Having just returned from the National Association of School Nurses annual conference NASN 2018, my heart is full and my mind is overflowing with new learning and next steps. I want to thank the NASN leadership and staff for creating such a meaningful and well-designed conference. No detail was left out, including the graphic recorder who created a meaningful triplex series of illustrations from attendee input and suggestions. The hospitality of the Maryland School Nurses was palpable, plus they have a very cool state pin!
I was especially moved at the Affiliates Rally when Anupama Gowda, the State Director from Oklahoma, was overcome with emotion while sharing the struggle of her state’s fight for a fair contract. Lisa Kern, State Director from Florida, spoke passionately about the Parkland and Pulse mass shootings and how they have impacted her school community. Chris Amidon, Indiana’s exemplary State Director, shared her urgent message of gun safety after the school shooting in her state. The Texas school nurses were also affected by the recent school shooting on one of the final days of school before summer break. Challenges faced many affiliates this year and it was sobering to listen to the messages fraught with concern, passion and a need for group support.
There was a theme of advocacy and activism in many of the state messages this year. Clearly, school nurses around the country are finding their voices, as Nina Fekaris, NASN President, charged us with during her inaugural address last year in San Diego. This year, Nina’s message deepened the challenge, now that we have found our voice, we need to use it for the greater good. Nina’s message was both a call to action for our students and creating a safe space for school nursing voices from all perspectives on complex issues confronting our practice to be heard.
Some of the issues that are most pressing in our country today can be polarizing, but not if we keep the focus of what is best for children at the center of our discourse. School nurses have a collective shared value, that children should be safe, healthy and ready to learn. This is our “why” and as long as we keep this “why” at the heart of our actions, we are not polarized, but unified. Our methods may not be the same, some of us are more vocal or visible or even deemed radical, but our “why” is the shared value that unifies our purpose. To continue reading, click here...
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