CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
On November 14, school nurses will come together virtually for a rich and collaborative series of sessions exploring interrelated topics that directly impact practice. For school nurses, it is essential not only to understand disease processes but also to bridge the gap between healthcare and education by ensuring that school policies and practices support evidence-based nursing care. This conference will focus on asthma within that context, guiding nurses to deepen their clinical understanding while also examining systemic solutions needed to support best practice in schools. Together, participants will explore how symptom recognition, data, policy, and collaboration intersect to strengthen school nursing practice and ensure that students with asthma receive the highest quality of care.
ASTHMA
The event will begin with a clinical update from a Mia Hutchinson M.S.N., CPNP-PC of OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, who specializes in asthma care. Participants will review practical strategies to recognize, manage, and prevent asthma exacerbations in the school setting. The speaker will cover asthma basics, review updated guideline recommendations including SMART therapy, and explore real-world challenges in school-based asthma care.
ACUITY
Building on our asthma session, nurses will examine the findings from the updated acuity tool, comparing 2024 and 2025 data through the lens of the annual School Nursing Services Report. Maintaining asthma as a focus, nurses will discuss how the acuity tool should best be applied to students, so their needs are accurately reflected. Related to acuity, nurses will hear an update on the OSNA legislative goals for refining the legal definitions that drive data collection and reporting, with the aim of ensuring student acuity is more clearly represented.
AUTONOMY and SUPERVISION
The conversation will then shift toward the upcoming implementation of Hannah’s Law, which takes effect on January 1. Nurses will have the opportunity to preview and provide feedback on administrator training materials, as well as engage in collaborative dialogue about how to respond if they feel their clinical autonomy is being directed by an educator without a nursing license. Drawing on current research about nurse–colleague collaboration, nurses will explore strategies to balance accountability with partnership, recognizing that both will be essential to advancing student health as nurses advocate for individual student care and for policies which support best, evidence-based practice.
SAFE STAFFING
Recognizing that Hannah's Law has increased the need to understand safe assignments, this conference will offer several sessions address school nurse workload and safe staffing for school health services.
Workload: Claire McKinley Yoder, Ph.D., RN, Assistant Professor from the OHSU School of Nursing, will discuss research examining effects of school nurse workloads on individual student educational outcomes.
Essential Staffing: Additionally, in a recoded preconference community of practice session, Margaret Jenkins MS, BSN, RN NCSN, author of The Anatomy of a Position Statement (NASN School Nurse, 2025), will explore position statements in general to prepare nurses for a specific discussion at conference about the NASN position statement entitled School Nurse Workload- Essential Staffing for Safe and Equitable Student Care.
Factors Impacting Safety: Finally nurses will explore factors typically considered when examining the safety of a nursing caseload in a clinical setting through a school health lens.
Please join nurses from across Oregon for this event which WILL BE RECORDED. Materials will be available TO PAID REGISTRANTS after the conference until February 14, 2026. OSNA anticipates at least 6 NCPD hours will be available through participation in this educational opportunity.
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