Every year, I wonder why summertime goes by so fast! It had been my hope for you at the beginning of summer that you were able to practice self-care, recharging your compassion reserves. With your battery recharged, your effectiveness as a school nurse will, no doubt, increase!

I began thinking about clinic culture, much like the popular subject of school culture and decided to replace the word school with clinic in a definition that I found. Because our clinics are, after all, a unique community within our school community. Clinic culture refers to the beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes, and written and unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of how a clinic may function. The term also encompasses more concrete issues such as the physical and emotional safety of students, the orderliness of the clinic or the degree to which a clinic embraces and celebrates racial, ethnic, linguistic, or cultural diversity.

Do you like the culture of your clinic? Is it effective? What would you change to make it better? Your clinic culture can become what you envision it to be.

Successful school nurses are health care leaders who understand that building relationships takes time, trust, and honest communication to create the purposeful culture they envision.

Creating a healthy culture on purpose may need to include taking time to

Sláinte (health) to you,

Lisa Sicilio, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN

Every Student Succeeds Act

Public comments regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) consolidated state plan for Texas are now being accepted by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Please click below to access the draft plan and email address to submit comments. Comments will be accepted until August 29, 2017.

House Bill 1076 amends Health and Safety Code Chapter 37, Abnormal Spinal Curvature for implementation during the 2018-2019 school year. Spinal screening program rules will be amended to comply with the new law and posted in the Texas Register for public comment in September 2017. Schools must follow the rules currently in effect for the 2017-2018 school year which require schools to conduct spinal screening for children in grades 6 and 9. View the current spinal screening procedure rules at www.dshs.texas.gov/spinal.

Welcome Back to School

Participate in the national school nurse data collection initiative, Stand Up and Be Counted Survey, and help build critical evidence for school nursing practice while documenting your commitment to the 21st century school nursing practice standard of Quality Improvement (QI).

Responses to the Stand Up and Be Counted Survey will be based on 2016-17 school year data. The data requested is basic and the time you spend collecting and sharing your data is certain to have long-term professional payoff.

TSNO members will receive an emailed web link to the Stand Up and Be Counted Survey. Please share this link with other school nurses who may not be TSNO members. The survey link will also be on the TSNO webpage at www.txsno.org as soon as the survey is available.

Why is it important for school nurses to participate in this national and state data collection initiative?

• The role of the school nurse impacts health and academic outcomes of our students but there is limited availability of research-based data to support the value of school nurses. Resources follow data. “Without data, you (we) are just another opinion (W. Edwards Deming).”
• School nurses and their professional organizations must be able to explain the value of the school nurse role to administrators, educators, and policymakers with data.
• Stand Up and Be Counted data from across the state and national will be combined “...to allow researchers to determine which school nurse interventions are most effective and to better understand models of school nursing practice and workforce modules and their impact on student health (NASN School Nurse, January 2016. p. 49).”

TSNO Members, Lead the Way. Stand Up and Be Counted!

Please note the addition of a folder in the School Nurse Net TSNO Library of: Lice Notification Resources. This folder includes the following resources for your use:

Until further clarification of this bill is received from TEA, DSHS and/or TASB, the above guidelines can be utilized and personalized for your district and campus use. These resources were created utilizing the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as is stated in SB 1566. Additional information will follow as rules and guidelines are released. Also note these are in the Library as Word documents.

Many thanks to the School Health Issues Chair Karen Schwind, New Braunfels ISD and Committee. Especially to Macie Walker, Hays CISD and Barb Weiss, Pflugerville ISD for their assistance with this project. I hope you have a great start to the 2017-2018 school year!