To quote an old African Proverb and Hillary Clinton – “it takes a village to raise a child”. Welcome to the village! As a school nurse you have a great amount of influence on the lives of student s and their families. The services, attention and involvement of Delaware’s school nurses and their families astound me. Many of you have instituted innovative programs and interventions that have produced impressive results. I would like you to view DSNA as a forum for sharing those programs you have developed and implemented with your colleagues around the state.
We begin the 2012-13 schoolyear with a renewed spirit and vision for our practice and our school community. This year I urge you to focus on the unique contributions you make to that community. What happens in your school that wouldn’t be possible if there were no nurse? Around the country we watch as nursing positions are cut from school budgets. We would like to think that our families and staff value us so much that that would never happen here in Delaware. It is an important time to advocate for yourself and the contributions that school nursing makes to the health of Delaware.
Delaware’s small size and its groundbreaking work on linking school nurse evaluations to student success create the perfect storm for sharing our successes with school nurses nationwide. Our school mentoring program and the unique partnership we are forging with Nemours made us the envy of the NASN conference in San Francisco. During the next 2 years I would like to see DSNA collect the data, analyze and publish the findings so that our work can be viewed, and appreciated, by all school nurses.
I hope to continue the partnerships with community agencies and health care providers that have been established by my predecessors. I invite you to become active in DSNA; it is your organization and we need your voice to sustain the work of the organization. As I warned you at the Spring Dinner meeting, I will be calling on you to join with the executive board in moving DSNA forward. No job is too small and all contributions of time and talent are appreciated.
Have a wonderful school year. I am honored to serve you as President of DSNA.
Pat Guilday, RN, MSN, NCSN
Winter Update 12/10/12
The month of December is a very busy time in the world of school nursing. The changing seasons bring allergies, asthma and upper respiratory infections to our offices – the business of the holidays brings stress into the lives of school children and they come to us with somatic complaints that reflect this stress. We are also struggling to complete mandated screenings and notify parents as well as follow up on those referrals. And in the midst of all that, we were asked to complete goals and select cohorts for DPASII component 5!
I am hoping that the upcoming winter break will bring you some peace. Spend time with whomever or whatever brings joy to your life.
The New Year is fast approaching and will bring with it new challenges. DSNA is here to support you in meeting those challenges. The winter conference planned for March 9 will highlight innovative and impactful programs developed and implemented by school nurses here in Delaware. Hopefully, they will inspire you to adopt something new into your practice or revitalize and rejuvenate you. Recognize that what you do for school children in Delaware is important and there are some things only a SCHOOL NURSE can do.
I am personally grateful to each one of you for your tremendous efforts, and I wish everyone a rewarding, joyous new year . Happy Holidays!
Pat