News and Blogs

Legislative and Conference Committees will be active this summer! Please join us!!

posted 06-16-2022
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Hi All, Before summer begins, we wanted to be sure that you had the opportunity to join in with committee's this summer. in July and August, the Legislative Committee will determine the OSNA legislative agenda for the 2023 long session, and some drafting of legislative concepts will be done. Building relationships with potential sponsors from the legislature will also continue throughout the summer.  The Memberhsip Committee is starting up, as well! Fall conference will be virtual and Spring will be next April at the Wilsonville Holiday Inn. If you are interested in participating in either committee, please email me!  If you tiurn off your work email ...
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The Final Power Hour of the 2021-2022 school year today @ 3:00!

posted 06-16-2022
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Looking forward to seeing you! Regiister HERE . :)W
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COVID-19 Tools for 2022-2023 (Special Topics Cafe Recording)

posted 06-14-2022
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At the June Special Topics Cafe, the COVID-19 Technical Assistance team shared the tools they are developing aligned with the School-Level COVID-19 Management template ,  instructions and tools , which was co-developed by ODE, OHA, and OSNA. You can see a video of their presentation HERE .
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Special Topics Cafe, June 1 @ 3:30- COVID-19 management for the 2022-2023 school year

posted 05-31-2022
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Ian Jarman RN shared this blog in the OSNA Discussion List this morning, and we wanted to make it publically available. Oregon school nurses often work alone and have limited time in their busy schedules for their own professional development. School nurses need accessible, efficient guidance for their school health practices. The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated shortcomings in the development and dissemination of guidance, especially when time is of the essence. With multiple documents from multiple sources, school nurses, school administrators and parents are understandably left uncertain about the material that they have poured over repeatedly. This ...
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Social Determinants and Acuity Strategies: Workshop on May 16th @ 3:30

posted 05-12-2022
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We’d like to support your work! ODE acuity reporting is going on this month. Do you have questions about assessing student needs and reporting student acuity? Do you have ideas about how we can do this work better to support students, and lift up the school nurse role? This workshop is designed to increase the RN’s confidence in their ability to assess and report student acuity levels, with emphasis on nursing process and social determinants of health. The workshop will include presentations, small-group discussions, and case studies. Register Here !
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Training Available: Safe and Healthy Schools – Mental Health Supports for LGBTQ+ Students

posted 04-12-2022
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OSBHA (Oregon School Based Health Alliance) and GLSEN Oregon (Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network) have partnered to create a training ,  Safe and Healthy Schools – Mental Health Supports for  LGBTQ+  Students , for school health providers in the state of Oregon to reduce suicidal ideation and attempts by  LGBTQI+  youth. During this 3-hour  training , we will cover LBGTQI+ identity and how it intersects with mental health, and how school health providers can support and affirm the experience of LGBTQI+ youth. The  training  will be co-facilitated by a GLSEN Oregon representative and two  LGBTQI+  youth facilitators.   Join us on  April 14 ...
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Special Topics Cafe today, 4/6/2022 @ 3:00

posted 04-06-2022
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Hi All, Because this month's Power Hour will be cancelled (as many will be at conference), we have shiften that open ended discussion to this afternoon, in place of Special Topics Cafe. We hope to see you there! Register HERE .
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Power Hour: Thursday 3/17/2022

posted 03-15-2022
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Power Hour will have two foci for discussion this week! School Nurse Contractor applications will open later this week!  OSNA will answer any questions around that process. AND In light of the recent changes to COVID Guidance, school nurses need to come together to support one another and strategize about how to manage COVID after the mandate disappears. Please join us for discussion! Register HERE
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VIDEO AVAILABLE Presentation by Dr. Melissa Sutton: Data Supporting Recent Policy Changes

posted 03-07-2022
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On Wednesday, 3/9/2022 @ 3:30 Dr. Melissa Sutton presented and explained the data behind recent policy changes (ending the mask mandate and moving away from contact tracing and quarantine) which will take effect on 3/12/2022. This presentation is designed to support school nurses' understanding, so they can lead their communities through this period of dynamic change. Hope to see you there. See the VIDEO HERE !
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Supporting the Rights of Transgender Students and Their Families

posted 02-24-2022
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The Oregon School Nurses Association fully endorses the NASN Position Statement on LGBTQ students , and applauds their recent signing of the national Human Rights Campaign letter that condemns, and calls on legislators across the country to reject, the spate of harmful anti-LGBTQ+ measures being proposed in state legislatures . In light of the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ+ legal proposals, and the recent decisions made by Texas’ Governor Abbott, which place transgender students, their families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them in Texas (including school nurses) in a position that prevents appropriate medical care for a protected class ...
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Job Opportunity: Project Coordinator

posted 02-18-2022
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Hello Nurses, This is the first posting to fill a position for implementation of the grant from OHA. This Project Coordinator is a non-nursing position. Please reach out to Wendy Niskanen (wniskanen.osna@gmail.com) for a copy of the job description. Using the resources provided by a grant from the Oregon Health Authority, school nurses will develop toolkits and other resources for school nurses. The process for this work will include collaboration with partners (school health consumers/constituents, education partners, healthcare partners, other community partners). With this input, school nurse work groups will develop toolkits for specific medical conditions ...
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Important dates for Spring Conference

posted 02-17-2022
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OSNA tries to make our resources available to all school nurses (members or not) by re-posting many discussion list items in this blog on the main page of our website. In that spirit, I will share a recent post about important dates for Spring Conference 4/21-4/22/2022. Before I do, however, I want to share that this conference is a perfect opportunity to encourage your districts/ESD's to support your membership to OSNA/NASN . Conference tuition for a member ($225) includes a textbook worth $100. For a non-member, the tuition cost ($365) does not include the textbook (we have a grant which will purchase the text for members of OSNA). As we have done for many ...
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Power Hour 2/17/2022 @ 3:30

posted 02-16-2022
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Hoping to see some of you tomorrow at power hour! Register HERE .
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OEA Health Professionals Committee: School Nursing Voices Needed!

posted 02-02-2022
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The Oregon Education Association (OEA is the union many nurses belong to) has heard school nurses' requests to make our issues more clearly understood by the union and non-nurse educators. In response, they are creating the brand new OEA Health Professionals Committee. The HPC will work to identify and recommend strategies to support OEA members who work in the health professions at the local, state, and national levels. Part of their work will be to r ecommend best practices for health care policy, contract language, and legislation. The committee is new and the original members will determine what the direction and priorities are. If you want to help elevate ...
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Special Topics Cafe, Wednesday 2/2/2022 @ 3:30: A new look at COVID tools.

posted 02-01-2022
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Hello Nurses, Special Topics Cafe will be this Wednesday, 2/2/2022 @ 3:30. Register to join us HERE . At the January STC and several follow-up focus groups, we asked what challenges nurses most right now with COVID-19 and what tools they need to support their practices. Based upon the responses, we recognized that many nurses are asking for resources which already exist in some form . We have created a document which pulls together those resources in one place which we would like to share at STC this month. In addition, we will look at the new OHA Quarantine and Isolation Decision Tree and share some tools that the members of the OSNA COVID-16 Technical ...
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OSNA Spring Conference (in Ashland, April 21-22, 2022) REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!

posted 01-31-2022
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Hi Everyone, Spring conference will be in Ashland on April 21-22, 2022! We have published the Conference website, Strengthening the Essentials: OSNA Spring Conference 2022 which has all of the information about this exciting event... from agenda, to venue and accommodations, to greatly discounted Oregon Shakespeare Festival theater tickets (it's a musical)!  We encourage you to explore the entire website, but here are some highlights and important reminders: Our keynote speaker, Dr. Janice Selekman, is a nationally renowned presenter and author of the quintessential school nursing book, School Nursing a Comprehensive Text . OSNA members will receive a copy ...
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Special Topics Cafe: School Nursing Needs in Oregon- Input Opportunity

posted 01-03-2022
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As many of you know, OSNA will be doing some work to elevate school nurse practice by creating foundational resources for all school nurses. These will include health plan and nurse process (e.g. delegation) templates, guidance documents on the scope and standards of school nurse practice, and completion of the overarching School Nurse Manual; we will use work groups to create these resources. To be sure that we are meeting the needs of school nurses, we will be using this Special Topics Cafe to ensure that you have an opportuity to give input about what resources would support your practice. We want to use this opportunity to drill down to a comprehensive list ...
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Power Hour this Thursday @ 3:30

posted 12-14-2021
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School nurses need time to connect and re-energize. This informal gathering promises to relax and rejuvenate your school nurse spirit! Hope you can join us Thursday @ 3:30 for a casual conversation! Register HERE !​
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RECORDING Available from Special Topics Cafe: Test to Stay

posted 12-02-2021
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Hi All, First, thank you to several senior health advisors and COVID Response and Recovery Unit members from OHA for participating in a meeting with the School Nurse Advisory Group yestersay, during which they clarified the Test to Stay program and accepted our input on the pracrtical applications of that program. It sounds like several documents (including the Test to Stay FAQ and the OHA COVID-19 Investigative Guidance) will be updated in the coming days and some of the school nurse feedback will be reflected. Our gratitude also extends to LeeAnn Baker from ODE  and Dr. Tom Jeanne for participation in our Special Topics Cafe yesterday afternoon as we shared ...
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2 Part Special Topics Cafe: "Test to Stay" and New School Nurse Connections

posted 11-29-2021
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Join other school nurses for two discussions. From 3:30-4:15 we will discuss/share information about the "test to stay" program (the School Nure Advisory Group will have an opportunity to talk with state leaders to ask questions about this program in advance of the STC meeting), and from 4:15-5:00, we will invite new school nurses to share thoughts and questions. Register to join us!
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