Specialized Health Needs Interagency Collaboration Project (SHNIC)
Who We Are:
The Specialized Health Needs Interagency Collaboration (SHNIC) is a collaborative partnership between the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE).
SHNIC works to safely and effectively facilitate the inclusion of children and adolescents (0-21) with specialized health needs into their educational and community settings. The SHNIC team combines the expertise of nurses, educators, and other medical professionals to provide education and technical assistance to school personnel, nurses, parents, and other community professionals in the public school system, health department, and related community service agencies throughout Maryland free of charge.
Services We Offer:
SHNIC can provide a variety of services that are general or individualized to the child or adolescent with specialized health need. Services can be conducted on-site or virtually. Topics commonly include but are not limited to:
- Understanding and managing a specialized health need(s) or complex medical condition (i.e. feeding tube management, urinary catheterization, tracheostomy or ventilator management, genetic disorders, traumatic brain injury, neurological disorders, diabetic management, medication management, orthopedic impairment, and medical devices)
- Understanding the educational implications of a diagnosis
- Demonstrating and practicing hands-on skills training for medical devices (i.e. feeding tubes, tracheostomy, hidden medical devices)
- Providing current evidence-based resources and educational materials specific to medical conditions and medical technology
- Referring to other community and health resources or support services
Nursing Staff Educator
