Wednesday is National School Nurse Day

The day began like any other day as Mary Pappas, school nurse, opened her office at the St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, N.Y. Little did Pappas know she would soon become a folk hero to nurses across the country.

A national news story described the scene.

Shortly after school started, five seniors appeared in Pappas’ office complaining of sore throats and fevers. By 10 a.m., dozens of students were pouring into the hallway outside her office. The students were sitting miserably on the floor, feverish, nauseated and confused. By 10:30 a.m., Pappas realized she needed to notify public health officials.

Pappas sent home 102 students that day and another 80 the next day. Pappas’ quick response resulted in the first confirmed cases of pandemic H1N1 influenza in New York state, triggering a nationwide response.

Most people think a typical day in the school nurse’s office consists of sending sick children home and handing out ice packs and bandages. In reality, the variability of the school nurse’s job is staggering and difficult to describe. School nurses care for every illness, injury and health-related problem that walks through the school’s doors. Many times, the school nurse is the only health-care provider for the children in the school.

The most important role of the school nurse is to act as a partner in the education of our children in order to promote their academic success. School nurse interventions positively affect a child’s ability to learn. Nursing interventions in a typical day might include a student referral to a vision specialist, an audiologist or a mental health professional; management of emergency care for students with allergies or diabetes; a lesson in proper hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of disease; planning for an asthmatic student’s care at school; a risk assessment of icy playgrounds for elementary students and icy streets for teen drivers; attending a school wellness committee meeting; participating in disaster preparedness; and much more.

School nurses work to overcome health-related barriers that interfere with learning. Research has shown that school districts with adequate nursing coverage have reduced absenteeism, decreased dropout rates and higher test scores. Healthy children learn better and spend more time in the classroom, ready and able to learn.

According to the National Association of School Nurses, the definition of school nursing is a specialized practice that advances the well-being, academic success and life-long achievement of students. School nurses promote health and safety; intervene with actual and potential health problems; provide case management services; and actively collaborate with others to build student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning.

There are more than 66,000 school nurses across the country and 233 school nurses in Alaska. National School Nurse Day falls on the Wednesday during National Nurses Week (May 6-12) ending on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of nursing. Wednesday, please consider celebrating school nurses by thanking a school nurse for his or her role in fighting the H1N1 pandemic and promoting health and safety in our schools.

For more information on National School Nurse Day, visit the NASN website at nasn.org.

You can also visit The Alaska School Nurses Association website at www.alaskasna.org for local information and resources about Alaska school nurses.

Luann Fogels is President of Alaska School Nurses Association. Mary Bell is the state School Health Nurse Consultant.