Effective July, 1 2008 Health Services will begin the process of implementing its own on-site pharmacy service which we anticipate will be operational August 18 or sooner. This is being done to help keep the rising cost of pharmaceuticals down for students, including the increased co-pay costs for students with health insurance pharmacy coverage plans. In order to have this completed before the beginning of the fall semester we will need to discontinue the current on-site pharmacy service operating by Forest Heights Pharmacy as follows:

 

•  Effective August 18, 2008 – September 12, 2008:

•  Effective September 15, 2008:

Many students need regular injections for allergies. Health Services will provide allergy injections to currently enrolled students and there is no additional charge for this service; the student health fee covers it. Georgia Southern faculty and staff may receive allergy injections at Health Services after payment of a semester fee for this particular service.

Allergy Injection Office Guidelines

A s a patient of the Allergy Injection Office, you have the responsibility to be knowledgeable about and to follow the guidelines we have established for that office. Students, faculty, and staff are required to abide by these guidelines and failure to do so will result in termination of allergy injection services provided by Health Services. Please remember, these guidelines are for your protection!

Allergy serum, prescribed by an allergy specialist and provided by the patient, will be kept at Health Services. The patient should bring in the serum. Serum should not be shipped to Health Services. The student is responsible for re-ordering serum as needed. The nurse will alert the patient when new serum is needed. The patient is responsible for picking up serum at the end of each semester. Health Services will not assume responsibility for serum left during semester breaks or for damages to serum resulting from refrigeration failure. Due to limited storage space, the patient is only allowed to store one set of allergy serum at Health Services at a time.

A physician's order and written instructions must accompany the serum. No allergy injections will be administered without proper orders and instructions. The nurse will contact the allergy specialist if there are any questions concerning the serum, the orders/instructions, or patient compliance.

All serum vials must be properly labeled with the patient's legal name, the serum name, strength of the allergy extract, expiration and/or mixed date. (Example: tree/grass 1:1000 exp 1/2009). Improperly labeled serum will not be kept at Health Services and will not be administered to the student.

After every allergy injection, the patient must remain in the allergy clinic waiting area for at least 20 minutes. If the patient receives a venom injection, the patient must remain for at least 30 minutes after the injection.

The patient must be examined by the nurse and must sign the Allergy Treatment Record prior to leaving the allergy clinic.

Allergy injections are given on a walk-in basis, during posted clinic hours, Monday through Friday.

A Health Services physician must be on duty in the building whenever any allergy injection is given. If a physician is not present in the building, allergy injections will not be given. If the physician(s) will be unavailable on a given date, that information will be posted in advance for our patients in the allergy clinic.

Students must be currently enrolled and have paid a student health fee in order to receive allergy injections at Health Services.

It is the patient's responsibility to pick up any unused or expired serum. The expiration dates on all serum kept at Health Services will be checked periodically and expired serum will be destroyed. This will be documented by the nurse and shared with the patient. Any serum that has only a mixed date will be destroyed one year after the mixed date unless otherwise noted by the allergy specialist. If there is both a mixed date and an expiration date on the vial, the expiration date will be the determining factor for discarding the serum.

For More Information

Please call the Allergy Injection Office at 912-478-7782, or the Appointment Office at 912-478-5484.

Health Services provides a Women's Health Clinic that is staffed by caring and qualified nurse practitioners and nurses. Women's Health services include annual exams, Pap smears, contraceptive management, emergency contraception, pregnancy testing, sexually transmitted disease [STD] testing, and other gynecological concerns. Patients are seen primarily by appointment and are encouraged to make appointments for annual examinations at least two weeks in advance. Call 912-478-5484 for an appointment or more information.

All female students requesting an appointment for a women's exam are required to attend the "Women's Pre-Exam Class". This 30-45 minute class covers information on the pelvic exam, breast health, sexually transmitted infections and birth control. The class is designed to educate women on self-care issues and allay concerns about the pelvic exam. This allows for more time during their exam for personal questions and helps them formulate questions to ask their health care provider about their specific problems.

Health Services provides a Men's Health Clinic that is staffed by a male physician with an interest in men's health. Men can be seen by appointment or on a walk-in basis.

These confidential services are designed to meet the special needs of men including their sexual and genitourianry health concerns. Call 912-478-5484 for an appointment or more information.

Health Services is making an important addition to our women's health services this Fall. Colposcopy is the procedure used to diagnose lesions of the cervix detected by pap smear. Katie Driver, FNP an ASCCP (American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology) trained colposcopist will be on site regularly to hold colposcopy clinic for our female students with abnormal pap smears.

This service will dramatically increase the access to care for our female population with abnormal pap smears. Referral to this service will be made by your health services provider if needed based on your pap result.

Health Services provides consultation and vaccination recommendations for those students preparing for international travel. Call 912-478-5484 for an appointment or more information.

Health Services collaborates with the GSU Counseling Center to address mental health needs of students. The competent Counseling Center Staff offer individual assistance for personal difficulties such as self-esteem, depression, sexual identity, relationship conflicts, eating disorders, growing up in a dysfunctional family, attention deficit disorder (ADD), as well as group counseling. The Counseling Center is located next to the Health Center at the corner of Forest Drive and Cedarwood Drive. Call 912-478-5541 for an appointment.

Health Services cooperates with the GSU Student Disability Resource Center [SDRC] to address special medical needs of disabled students. The SDRC provides assistance for obtaining documentation of disabling conditions and arranges for academic accommodations based on individual needs. The SDRC can be contacted at 912-478-5259.