuperate from illness, or if they need to be isolated for infection control purposes. A sick card may restrict activities including attendance at in-person classes, programs, functions, athletic practices/events, access to public spaces, or ability to have visitors in the dorm room.
Ambulatory Health Care (Residential Students)
The Ball State University Student Health Center, located in the Amelia T. Wood building, provides ambulatory health care for currently enrolled sick and injured residential students. The Health Center is comprised of a Main clinic, pharmacy, women’s center and a physical therapy unit.
The Health Center, while offering quality acute healthcare, preventative screenings, and patient education, is not intended to replace your personal health care provider. In providing care for students the goal is, when possible, to prevent visits home for medical care. The purpose is to complement the services of your health care provider.
The Health Center, Women’s Center and PT department do not bill insurance for services provided.
The Health Center provides minimal lab services for a small charge, such as rapid mono or strep test, urinalysis, etc. This can be billed to the student’s bursar account or paid for at point of service. Lab-work that is sent off-campus for processing will be filed through insurance. The off-campus facility will bill the parent/guardian for any balance due.
Pharmacy services are filed through insurance. Copays can be billed to the bursar account if requested, or paid at point of service.
The BSU Health Center is open on school days (Monday – Friday, business hours) by appointment only.
Appointments must be coordinated through the Indiana Academy nurse’s office and a health care consent form, signed by parent/guardian, must be on file at the nurse’s office to seek health care evaluation and/or treatment if the student is under 18.
Transportation to and from the health center and health center referred appointments will be coordinated through the IA nurse’s office.
The Indiana Academy will not assume any healthcare or related costs incurred by a student.
Emergent Care (Residential Students)
In the case of a medical emergency, students will be transported to Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital, 2401 W University Ave, Muncie, IN 47303. A staff member will stay with the student throughout their visit. If the student is admitted to the hospital, a parent or guardian will be required to attend as soon as possible. Emergency services will be billed through insurance.
Urgent Care (Residential Students)
An off-campus urgent care facility will be used out of health center operating hours when the injury/illness is evaluated by Student Life staff as urgent, but not warranting Emergency Room evaluation. Every effort will be made to discuss with a guardian before a decision is made to seek urgent care evaluation.
Insurance information will be provided to the off-campus facility. Some urgent care facilities require payment at the time of service. A bill for any balance due will be sent to the parent/guardian by the off-campus urgent care facility.
Med Express & US Health Works do not file Medicaid/Hoosier Healthwise Plans. Some form of payment is due at the time of service.
Primetime Pediatrics will file most insurance plans and treat patients up to 18 years of age.
A health care consent form, signed by the guardian, must be on file at the nurse’s office to seek health care evaluation and/or treatment if the student is under 18.
Transportation (Residential Students)
- We will transport students to and from the BSU Health Center for illness/injury appointments.
- We will transport students to off-campus urgent care facilities ONLY if the BSU Health Center is closed and the illness/injury cannot wait until they are open.
- We will transport students to off-campus appointments ONLY if the student was referred by the BSU Health Center.
- We will NOT transport students to routine/maintenance appointments: primary care provider, dermatologist, allergist, dental, eye, counseling, etc.
Pharmacy Information (Residential Students)
Our first choice to fill prescriptions is the BSU health center pharmacy (Tel: 765-285-1079)
This is both for short – term prescriptions for an illness or injury and routine prescribed medications. In addition to usual pharmacy payment options*, payment can be billed to the bursar account.
*American Express is not accepted
The BSU office of student financial services will send the parent/guardian a bill for any charges placed on the bursar account. If you completed an alternative pharmacy preference in Powerschool registration, we can also fill at:
Walgreens Pharmacy, 765-287-8533, 2720 W. Jackson St. Muncie, IN 47304 (usual pharmacy options or ExpressPay) or CVS Pharmacy, 765-287-0074, 2729 W. Jackson St. Muncie, IN 47304 (usual pharmacy payment options).
If there is a specific method of payment you want to use, such as a health savings account card or a debit/credit card, please ensure that your student has access to card or cash for copays as needed. Card copies are not accepted. If you are transferring prescriptions to our local pharmacy, please inform the IA nurse’s office and we will coordinate filling and pick up.
Medication Policy
The Indiana Academy does enforce a medication policy. The full policy is available on our website (academy.bsu.edu/forms). The nursing office monitors ALL prescription medication. Your prescription medication must be logged in on move-in day or through the school year as soon as it is prescribed and brought into Wagoner Hall. On move-in day, please pack your medications separately as we will ask for them when you are checking in. A parent/guardian must notify the nursing staff of any new medication or if the medicine, dosage, schedule or procedure for administering any medication is changed or eliminated. The ultimate decision for self-administration of any medication is at the nurse’s discretion. Student compliance will be monitored. All medication stored by the nursing staff will be kept in a locked cart, in a secure location.
Consequences, such as student groundings, removal of medication from the student room or suspension, may be initiated if ANY part of our medication policy is not followed. It is against the law to have a prescription medication in your possession that is not prescribed to you. All prescription medication must be logged in with the nursing staff and properly labeled with the student’s name, medication name, dosage, frequency, & any specific instructions.
Non-Controlled Medication:
The student can self-administer non-controlled medication, up to a 14-day supply, AFTER the school nurse has logged it in and all consents for self-administration are on file. Consent for self-administration is required by both the guardian and provider before a student can self-administer prescription medication. The Prescription Medication Form can be printed off from PowerSchool Registration. To submit the form, you will need to upload it using PowerSchool Registration. The Prescription Medication Form can also be obtained from the forms section of the Academy website.
If one or more consent form for self-administration is missing, the student must take their prescription medication from the nurse’s office (or front desk in our absence). Once consents are on file, the nursing staff will get up to a 14-day supply ready for the student to pick up. The medication can be picked up from the nurse’s office, or in our absence, from the front desk.
When the student’s room supply is low/depleted, the student should return their room bottle or container to either the nurse’s office or the front desk for replenishment. Any remaining medication will be stored on the medication cart until the student needs more. Each and every pharmacy refill (or medication brought from home) must be logged in with a nurse as soon as it brought into Wagoner Hall. If a nurse is not available, the refill should be taken to the front desk.
ALL room supply prescription medication must be stored at all times in the locked drawer in your dorm room. The only exception to this is emergency medication, such as rescue inhalers, epinephrine or insulin.
Controlled Medication:
Students MAY NOT self-administer controlled medication, even if consents are on file. Controlled medication is not permitted in student dorm rooms. These medications, when needed, MUST be taken from the medication cart in the nurse’s office (or front desk in our absence). If you are unsure if a medication is controlled, please call us, your pharmacy, or your prescribing provider to find out your student’s medication classification.
Medication Policy (Non-Residential Students)
A Prescription Medication Form is required if your non-residential student is prescribed prescription medication. Consent for self-administration is required by both the parent/guardian and the provider. Your child may self-administer their medication on campus only if the consent form is complete and on file in the nurse’s office. Without a completed form on file, your student must log in any prescription medication needed during the school day with the nurse’s office. Any and all prescription medication that needs to be taken during school hours must be logged in with the nursing staff on or before the first day of school (or when it is prescribed). Students should go to the nurse’s office for their medication when needed (or front desk in our absence).
Over-The-Counter Medication (All Students)
Over-the-counter medication is not monitored by the nursing staff and may be kept in the student dorm room. All over-the-counter medication must be stored at all times in the locked drawer in your dorm room. Some over-the-counter medication is available from the front desk on an as-needed basis for residential students. Guardians must consent to the use of OTC meds for students to access the front desk supply.
Filling Medication for an Illness/Injury:
The nursing staff will fill or assist the student in filling medication prescribed for an illness/injury by the BSU Health Center or other Urgent Care Facility. Unless the parent/guardian has otherwise informed the nursing staff, all medication will be filled at the BSU Pharmacy. If a prescription is needed and the BSU Pharmacy is closed, we will use the alternate pharmacy you listed in PowerSchool Registration. If there is a specific method of payment you want the school to use, such as a health savings account card or a debit/credit card, please provide a front & back copy of the card to the nursing staff no later than move-in day…or ensure that your student always has a means of payment for any unexpected expenses.
Filling Routine or “As Needed” Medication Prescribed by your Doctor at Home:
The nursing staff would be happy to assist in filling the monthly or “as needed” prescription medication for your student. In order to do so, we will need the following:
- Verbal or written consent from the parent/guardian.
- A written prescription for each medication to be filled by the nursing staff, preferably written to cover at the least one semester. If you already have a current script at a home pharmacy, guardian may choose to transfer it to a Muncie pharmacy
- A form of payment must be on file.
If you plan to fill your student’s prescription medication yourself, please remember the following:
- If you mail the medication to your student…please ensure that your child logs it in as soon as they get it. Each and every pharmacy refill must be logged in, per school policy.
- If you mail the medication to the nursing staff, please send to:
Nikki Al Khatib, RN
Indiana Academy
Ball State University/Wagoner Complex
Muncie, IN 47306
If you hand deliver the medication, please log in the medication with the nurse’s office (or front desk in our absence).
Concussion & Head Injury Law (IC 20-34-7) – Residential & Non-Residential Students
The law “Student Athletes: Concussions and Head Injuries” took effect on July 1, 2012. This law requires that schools distribute information sheets to inform and educate students, athletes, and parents/guardians concerning the nature and risk of concussion, including the risks of continuing play or an activity after concussion or head injury. The law requires that each school year, the parent/guardian and student sign an Acknowledgement and Signature Form which acknowledges receipt of concussion information. The law further states that a high school student who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in a practice, game, or activity shall be removed from play at the time of injury and may not return to the practice, game, or activity for no less than 24 hours and until the student has received a written clearance from a licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and head injuries. This law pertains to both interscholastic and intramural sports. Since we are a residential school and offer intramural sports, as well as many other activities, all students and parents/guardians must acknowledge receipt of this information via PowerSchool Registration.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (IC 20-34-8) – Residential & Non-Residential Students
The law “Sudden Cardiac Arrest” took effect on July 1, 2015. This law requires that schools distribute information sheets to inform and educate students, athletes, and parents/guardians concerning the nature and risk of sudden cardiac arrest in student athletes. The law requires that each school year, the parent/guardian and student sign an Acknowledgement and Signature Form which acknowledges receipt of sudden cardiac arrest information. The law further states that a student athlete who is suspected of experiencing symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest shall be removed from play and may not return to play until the coach/school nurse has received verbal permission from a parent or legal guardian to return to play. Within 24 hours, this verbal permission must be replaced with a written statement from the parent or guardian. All students and parents/guardians must acknowledge receipt of this information via PowerSchool Registration.