Anytime Sessions

This session will explore the importance of implementing a comprehensive brain injury plan that promotes equity within school communities. We will discuss the impact of brain injuries on individuals and society as a whole, highlighting the need for a collaborative approach for early intervention. Through a series of case studies and best practices, we will demonstrate how a well-designed brain injury plan can not only protect the health and safety of all students but also foster a sense of inclusivity. By working together, we can create a more equitable environment for everyone, ensuring that no one is left behind in our efforts to prevent and manage brain injuries.

Studies of LGBTQ+ adolescents have documented various social, physical, and mental health challenges due to their sexuality. LGBTQ+ adolescents face more significant disparities in all aspects of life, including the educational setting. Despite the growing research on peer-to-peer interactions in the educational setting as it pertains to LGBTQ+ youth, little attention has been given to the experiences that LGBTQ+ youth have had with adults in this setting. Research indicates a wide range of disparities in health and well-being outcomes between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) populations. School nurses are in an optimal position to obtain learning opportunities related to cultural competence to effectively provide care for this population. Access to cultural competency trainings in the school setting is still challenging among providers who wish to enhance their skills and knowledge for effectively addressing the needs of LGBTQ+ youth. Still, because of the lack of knowledge in effectively engaging with this population, there is a level of discomfort experienced by most service providers. NASN’s Framework for the 21st Century School Nursing Practice™ highlights the importance of demonstrating leadership by advocating for populations. Furthermore, the principle of Community/Public Health highlights the importance of cultural competency. The research literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) adolescents indicates that we know they face more significant disparities in all aspects of life. Schools have served as the primary venue for developing peer relationships. A growing body of research has shown that school environments contribute to the success of adolescents in general and LGBTQ+ adolescents in particular. This session will equip school nurses with the tools to foster a more culturally inclusive environment and improve health outcomes as it pertains to this population in the school setting.

School nurses are central to the health of students with diabetes. A novel telementoring program, Diabetes in School Health (DiSH), was designed to support diabetes education for school nurses. DiSH’s inspiration was to reduce diabetes disparities at the school level, highlighting the key role school nurses play in noticing the risk for health disparities in their students. DiSH aims to increase school nurse knowledge and comfort with routine diabetes care and to build a network for sharing experiences and challenges with diabetes care in school. DiSH provides a platform for locally relevant discussion of complex, yet practical themes, which can be difficult to address in traditional educational modules. Sessions include brief didactic presentations followed by collaborative discussions and sharing scenarios to learn new strategies to improve diabetes care. During this presentation, the inspiration for, development, and impact of the DiSH model will be shared, followed by an adaptation of an actual DiSH session to provide a taste of this experience. The adapted DiSH session portion of this presentation will feature didactic talks followed by discussions about two topics: the use of continuous glucose monitors and developmental aspects of working with students with diabetes. Presenters will share expert content and how the DISH sessions have facilitated participants' learning of up-to-date diabetes care. Participants will learn how the DiSH program builds a community of support, facilitates collaborative school nurse education, and increases school nurse knowledge of diabetes care. Participants will also learn steps they can take to develop their own DiSH program.

This session will allow attendees to put themselves in the shoes of a Delaware school nurse, or Delaware child health advocate, facing daily barriers surrounding the prevention of childhood lead poisoning. Associate Policy Scientist Erin Nescott, of KIDS COUNT in Delaware, and Becky King, a retired school nurse and Delaware Division of Public Health Nursing Director, explain the challenges faced by school nurses in access to lead screening data, paired with the looming concerns over devastating test results in school water systems, and an ever changing data tracking system for lead screenings statewide. Lead poisoning can affect any child if exposed to pollutants - it does not discriminate. However, in Delaware, the areas with the greatest rates of lead poisoning consistently overlay areas of high poverty. Through this session, attendees will understand the role of data in this environmental justice issue within the context of community child health. All attendees will complete a worksheet that will help them learn how to advocate within their schools for quality lead poisoning screening data while positioning themselves within statewide lead poisoning prevention efforts. This worksheet will explore the Social Determinants of Health & disparities that encompass lead poisoning as an issue. We are equipping nurses with strategies to feel confident in using the data, providing them with tools that they can use to identify a public health problem, and then use those tools in a leadership role to help lessen the problem.

As experienced school nurses are retiring and many new nurses were hired into the school setting during the COVID pandemic and now the endemic phase, many experienced and new school nurses are expressing a lack of support and mentoring for new school nurses. The mentoring program is designed to provide new school nurses and nurse mentors with the support and encouragement of an experienced member of the districts school nurse staff during the first year of employment. New nurses will be able to organize and manage the health office, plan and implement programs, define their role and responsibilities, and develop collegial relationships, within the school and district, through integration into the school culture. This presentation will provide participants with additional supports, resources, and tools to help address these issues using a collaborative and educational model. Participants will gain an understanding of how to implement mentoring supports for new school nurses. Participants will be able to provide their knowledge to enhance the standards of practice related to quality improvement and leadership. Achievement of these goals will translate to improved health care of students and increased job satisfaction for the school nurse. School nurses often practice in isolation and without direct mentorship for their specific role. Identifying gaps and creating supportive measures will assist new nurses to reach their full potential to provide excellent care to students.

How many times a week does a girl come into your office with period cramps, GI symptoms, or headaches? Below the Belt is a PBS documentary tackling gender equity in healthcare and beyond through the lens of endometriosis. Arguably the most common disease you’ve likely never heard of, endometriosis affects 1 in 9 girls worldwide and symptoms often begin in grade school. It takes an average of 8 doctors and 10 years to receive a proper diagnosis. If girls were diagnosed when their symptoms first began, it would be revolutionary. Below the Belt is working to change this, and it starts with school nurses. This session will include a special screening of the documentary along with a speaking engagement from the film's Director, Shannon Cohn. Together, we can change the lives of girls and women everywhere.

There is no other nursing specialty like the school nursing specialty. For that reason, school nurses cannot rely on the nursing frameworks of other disciplines or specialties. In 2016, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) released its Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™(Framework), which has helped school nurses shape their practice and describe their role to others. School nurse educators, leaders, and researchers have used the Framework to support their roles in equipping, guiding, supporting, and understanding school nurses. Over time and through a global pandemic, the practice of school nursing has grown and changed to meet the shifting needs of students, families, and school communities. Consequently, NASN has conducted a rigorous process of evaluating school nurses’ use of the Framework and the need for updates to the Framework.

This presentation walks school nurses through the process NASN used to update the Framework. The presenter describes key updates and rationale for those updates to the Framework, now titled the School Nursing Practice Framework™. Additionally, the presenter will engage school nurses in exploring how practicing with a Framework mindset that includes the key principles—Standards of Practice, Care Coordination, Quality Improvement, Leadership, and Community/Public Health—can promote health and education equity and build interdisciplinary and community partnerships. With this Framework mindset, school nurses can be “stronger together” in supporting student health, safety, and readiness to learn.