Expanding School-Based Health: Insight from Assessment Key to Upcoming Launch

Lots of exciting work has been going on related to the Foundation’s Support for School Nurses initiative!

In April, the Foundation had the honor of co-presenting with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) at the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP) Virtual Conference. The presentation reviewed the results of the needs assessment of Northeastern Pennsylvania school nurses that the Foundation contracted with NASN to complete. School nurses from throughout the region and state had the opportunity to provide feedback on the assessment, as well as the Foundation’s corresponding draft strategy to address related gaps. It was very encouraging to hear from the audience that the findings and plans resonated strongly with them.

PASNAP’s Friend of School Nursing Award

At the same conference, the Foundation was also honored to receive PASNAP’s Friend of School Nursing Award. The statewide award is presented annually and recognized the Foundation’s commitment to partnering with school nurses to support their work on the frontlines of children’s health. Our organization has the utmost respect for the challenging, crucial work that school nurses do, and is grateful for the opportunity to partner with them.

Currently, the Foundation is gearing up for the broader public release of the needs assessment, as well as the launch of a public relations campaign to raise awareness about the role of the modern school nurse. Expect to hear more from us at back-to-school time!


Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Expanding School-Based Health: Providing Support to School Nurses

When schools in our region began to shut down in March, Moses Taylor Foundation had just completed a partnership with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) to conduct a needs assessment of school nurses in our region.  While more work remains to be done to interpret the results and develop a coordinated strategy going forward, it was clear that school nurses play a vital role in the health and education of our children.

We are currently working with local school nurses to identify ways to support them as they take on the daunting task of keeping kids healthy while returning to school in the midst of the pandemic. One way we are doing this is by providing personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies for use in the school nurse office. Local members of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP) advised the Foundation on the most needed items, such as masks, face shields, gowns, sanitizing wipes, and gloves, which are included in packages being delivered to school nurses throughout the region. To date, more than 120 Certified School Nurses have taken advantage of the program.

Lisa Sheerer, school nurse for North Pocono Middle School, is one of the recipients and emphasized the great need for these items, “It has been difficult to find supplies, especially disinfectant wipes. Thank you for supporting school nurses during this challenging time. This is appreciated more than you know.”

Finally, some may wonder what the role of the school nurse currently looks like in districts that are operating virtually.  Unsurprisingly from what we have learned about the school nurses in our community, they are far from idle! For a snapshot of all the ways our school nurses have been providing a health safety net for students and families in the absence of in-person interaction, check out this helpful infographic from NASN.

For more information about the Foundation’s work to support school nurses, feel free to contact me.


Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Expanding School-Based Health: School Nurse Needs Assessment Update

While we know that for many of you, like us, responding to the evolving COVID-19 situation has temporarily overtaken other priorities, we did want to share a brief update on our ongoing commitment to supporting school nurses. 

As many of you know, Moses Taylor Foundation contracted with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) over the past several months to conduct a needs assessment of school nurses in our region. Our deepest thanks go out to all school nurses and administrators who participated in this work through completion of the online survey, attendance at in-person brainstorming sessions, and/or through one-on-one interviews.

The active phase of the assessment was completed by NASN in early March. Once the urgency around COVID-19 passes, the Foundation will resume this work by taking time to examine the results of the assessment, solicit additional feedback from key stakeholders, develop a corresponding strategy, and potentially further research some of the findings.

After that work is completed, we plan to share a report with the community that we believe will present exciting opportunities for community education, advocacy, and funding to support school nurses. We will also resume plans to produce a video highlighting the role of the modern school nurse—something that preliminary results of the assessment indicated was greatly misunderstood.

While we have had to adjust our timeline for this work, please know that we look forward to resuming it and remain enthusiastic about its potential. We will continue to update our website with further details as they become available, or feel free to reach out directly to me with any questions.

Thank you again for your participation and all you do to safeguard and improve the health of children in our community.

Expanding School-Based Health: Identifying Needs of School Nurses

Work will soon be coming to a close on a needs assessment of school nurses in Moses Taylor Foundation’s 11 County region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

As previously announced, the Foundation is thrilled to partner with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) to conduct this assessment and learn more about the barriers that local school nurses face in meeting the health needs of their students, as well as some potential solutions for how to best support them in overcoming these barriers.

NASN is currently working on its final compilation of the information gathered and recommendations, which will be provided to the Foundation in March. Moses Taylor Foundation will then spend time reviewing the needs assessment with a planned public release of results during back-to-school time in the Fall.

Thus far, NASN’s Director of Research has led a team in reviewing existing data on the health of local school-age children, as well as state and district policies relating to school health. NASN then used this data to shape an online survey that was distributed to school nurses and district officials in the Fall.

After those results were collected, additional one-on-one interviews with stakeholders, as well as in person group convenings of school nurses helped provide additional context. Thanks to assistance from the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners, Northeast Intermediate Unit, Pennsylvania Department of School Health, and Pennsylvania State Education Association Northeast Region, more than 100 school nurses participated in the online surveys and in person convenings, representing about 50% of total school nurses in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

In addition to helping the Foundation shape its funding strategy for supporting school nurses going forward, a wide range of additional potential uses for the data contained in the assessment have already emerged throughout this process, including for advocacy efforts, general community education about the role of modern school nurses, as well as education for funders about the impact school nurses have on student health.

For more information about the Foundation’s work to support older adult isolation, feel free to contact me.

Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org