Although DSNA took a moratorium this year, some districts continue to honor their school nurses.

Christina School District

 District Nurse of the Year Michelle Gayeski Receives Surprise Visit
On May 8, Dr. Williams greeted her with balloons and flowers to recognize her achievement

Christina School District Nurse of the Year for 2013-2014 received a surprise visit from Superintendent Freeman Williams on May 8, when she was greeted in her Pulaski Elementary School office with balloons and flowers to recognize her achievement. May 8 was National School Nurse Day, and was a perfect time to congratulate Michelle on her hard work and dedication, and for being chosen as District Nurse of the Year. She was also greeted by some of her young students, who made homemade cards for her. Congratulations to Michelle and Pulaski Elementary School.

Milford School District

Congratulations Lisa Fitler, school nurse Morris Early Childhood Center

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In May Delaware Today Magazine featured 75 nurses in 18 categories as the “Top Nurses” in the state.  The nurses honored were chosen by their peers via a ballot administered by the Delaware Nurses Association.  School nurses were well represented in these categories:

• Clinical nurse specialist: pediatric/maternal child/ specialty – Beth Mattey
• Advancing and leading the profession – Linda Wolfe
• Clinical nursing, inpatient – Beth Light
• Education and mentorship – Becky King and Libby Thomas
• Home, community, ambulatory care – Loretta Newsom, Susan Hoffmann, Pat Guilday
• Nurse practitioner/family – Cheryl Layfield

DSNA is proud of all our “Top Nurses”

Beth Mattey, Cheryl Layfield, Beth Light, Libby Thomas, & Pat Guilday

On May 9, school nurses from around the state gathered for DSNA’s annual Spring Conference.  Aaron Schrader, from DelaWell, provided an entertaining and engaging presentation titled “Achieve Your Best Health Now”.  Aaron gave the attendees strategies to improve their own health, achieve weight loss goals, and access free resources through the DelaWell program which is free to state employees.

            In addition, the Friend of School Nursing Award was presented to Nemours Health in recognition of their outreach and partnership with school nurses through NemoursLink.  Claudia Kane and Dr. Agida Atkinson received the awards on behalf of the Nemours Organization.  Twelve members of Nemours Health attended the dinner and received certificates as Friends of School Nursing from DSNA.

            Eight retirees were honored for their many years of service to the school health needs of Delaware children.  The retirees are:

Betsy Cycyk—Appoquinimink SD

Sue Kutsch—Capital SD

Bonnie Shockley—Caesar Rodney SD

Mary Ann Luft—Christina SD

Judi Vari– Colonial SD

Amy Dunigan— Red Clay SD

Rita Lee—Archmere Academy

Adele Brett—Our Lady of Fatima

Nancy Nadel and Sharon Rose Gargula-DE NBCSN Liaisons

Congratulations to all Nationally Certified School Nurses in Delaware.  Certification is a mark of excellence and you are to be commended for your extra effort. We may be a small state but we have 117 NCSN’s in Delaware!

Fran Russo-Avena and Heidi Sharpe, Red Clay School District Nurses

Hundreds of School nurses from across the state gathered in Rehoboth at the Baywood’s Conference Center for the 13th annual Winter Conference On Saturday, March 9, 2013. The topic of concussions started the day with a riveting video called “Head Games” and a talk by Dr. O’Brien. We received an excellent review and update on vision screening, and project presentations from our Johnson and Johnson Fellows. Medication handling and disposal, OTC medicine abuse, food allergy policy and even a CPR mock drill was presented. Lunch was provided by Sanofi Pasteur as we learned about lice and a new product on the market. In addition to receiving 6.75 continuing education credits, we enjoyed a basket raffle, 50-50 raffle, and wonderful fellowship, networking and camaraderie. Several representatives from NASN were on board to celebrate with us.
An added bonus was a social event at Jake’s restaurant on Friday evening with a smorgasbord of finger foods generously provided by School Health. The conference theme was appropriately called “I can do that” and represented a joint venture of many hard-working volunteer presenters, organizers, speakers, and leaders.

On November 16, 2012 at Delaware Technical & Community College, Stanton Campus Attorney General Beau Biden and the Delaware Department of Justice hosted a one day summit to shine a bright light on the epidemic of Prescription Drug Abuse that is killing our youth and devastating our communities. Prescription drugs are vital to treating illness and saving lives, but the consequences of misuse, abuse and diversion are shocking and too often deadly. Although progress is being made in Delaware, much more remains to be done. The goal of the summit was to address the exponential growth of prescription drug abuse addiction, discuss recent steps taken to combat the issue and examine additional solutions.

In attendance were healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, public health employees, service and treatment providers, pharmacists, educators, government employees and others who wished to further their knowledge about the prescription drug abuse problem in Delaware. Mary Louise Embrey from the National Association of School Nurses also visited from Washington, DC.

Speakers at the summit included Megan Fioravanti RN (AI High School) and Rebecca King RN (Brandywine Springs School), two Red Clay Consolidated School District School Nurses. Megan and Rebecca are partners with three other Red Clay School Nurses Fran Russo-Avena RN (Richardson Park Learning Center), Kathleen Bugbee RN (North Star Elementary) and Sharon Rose Gargula, RN (Stanton Middle School). All are involved in implementing a district and statewide prescription drug abuse prevention and education program as part of a school nursing leadership Fellow program with Johnson & Johnson, in conjunction with Rutgers Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies. At the summit Megan and Rebecca  discussed their concerns over the epidemic of prescription drugs and opiate addiction seen at the adolescent level. They identified school nurses as being on the front lines to help educate students and the school community on the dangers of these substances. They discussed their current partnership with Delaware Public Health in a state wide effort to create awareness utilizing the program “Smart Moves/Smart Choices” for the adolescent population and “Up and Away”, a CDC program geared toward the elementary age population. Their goal is to educate all school nurses throughout the state on these programs by spring 2013.  

                                                                                        Rebecca King, Mary Louise Embrey, and Megan Fioravanti

  School Nurse Lori Economos, RN, Christina School District, and Cpl. Darryl Saunders, Student Resource Officer were recognized at the July 23, 2012 City of Newark Council meeting for their response to a student in crisis at Newark High School that saved the student’s life.

There were 20 Delaware school nurses who attended the National Association of School Nurses 44^th Annual Conference in San Francisco on June 22-26^th.  In addition to receiving continuous education credits the Delaware School Nurses were active participants and award recipients at this national event.  Susan Hoffman (Caesar Rodney School District) is the DE NASN Director and assisted with the development of the conference.  Pat Guilday (Brandywine School District) DSNA President, participated in leadership workshops and networking.  Conference presenters included Libby Thomas (retired Christina School District Nurse) School Nurse Consultant, and Becky King (Red Clay School District) presentations included Mentoring and Pediatric Health Care Literacy. Dr. Janice Selekman, University of Delaware Professor and co-facilitator of the New School Nurse Cluster was inducted as a NASN Fellow. Dr. Selekman author of School Nursing a Comprehensive Text, 2^nd Edition presented the new edition. This comprehensive text includes numerous DE school nurses as chapter authors and reviewers.  Loretta Newsom was honored as an Excellence in Nursing Winner as the Delaware School Nurse of the Year 2011-2012.  Individually and collectively the Delaware School Nurses continue to be local, state, and national, health care leaders!

Susan Hoffmann RN, MSN, NCSN, school nurse at the W. B. Simpson Elementary School in the Caesar Rodney School District was crowned the Delaware School Nurse of the Year.  The announcement was made at the Delaware School Nurse Assoication’s Annual Spring Conference on May 10, 2012.  Nurse Hoffmann has demonstrated her passion, professionalism, and leadership to her school community and her school nurse colleagues on a local, state, and national level.  At school she serves on many committees and is the Coordinate School Health Chair and is the school district lead nurse.  Nurse Hoffmann has a special interest in pediatric diabetes and volunteers every summer at the Diabetes Camp facilitated by John Hopkins University.  Susan has written several diabetes articles and authored a chapter in the School Nursing a Comprehensive Text.  Susan has been an active member of DSNA serving as the Marketing Chair, National Association of School Nurses (NASN)-Delaware Director, and as the President Elect.  On a national level Susan has traveled the country presenting NASN’s Managing Asthma Triggers and Helping Administer to the Needs of the Students with Diabetes to her fellow school nurses. Susan was instrumental in the NASN Voices of Meningitis, in which she promoted awareness of the importance of Meningitis Immunization to the National Northeastern Region. Susan is the 2011 recipient of the Delaware Nurses Association, Delaware Excellence in Nursing-Community Base Award.  Susan Hoffmann is a stellar school nurse and will represent the Delaware school nurses at the NASN Annual Conference in Orlando Florida June 2013.

Susan Hoffmann, RN, MSN, NCSN

A requirement for a health examination prior to entry into 9^th Grade was adopted in December, 2011 by the Delaware Department of Education.  Starting with the 2012-2013 school year, all students entering both kindergarten and 9^th Grademust have a health examination done within two years of entry into the grade.   To assure compliance for September, we are urging our students to schedule appointments as soon as possible. The health examination must be received within 30 days from the start of school. The following forms will be accepted:
a)      Delaware School Health Examination Form (2012 form see link below); or

b)      Delaware School Health Examination Form (prior to 2012); or

c)      DIAA Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation form (grade 9)   (see link below)

d)     Health Examination or evaluation document on a form which includes, at a minimum: healthy history, immunizations, results of medical testings and screenings, medical diagnose, prescribed medications and treatments, and healthcare plans.

6/5/2012 Update

DDOE will be proposing a change to the regulation for the upcoming year.  The 9^th grade health examination will be “strongly recommended” for the 2012-13 school year and “required” in the 2013-14 school year

 As with other regulatory requirements, students who do not meet the requirement will be excluded from school. The Regulation can be accessed at: http://regulations.delaware.gov/AdminCode/title14/800/815.shtml#TopOfPage.

Also, listed below is the new health form for children ( grades k-6)

DE Student Health Form – Adolescent FINAL2012

Spanish DE Student.Health Form – Adolescent FINAL2012_SPA

 DE Student Health Form – Children FINAL2012

Spanish DE Student Health Form – Children FINAL2012_SPA

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