Announcements

GET YOUR NOMINATIONS IN THIS WEEK!

Would you like to get more involved with OSNA? Looking for leadership experience or know someone that would be a good leader? This is for you! This year ANY member can apply. Elections will take place online sometime in March. Every member will get a chance to vote. 

The positions up for election in 2024 are for President Elect and Treasurer (see highlighted description in the attached Job Descriptions document below).

How to nominate:

Fill out this candidate form and submit it by February 25th, 2024. 

We also ask that you fill out this form and submit it along with your candidate application.

Not sure if this if for you? Here is a list of responsibilities: Board Responsibilities 

We hope that nurses will pursue leadership roles (elected/appointed and participation on committees) to strengthen their own leadership skills, to make OSNA a stronger organization, and to improve school nursing in Oregon.

To see the full discussion post see here. 

Greetings, for a short month, there are many professional development opportunities in February. Please take a look at the OSNA Events Calendar for specifics for the following: 

Special Topics Cafe 2/7/2024: Identifying Health-related Needs and Roles at School: A Parent's Perspective

This session will be a presentation and discussion with the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs (OCCYSHN). OCCYSHN will present a short video of a mother describing her daughter's experience in the school system and the various points in time where things worked well or didn't work well.  Following the video, participants will share strategies that might have improved this youth's school experience and outcomes. Participants will also discuss the impact of the daughter's unmet needs on the mother and family. OCCYSHN is Oregon's public health agency for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). It works for policy change and supports Oregon's systems of care so they are better equipped to meet the needs of this vulnerable population.

Special Topics Cafe: 1st Wednesday @3:30-5:00 (RECORDED): In this professional community of practice, nurses will have an opportunity to engage with our partners to learn about and discuss current topics in school nursing. Generally there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

Register

Mentoring Monday 2/12/24 (RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY) Seizure Management in Schools

This will be a two part discussion. Nurses will explore the seizure toolkit using a case study. This will include a discussion IEP assessment and the use of the acuity tool. Nurses will then hear a brief presentation about the school nurse role in school planning for non-epileptic psychogenic events.

Mentoring Monday: (4th Monday @3:30-5:00): This CoP is an informal teaching workshop which addresses clinical topics and provides us with a forum to share some tools for school nurse best practice. Generally there will be a presentation, including time for Q&A followed by time to explore resources.

Register

Power Hour 2/15/24: Records Requests

Before an open-ended opportunity for discussion, school nurses will have the opportunity to share about their processes around school school health record management. Specifically, how are school health records (IHP's, etc.) shared when a receiving district makes a school records request for a transferring student.

Power Hour (3rd Thursday @3:30-5:00) Not Recorded: This CoP emerged organically as nurses needed support and empowerment during the pandemic. It continues to provide opportunities for nurses to share their insights, successes, and concerns in an open-ended format. White it will always offer some time for nurse-led discussion, it may also function as a focus group wherein nurses can share feedback on specific questions.

Register

Mentoring Monday 2/26/24: Asthma Management

OSNA will welcome Dr. James Baker for a clinical update on Asthma management and then examine the support in the asthma toolkit. 

Mentoring Monday: (4th Monday @3:30-5:00): This CoP is an informal teaching workshop which addresses clinical topics and provides us with a forum to share some tools for school nurse best practice. Generally there will be a presentation, including time for Q&A followed by time to explore resources.

Register

Hope to see you there! :)W

Riverhouse Convention Center on April 18 - 19, 2024

Click here to Register!

For more information on this conference, including hotels, visit the OSNA Spring Conference page. 

Would you like to get more involved with OSNA? Looking for leadership experience or know someone that would be a good leader? This is for you! This year ANY member can apply. Elections will take place online sometime in March. Every member will get a chance to vote. 

The positions up for election in 2024 are for President Elect and Treasurer (see highlighted description in the attached Job Descriptions document below).

How to nominate:

Fill out this candidate form and submit it by February 25th, 2024. 

We also ask that you fill out this form and submit it along with your candidate application.

Not sure if this if for you? Here is a list of responsibilities: Board Responsibilities 

We hope that nurses will pursue leadership roles (elected/appointed and participation on committees) to strengthen their own leadership skills, to make OSNA a stronger organization, and to improve school nursing in Oregon.

To see the full discussion post see here. 

Liz Thorne of Matchstick Consulting will present on Sources of Strengths a best practice suicide prevention project that moves beyond singular risk factors to focus on multiple sources of support (strengths) and increases help seeking behaviors and promotes connections to peers and caring adults.

Special Topics Cafe: 1st Wednesday @3:30-5:00 (RECORDED): In this professional community of practice, nurses will have an opportunity to engage with our partners to learn about and discuss current topics in school nursing. Generally there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

Register

Not Recorded: This CoP emerged organically as nurses needed support and empowerment during the pandemic. It continues to provide opportunities for nurses to share their insights, successes, and concerns in an open-ended format. White it will always offer some time for nurse-led discussion, it may also function as a focus group wherein nurses can share feedback on specific questions.

The November/December Mentoring Monday will be offered on Monday, 12/11 @3:30, and we will be continuing the conversation about using the acuity tool which began at Fall Conference. Please join us as we look at case studies and gain a better understanding about how to use this tool consistently. Here is the video of the presentation on the acuity tool from conference; if you did not attend, we recommend that you view the video before you attend on Monday, 12/11: Measuring Acuity in the School Setting. It will be helpful to print this companion document before the session, as well.

Register

We want to have this conversation when it works for you! If this Mentoring Monday opportunity does not fit into your schedule, we will create another acuity tool session this winter. If you work with a group of nurses and have a regularly scheduled meeting during your work day, we can join you to have a session during that meeting. One of the most important components of having a statewide tool is to ensure that nurses are trained to use it consistently so that the resulting data collected is meaningful! It is essential that any nurse who is planning to use the acuity tool attend a session to develop an understanding around how it is meant to be utilized. Hope to see you soon! :)W

Mentoring Monday: 4th Monday @3:30-5:00 (Recorded): This CoP is an informal teaching workshop which addresses clinical topics and provides us with a forum to share some tools for school nurse best practice. Generally there will be a presentation, including time for Q&A followed by time to explore resources.

Collaborating with School Based Health Centers: Collaboration between SBHC and SN building whole school systems. Maureen Hinnman and Hannah Smith will share about the development of school health needs assessments between 2018 to present. School nurses will hear about opportunities to advocate for assessment of health needs. What do you need to support students? What does your district need? School nurses and partners from the Oregon School Based Health Alliance will share information and experiences of successful collaboration.

Special Topics Cafe: 1st Wednesday @3:30-5:00 (RECORDED): In this professional community of practice, nurses will have an opportunity to engage with our partners to learn about and discuss current topics in school nursing. Generally there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

Register

We need your help to improve our webpage! Send us your nurse team photos! Learn more here. 

In this session, Lori Perkins from Beaverton will discuss the nurse's role in the Special Education process and share examples of templates which can be used for IEP/504 Nursing Assessments. New guidance from ODE on the nurse's role in IHP/IEP/504 will also be shared.

Mentoring Monday: 4th Monday @3:30-5:00 (Recorded): This CoP is an informal teaching workshop which addresses clinical topics and provides us with a forum to share some tools for school nurse best practice. Generally there will be a presentation, including time for Q&A followed by time to explore resources.

Register

Add to   Google Calendar     Outlook Calendar     Yahoo Calendar

Power Hour (3rd Thursday @3:30-5:00) This CoP emerged organically as nurses needed support and empowerment during the pandemic. It continues to provide opportunities for nurses to share their insights, successes, and concerns in an open-ended format. White it will always offer some time for nurse-led discussion, it may also function as a focus group wherein nurses can share feedback on specific questions.

10/19/2023 @ 3:30: Ely Sanders will share the current draft of proposed updates to the Medication Administration Rules. Participants who register before 8:00 am Tuesday will receive a copy of the document to review in advance of the meeting. 

Register 

OSNA has created a letter you can use to communicate with your district/ESD leadership to explain why school nursing specific conferences are essential. The letter references NASN's definition of school nursing and the Oregon Nurse Practice Act. The middle two paragraphs are specific to the 2023-2024 conferences. Please make a copy of the template and modify it to meet the needs of your situation (some districts want specific  event details, others will just want the rational paragraphs).

OSNA Conference Justification Letter (editable)

REMINDER: Fall Conference Registration is open!

At the 2023 OSNA Virtual Fall Conference on November 3rd, nurses will gain understanding of the updated School Health Services Rule (OAR 581-022-2220) and learn to use the ODE recommended tool for gathering acuity data for the required annual Nursing Services in Oregon Public Schools report due in June. Beyond complying with the Nurse Practice Act, it is essential that school nurses are knowledgeable about the Oregon education statutes and regulations governing their practice. Clinical content at the fall conference will focus on students with cardiac diagnoses, focusing on the impact of those conditions on the student's ability to engage in education.

The Epilepsy Foundation is having its annual conference, "Innovations in Epilepsy," at Doernbecher on November 11 (Saturday), and it is FREE. Though there is not a synchronous virtual option, they have assured me that they will be recording the sessions. We are hoping to feature some of the content at a Mentoring Monday in the near future, so nurses from all over the state have access to these materials!

Learn more HERE

Hi Nurses,

Special Topics Cafe: 1st Wednesday @3:30-5:00 (RECORDED): In this professional community of practice, nurses will have an opportunity to engage with our partners to learn about and discuss current topics in school nursing. Generally there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity for Q&A.

Register

On October 4th, we look forward to welcoming Dr. Marinda Peters from the ODE Office of Civil Rights to speak to us about section 504, specifically discussing students with ADHD and disability-related behavior concerns. School nurses will learn about recommendations for supporting students with ADHD and understand how to advocate for their students who are at risk of discriminatory discipline. 

Dr. Peters spoke to nurses last spring, giving a more general 504 presentation, School Planning Solutions: 504s, which nurses will also find useful.

We hope to see you on Wednesday!

Please join us for...

Mentoring Monday: 4th Monday @3:30-5:00 (Recorded): This CoP is an informal teaching workshop which addresses clinical topics and provides us with a forum to share some tools for school nurse best practice. Generally there will be a presentation, including time for Q&A followed by time to explore resources.

Register

Add to   Google Calendar     Outlook Calendar     Yahoo Calendar

September 25: Topic: Diabetes Update (Meg Courtnage, Kelly Paine White, OHSU)

Join us for STC on Wednesday September 6 @ 3:30. In this professional community of practice, nurses will have an opportunity to engage with our partners to learn about and discuss current topics in school nursing.

In this session, Ely Sanders and Rachel Smith from the Oregon Department of Education will address topics including the revised School Health Services Rules, communicable disease guidance after COVID, and updates on work with the Medication Administration OAR's and acuity reporting. This session will be recorded and posted in the communities-of-practice/special-topics-cafe page on our website

Register

The video and presenter slides from this week's Mentoring Monday on revisions to the delegation rules in Division 47 of the Oregon Nurse practice Act are posted. You will find the materials on the OSNA website https://www.oregonschoolnurses.org/oregonschoolnurses/events/communities-of-practice/mentoring-monday

Hi Nurses,

At 2022 Spring Conference in Ashland, school nurses had the opportunity to speak to videographers and share their experiences as school nurses in Oregon. The thinking was that we needed media to help people understand what we do as we advocate for ourselves in our schools/districts/ESD's/communities. School nurse leaders from across Oregon outlined the content and the amazing videography team pulled in the nurses' voices to create these amazing videos. We are grateful to the ODE Healthy Schools CDC Grant for making this happen! :)W

What School Nurses Do

The Many Dimensions of School Nursing

Hi Nurses,

We are going to take the opportunity at STC today to connect again with ODE about planning for next year. In addition to providing feedback around the communicable disease planning released in May, this afternoon's meeting will provide a space for nurses to weigh in on the potential school nurse role in creating school health services plans (required by the new School Health Services OAR). What might your role be in the creation of a health services plan for your district... What could/should it be?

Please come provide feedback which will help shape how ODE frames this essential work to school leadership in Oregon. Register Here

Hello Nurses,

The Equity Task Force has met monthly for a year exploring possibilities and gathering resources. We are ready to plan a course forward for OSNA, and we are welcoming nurses who want to join us in this energizing work! We are meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23rd at 3:45. We will share a history of our work to date and connect about a meeting time which works for most nurses. Please join us!

I have attached an article which will lay some of the ground work for our planning, but it is NOT homework!! Please join us even if you can't take a look at it before tomorrow!!

Hoping to see many of you!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87846024191

Hi Nurses,

Reminder that Power Hour is the 3rd Thursday of each month giving us time to connect and re-energize! Power Hour is an open-ended, casual discussion time when school nurses can connect and share thoughts, successes, and concerns related to school nursing. Hope to see you this afternoon.

Register Here

Hi Nurses,

The OEA Health Professionals Committee listened to health professionals across the state and proposed a bill which would "Establish a Task Force on Health Care Services in Oregon Schools to examine scope of duties of employment and practice for licensed health care providers employed by schools, school districts
or education service districts to provide health care services." The law would require the task force "to examine health record systems that may be adopted by school, school district, education service district or Department of Education that would enable health care providers to maintain records of health-related information for students." Recommendations from this task force will be essential to guide future work.

We are grateful to Rep. Ruiz for sponsoring HB 2959, which is in the Way and Means Committee. We need your help to ensure that the bill is advanced out of W & M and into the Senate. Time is of the essence. Below are the email addresses of the Committee Chairs and email text supporters of the bill should use to request that HB 2959 get a hearing in Ways & Means. Please send an email to these legislators ASAP!! Thanks for your advocacy!!

Here is the email for Senator Elizabeth Steiner: Sen.ElizabethSteiner@oregonlegislature.gov

Here is the email for Representative Tawna Sanchez: Rep.TawnaSanchez@oregonlegislature.gov

Dear Co-Chairs Steiner and Sanchez---

My name is ____________ and I am a health professional in Oregon’s public schools and very supportive of HB 2959, which creates a task force to align school policy with health professional licensing in Oregon for the safety and support of our students. This is an important bill for Speech Language Pathologists, School Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists and more, all of whom work tirelessly in our public school system under large caseloads or in underserved areas to support our students most in need.

Please schedule this bill for a public hearing and work session for the critical investment and attention this needs.