1

This past October, the PASNAP

Board of Directors decided that our

newsletter, The Examiner, needed a

makeover. So we turned to our mem-

bership for help. We planned

on a new format, new fea-

tures and a new name.

A contest was presented

to members. Criteria was set

and entries were accepted

until December 15, 2012.

In January, the PASNAP

Board of Directors voted on

the name from all entries

who met the contest require-

ments. Thirteen suggestions

were considered. Interest-

ingly, we had three members

submit similar names. So, in addition

to the vote, a winner was selected based

on when the entry was received.

The PASNAP Board of Directors

is pleased to announce the PASNAP

newsletter preconference

winner is Joann Coleman, a

CSN in the Philadelphia Re-

gion. Our newsletter will

now be known as the

PASNAP Pulse.

JoAnn Coleman has

been a Certified School

Nurse for the past 27 years

for the Philadelphia School

District. She has worked at

the middle school level, as

well as the elementary school

level. During the summer

months she works with the Extended

And The Winner Is...

Day On The Hill: Nurses Speak Up!

Mark your calen-

dars! PASNAP will hold their

annual “Day on the Hill” on Tues-

day, March 12, 2013. This is an

opportunity for CSN’s from

across the state to visit Harris-

burg, meet with their legislators,

and share with them what we do

and how we care for the students

of Pennsylvania.

The day will begin with a

breakfast from 8 am to 10 am, to

be held in Room 148 of the main

Capitol Building. After the

breakfast, PASNAP leadership

will be meeting with key legislators

and all are encouraged to use this time

to visit your own state senator and

representative. This is a great oppor-

tunity to meet many of our legislators.

Be sure to call

his/her office

as soon as

you know that

you are at-

tending to set

up these im-

portant visits.

We will be providing

you with talking points about im-

portant issues .

Start talking to your administra-

Inside this issue

Expressing Empathy: A poem to the students of

Newtown ,CT

2

All PR is Local 2

Scholarship Funds Available 3

School Nurses: Key to

Success in Concussion

Protocol

3

Students “Kick Butt” with

T.A.T.U. : How I improved

my practice

4

Share and Win 6

Legislative Auction 6

Your Conference Packing

List. Last Minute Essentials 7

Effective Immediately:

Changes in Health Forms 8

President’s message 9

Go ahead, SMILE 10

Winter 2013

Joann Coleman, CSN

Continued on page 7

and request the time off to attend.

If you are planning to attend this

event, please RSVP to Nancy Kaminski,

legislative chair, at kamin-

ski.nj@gmail.com by March 1, 2013.

Final details will be provided early in

March. Nancy will forward the specifics

you will need on event times, where to

meet, and parking.

Please consider contacting school

nurses in neighboring districts to en-

courage them to attend with you. Con-

tact your Region Rep. for names of oth-

ers that you may be able to carpool

with. Remember, we have power in

numbers!

2

By Kathy Verbel

Hope is like a spark.

Once that spark is a fire,

The fire is Faith.

Faith makes a wild fire,

That wild fire is joy.

Which is now courage,

Which is beyond Hope,

Faith and Joy.

and even Fear

By Abbigail Cann, 5th grader,

Ms. Jones’ homeroom

All it took was three sentenc-

es in a memo that teachers shared

with their students in homeroom

Monday morning, the week be-

fore winter break.

With the approval from the

principal, I had an announcement

sent out to our classes. I asked for

donations of handmade cards or “

teddy bears” by the end of the week

to mail to Newtown, Ct. The idea

was to allow the 5th, 6th and 7th

grade students of Stroudsburg Mid-

dle School the chance to let the

children of Sandy Hook Elementary

know that they were in our thoughts

and prayers.

Expressing Empathy-

A poem to the students of Newtown, Connecticut

your community. No one

can tell the story of school

nursing—what we do, how

we do it, and why we do it--

better than you can.

While the idea of step-

ping into the public eye may

sound intimidating, anyone

can learn to do it. It just

takes a little preparation,

some practice and plenty of

passion. Here are some sug-

gestions of ways to get start-

ed. (You will find that you

are already doing many of

these things, but may not

have considered them PR.)

First, know your stuff. Do

a little reading and thinking

about issues facing the

health of school aged chil-

dren and the impact that

school nurses have on them.

Check out “The Case for

School Nursing” on the

NASN website for solid

talking points

(www.nasn.org/Home/

CaseForSchoolNursing ).

Remember to localize the

data: how many students

with autism, diabetes, or

asthma go to school in your

district? How many stu-

dents are classified as home-

less? How many are over-

weight or obese? Being

conversant with these facts

and figures will increase

your credibility and your

confidence.

Next, identify and connect

with your stakeholders. As

school nurses, our stake-

holders include our students,

of course, with whom we

connect every day. Their

families are also crucial

stakeholders. In additional

to the numerous phone con-

versations we have with

parents and guardians, we

can establish important rela-

tionships with families

through the PTO/PTA.

All PR is Local

By Susan KIrkpatrick

I first noticed the differ-

ences about five years ago.

My newspapers were chang-

ing. Big city newspapers began

closing their international news

desks. National and international

stories were relegated to the sec-

ond and third page. Local news

now dominated the front page.

According to the pundits, news

was being “hyperlocalized.”

Moreover, the big city Pennsyl-

vania newspapers were not inter-

ested in doing a story about

PASNAP’s School Nurse of the

Year, unless she was a “local

girl.”

This hyperlocalization of

the news means that while the

public relations work done by

NASN and PASNAP on the na-

tional and state levels is im-

portant, the most significant

spokesperson for school nursing

is you. You are the vital voice

for the health of the students in

Students at Stroudsburg Middle School

collected bears, made cards of condolence

and encouragement, and then sent them

to Newtown, Ct the week before winter

break.

NASN Member is winner

of ANA’s “ I am a Nurse, I

am a Leader” video con-

test! School nurse, Man-

dy Mayer from Vermont,

made the winning video.

highlighting school

nursing. View Mandy's

YouTube video online at

http://youtu.be/3OuCy-

34o68.

Kindergarten registration,

Back to School nights and

immunization clinics are other

examples of opportunities for

face-to-face interactions with

families. Have information on

your role as a school nurse

available to distribute at these

events. Our teacher and ad-

ministrator colleagues are

continued on page 9

Continued on page 5

The PASNAP Pulse

3

notified via telephone by June

1st. The award will be sent in

the student's name directly to

the college or university of the

winner's choice.

School Nurse Scholarships PASNAP will award 3

$500 awards to CSNs enrolled

in a graduate program with the

intention of continuing to prac-

tice in a school health setting

or an RN enrolled in a pro-

gram to become a Certified

School Nurse.

The purpose of the schol-

arships are to encourage and

support a CSN enrolled in a

graduate program who is a

Future School Nurse

PASNAP is proud to offer a

$1000 award to a high school

senior pursuing a BSN. This

scholarship was initiated in 2008

in memory of Richard Berritini,

a CSN who lost his life in 2008

serving for the National Guard in

Afghanistan. We continue this

scholarship in honor of all the

nurses who have learned that the

ability to care for others is a gift

you will have with you always.

In order to be eligible for the

award, the application must be

submitted and postmarked by

May 1st. The winner will be

member of PASNAP thereby

increasing advanced practice

nurses in the school setting

and encourage a RN to attain

his/her educational goals thus

increasing the number of

CSNs working in the school

health settings. Applicants

must demonstrate that they

have completed at least 6

credits of coursework and

must be in good academic

standing with their college/

university.

The need for financial

aid does not have to be estab-

lished . Each qualified appli-

cant will have an equal op-

portunity to win the

School Nurses: KEY to Success in Concussion Protocol

Scholarship Funds

By Brenda Eagan-Brown

It’s difficult to turn on the

news or read a newspaper arti-

cle without hearing about new

concussion research or impacts.

With this increase in public

knowledge, the BrainSTEPS

(Strategies Teaching Educators,

Parents, and Students) Program

has been working with PaT-

TAN to assist an ever increas-

ing number of students with

concussion return to school.

But, returning to the demands

of school too soon following

concussion can significantly

increase and prolong symp-

toms. This period of recovery

should be appropriately

planned for and supported by

school personnel.

Annually in PA, over 20,000

concussions occur in

children and adolescents.

BrainSTEPS is working to

build concussion capacity at

the local level, by assisting

districts in establishing re-

turn to school Concussion

Management Teams. The

intent is to build stronger

partnerships with all PA

school districts, and offer

support for the more diffi-

cult concussion cases.

A one hour Brain-

STEPS concussion webinar

was held in October entitled,

“Concussion in the Class-

room: Return to Learning.”

The webinar served as

the first step in preparing

school districts with an un-

derstanding of concussion

need for establishing aca-

demic Concussion Man-

agement Teams ( CMTs)

by following the 2012

BrainSTEPS Return to

School Concussion Rec-

ommended Protocol that

was unveiled. This webinar

and concussion handouts

are available at

www.brainsteps.net

To further prepare

districts to serve this rapid-

ly identified population of

students, the BrainSTEPS

Program is assisting dis-

tricts in establishing aca-

demic CMTs.

BrainSTEPS is offer-

ing academic CMTs con-

cussion training,

Continued on page 4

scholarship since it ill be a

random chance selection.

Applications are due by

March 15. Recipients are

expected to write a short

piece for the newsletter re-

flecting on how this award

will help them realize their

educational goals.

Find applications at

www.pasnap.org: Education

The PASNAP Pulse

By Brenda Eagan-Brown,

M.S.Ed, CBIS BrainSTEPS

Brain Injury School RE-Entry

Program Coordinator

4

School Nurses: KEY to Success in Concussion Protocol

Continued from page 3

ongoing guidance, and partner-

ships for all district CMTs who

register their CMTs at

www.brainsteps.net Eagan

believes that “school nurses

are the KEY to

this protocol's success. “

The CMT roles are simple.

They consist of two individu-

als: an Academic Monitor and

a Symptom Monitor.

The Symptom Monitor

utilizes the BrainSTEPS Stu-

dent Symptom Severity Moni-

toring Checklist with students

several times a week to evalu-

ate their current status. This

continues while students re-

main symptomatic.

The Academic Monitor

utilizes the BrainSTEPS Aca-

demic Monitoring Tool weekly

with relevant teaching staff .

They also continue monitoring

students as long as they remain

symptomatic.

“School nurses would

make fabulous Symptom Moni-

tors,” says Eagan, “ but we

need their help.” She is asking

all school nurses to “look over

the links about setting up

CMTs and other concussion

resources at

www.brainsteps.net

and then talk with their admin-

istrators about setting up a

CMT in your school.”

Benefits of registering your

team at

www.brainsteps.net include:

Each 2 person CMT will

be trained by BrainSTEPS

through a statewide video

conference that focuses on

the latest research and the

roles of the CMT.

“School nurses

would make

fabulous Symptom

Monitors,” says

Eagan, “ but we

need their help.”

Please share

your Aha moment

with us, that

“Moment”, when

you say to your

self “Why didn’t

I do it this way

before?”

A moment of

clarity, the

aha moment can

be a defining

moment where

you gain real

wisdom -

wisdom you can

use to change

your life &

others.

Students “Kick Butt” with T.A.T.U. How I improved my practice

This training will prepare

each CMT to manage

students’ concussions for

the initial 3-4 weeks,

when 80% of students

recover.

The CMT will receive

BrainSTEPS tools to ac-

curately and quickly

monitor academic and

symptom changes.

The tools are 1 sided,

easy to use, and were

created to assist districts

in gathering the data

needed to determine

when student concussion

no longer impact educa-

tion.

Continued on page 5

By Ellen Orben, RN, CNS, MSN Delaware Valley High School T. A. T. U. club advisor

For the past past 16 years, I

have been the advisor of the

Teens Against Tobacco Use

(T.A.T.U.) club at Delaware

Valley High School. As the

school nurse, students would

come to me and complain about

how badly the bathrooms

smelled of tobacco smoke.

When I heard about the

T.A.T.U. program, I thought

this would be a wonderful club

to get teenagers involved in,

plus it was something that I was

passionate about. T.A.T.U. was

developed in 1996 by the Amer-

ican Cancer Society, the Ameri-

can Heart Association and the

American Lung Association as

part of the Smoke-Free Class of

2000 initiative.

The program is de-

signed to train teenagers to

teach elementary students

about the negative aspects of

tobacco use. We also explain

how tobacco companies try to

brainwash young people into

buying tobacco products

through advertisements and

gift promotions. Promotions

are solely aimed at increasing

sales without regard to known

health hazards and the addic-

tion associated with smoking.

Fifty -two high school

students, divided into ten

groups, participate in the pro-

gram. The students are re-

sponsible for developing their

own lesson plans for their

presentations. The presenta-

tions, approximately 45

minutes in length, are given to

students in grades 2 - 5 and

include small and large group

discussions, skits, word

searches, role playing and

puppet plays. Financial sup-

port from a Pike County Tobac-

co Coalition grant has supplied

us with visual aids, puppets,

videos and t-shirts for T.A.T.U.

members.

The T.A.T.U. club has been

an enormous success. The high

school students are very enthu-

siastic about their participation

and are very well received by

the elementary students. Evalu-

ations completed by the class-

room teachers have all been

very positive. The program is

not only beneficial to the

younger children, but also helps

the teen participants to become

leaders, to accept responsibility

and to develop the information

and skills needed for success.

Even the quietest, most reserved

students take an active role in

our presentations helping them

to be more outgoing.

Continued on page 5

The PASNAP Pulse

5

Continued from page 2

By Wednesday afternoon six

assorted stuffed toys had been

dropped off in the nurse’s office

by students, along with a few

cards.

I had planned to get a flat rate

box to pack them up to go out the

next day.

But plans change.

That Thursday morning, the staff

received an email from the prin-

cipal She encouraged everyone

to come to the office conference

room to look at the “ bears” be-

fore they were packed to be

mailed to Newtown.

Busy as we are in our offices,

I had not thought to go into

the main office to seek out any

other donations that might

have been dropped off for the

drive before the principal’s

memo arrived.

As I entered the conference

room, my eyes literally filled

with tears. I was overcome

with emotion. What I found

was a menagerie of more than

50, soft, lovable stuffed

animals. In addition, there

were stacks of cards, hand

drawn pictures, posters and

poems with sentiments of

sympathy and encouragement

from entire classes and indi-

vidual students, all waiting to

be shipped to Connecticut in

expressions of empathy.

Cathi Cohen, LCSW in her

article “Empathy -I Feel

Your Pain” – defines empa-

thy as the capacity to feel and

think what another feels and

thinks by observing cues and

then responding appropriate-

ly.

Expressing Empathy-

School Nurses: KEY to Success in Concussion Protocol Continued from page 4

Although the vast majority of

students recover within the first 3-4

weeks, many have lingering effects

for months, years are even a lifetime.

For those students not recovering

during the initial 4 week trajectory, a

student referral to the local Brain-

STEPS Program should occur.

Each academic CMT will be

partnered with their regional Brain-

STEPS Team for ongoing assistance

and referrals at 4 weeks, for students

who do not recover, or earlier if the

concussion is more complex.

The BrainSTEPS Teams have

been extensively trained and

For further details visit

www.brainsteps.net

“Being able to walk in the

shoes of another person is

a critical life skill. Empath-

ic children become caring

adults.” “The ability to

empathize is a highly com-

plex skill.”

The school setting offers

children many opportuni-

ties to learn and express

empathy. School nurses

can encourage and help

teach this life skill. Co-

hen lists steps to follow to

help promote empathy in

children.

Continued on page 8

Continued from page 4

Our club has also been in-

volved with legislative as-

pects of anti-smoking laws

and regulations. We have

visited legislators in Harris-

burg as well as our local rep-

resentatives and were very

active in the Smoke-Free

Workplace efforts. We visit

the Pike County Commis-

sioner’s meeting annually to

applaud their efforts in

Students “Kick Butt” with T.A.T.U. How I improved my practice

with resources, information and of-

fer individualized training .

BrainSTEPS will create an aca-

demic Brain Injury Supports

Framework to pair symptoms

with needed accommodations to

promote faster recovery.

Each CMT will be kept up to

date on the latest concussion research

pertaining to return to school via

BrainSTEPS Program in an ongoing

manner. Please contact your school

district administrators and provide

them with this information about

how to set up an academic CMT uti-

lizing BrainSTEPS support.

Continued on page 7

and are prepared to assist schools

in managing student concussions

that linger past the four week

typical recovery trajectory.

The BrainSTEPS Teams bring a

wealth of information, guidance and

educational strategies based on their

ongoing training, experience work-

ing with this population of students,

and support from the statewide

BrainSTEPS Program Coordinator.

BrainSTEPS will provide the stu-

dent’s team of teachers and parent

The PASNAP Pulse

keeping our county smoke-

free. Right now we are work-

ing on “Through With

Chew” and “Kick Butts Day”

activities. The students do a

terrific job and all of us at

DV applaud their efforts

toward a smoke-free

America.

Check out this link to view

a PSA by DV T.A.T.U. club

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=f3wad59psSU

6

Poster Presentations…

Share your ideas and become a winner!

By Cheryl Mattern

Whether you are a veteran

school nurse or a relative

novice, you know things that

other nurses would love to

learn. Share your ideas and

programs at PASNAP’s annual

poster presentation!

Participation is simple:

1. Using a standard 36” by

48” presentation trifold, create

a poster featuring some facet of

your practice.

2. Develop a handout convey-

ing the important concepts of

your poster. (Plan for approxi-

mately 300 nurses to attend the

conference.)

Bring your poster and

handout to PASNAP’s annu-

al conference at State Col-

lege in April, where it will be

displayed for other nurses to

browse and learn.

All contributors will be given

a Certificate of Participation

to include in your profession-

al portfolio.

In addition, the names of all

participants will be included

in a special drawing for free

attendance at the 2014

PASNAP Conference in State

College, March 28-30, 2014

Here are some poster ideas:

—Your best bulletin board

--A health education program

you presented for students,

staff, or parents

—Implementation of an im-

munization clinic

--An inservice session for

other school nurses

—An innovative way to ad-

dress school health challenges

—Your original research

Its simple. Just complete the

registration form below and

send to Cheryl Mattern via

email :

csmattern@comcast.net

Then let those creative juices

flow and share the results

4/12/13.

PASNAP’s Annual Poster Presentation April 12 and 13, 2013

Name of participant:_____________________________________________

Email:_____________________________________________

Phone:____________________________________________

Please email entry to : csmattern@comcast.net

The PASNAP Pulse

Legislative Auction: Baskets & Donations Needed

By Nancy Kaminski

The legislative com-

mittee will be holding a

Chinese auction during

the annual educational

conference at the Penn

Stater. This has been a

popular conference ac-

tivity and is our primary

source of PAC (political

action committee) fund

donations.

Money from the PAC

fund helps to support

candidates who support

school nursing and the

children’s issues that we

support. Over the years,

we have had some great

items available – an

AED, a laptop computer,

jewelry, paintings, quilts,

and gift baskets of all

types to name a few.

Items for auction will

be on display and tickets

will be sold during meals

on Saturday of the confer-

ence, with winners drawn

as part of our evening pro-

gram.

If you would like to

donate an item for the auc-

tion, please bring it to the

registration desk on Friday

evening. Sheets of tickets

will be sold for $10, each,

each sheet containing 25

chances.

“Building

Relationships for

Student Success “

April 12 -14, 2013

Penn Stater

Conference Center

State College,PA

Register now at

www.pasnap.org

7

Continued from page 1

School Year programs

providing nursing service to

the students with special

needs. “How did I

come up with the name The

PASNAP Pulse? “ said Jo-

Ann. “ I once

had a conversation with an-

other school nurse and we

were talking about our

school administration.

The nurse stated that her

Principal has her finger right

on the pulse. I took that to

mean that her Principal

knew everything that was

happening at that school.”

“Therefore, I submit-

ted the name The Pulse to

signify everything that is

happening in the state of

Pennsylvania that con-

cerns Certified School

Nurses and Practitioners.

Adding PASNAP to The

Pulse makes it all that

much more relevant to

o u r o r g a n i za t i o n . ”

When notified that

Friday Preconference

April 12, 2013

Sessions run from 1:30-5:00.

Topic selections include:

Evidence Based Manage-

ment of Sports Concussion:

What are we Learning?

Child Abuse – Making the

Call: Clinical and Legal Is-

sues for the School Nurse as

a Mandated Reporter

Traumatic Brain Injury & its

Visual Consequences

she was our contest win-

ner, JoAnn voiced excite-

ment at having her sub-

mission be selected. She

thanked everyone who

voted for her entry.

And the winner is...

School Nurses: KEY to Success in Concussion Protocol

How to establish and register an academic Concussion

Management Team:

Schools should identify 2 individuals to serve on the CMT (an Academic Monitor and a

Symptom Monitor).

The CMT can be per district or per school building (preferred). Schools may also choose to

have one CMT per grade (i.e., 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th).

CMTs can be made up of any educational professional such as school psychologist, school

nurse, social worker, guidance counselor, 504 coordinator or teachers.

School administrators are to register their CMTs at this website: www.brainsteps.net.

Register each CMT separately.

Training will be online. Each CMT monitor will be able to watch the video training from their

own office

Continued from page 5

The BrainSTEPS Pro-

gram is funded by the PA

Department of Health and the

PA Department of Education

and implemented by the

Brain Injury Association of

PA.

For further information go

to the website

www.brainsteps.net

or contact:

Brenda Eagan Brown

email: eaganbrown@biapa.org

Your conference packing list. Last minute essentials to remember

Hope you’ll be joining us at the

PASNAP conference on April

12. Here are a few items you

won’t want to forgot to pack.

A bathing suit. Yes, there

is a pool & a whirlpool.

Ahh...

Sneakers for the morning

walks

Saturday we’ll be stepping off

at 6:15. Sunday it’s 7:00. This

event, sponsored by School

Health, earns participants a

spiffy School Nurse T-shirt.

Mittens and a scarf for

those early walks. It can

feel cold starting off till

you work up a sweat.

A donation for the Legis-

lative Auction. Our PAC

needs your support. Funds

raised from your donations

are used to finance our

Legislative Consultant

activities and events on

our behalf like Day on the

Hill. No dues are used.

Extra cash to spend on

auction tickets. It’s for

a good cause & fun

too!

Business cards & ad-

dress labels– With lots

of peers and vendor

tables, it makes it much

easier to share info.

The PASNAP Pulse

8

lary of feelings

Step Three: Help children tune in

to the body language and facial

expressions of others.

Step Four: Teach children to

respond empathetically to others.

Step Five: Highlight charac-

ters’ feelings and motives in books,

on TV, and in movies. Empathy

skills can be taught.

School nurses can take an ac-

tive role in helping students learn

Continued from page 5

The following are some steps

Cohen notes in her article, to help

children develop empathy. Cohen

points out that this is an area where

it’s truly important that you model

appropriate behavior.

Step One: Prompt children to

think about the feelings and reac-

tions of others.

Step Two: Help children devel-

op a larger, more detailed vocabu-

these vital life skills. Some of these

things you may already be doing

with students unconsciously. Others

may be adapted

into your daily

routine easily.

Either way, Co-

hen notes your

efforts can go a

long way in mak-

ing a child feel

heard.

President’s Message

Expressing Empathy-

Building Relationships able to take the time to take a few

minutes to stop and reflect on Valen-

tine’s Day and what student or situa-

tion you have been able to make a dif-

ference for in their lives. For some

students it may be taking care of them

for a minor injury or illness, but for

other’s it is the tireless work that often

goes on behind the scenes towards

building that “healthy safety net” and

holistic care for a child that often oc-

curs so seamlessly that it often goes un

-noticed. For some, our “Valentines”

may be visible with a special bandaid,

sticker or tooth fairy container that a

child proudly goes back to class to re-

mind the student that they have a safe

place to come when they need care.

For other students, this care may not be

so evident as we work behind the

scenes to build bridges, resources and a

wide variety of medically related care

plans behind the scenes. Our display

of “valentines” may not always come

with a physical card, but by the actions

and care that we provide each and eve-

ry day for the students and our school

community that we service. If you

know of a person who has truly made a

difference in a very special way for the

care of students we would love or to

have you share their

good works in a short article for our

PASNAP Pulse. We are hoping that

by sharing short articles of tips ac-

complishments, these good deeds

might be spread to other school

nurse’s throughout the state. Some-

times just a tip to organize paper-

work, computerization tips or crea-

tive approaches to advertising

healthy habits could help another

school nurse develop a special pro-

gram or activity that meets the needs

of their students they serve.

So many of us get so busy with

everyday activities that we often for-

get to take the time to “stop and

smell the roses.” I challenge you in

the month of February, the month of

both Valentine’s Day and Heart

Month, to take the time to care for

yourselves. Take a moment to close

your eyes, picture your favorite

place, a peaceful moment and reflect

on the many “Valentine’s gifts “ that

you provide each and every day to

your own school students and com-

munity. May you take the time to

smell your special roses. May this

moment bring you peace and joy and

give you the energy to continue the

work that each and every one of you

do to make a difference in the life of

all the children that you care for.

As our school year quickly

passes, it is hard to believe that our

wintery weather should soon be

turning to warmer, more spring-

like days. Along with warmer

weather come thoughts of excite-

ment, as our PASNAP Board has

been very hard, planning and pre-

paring for our upcoming annual

State School Nurse’s Conference.

This year the theme of our up-

coming conference will be

“Building Relationships for Stu-

dent Success.” I am hoping that all

of you will consider attending this

year and being able to network and

connect with fellow friends and

colleagues over the dates of Fri-

day, April 12, 2013-Sunday, April

14, 2013. This year our preconfer-

ence is sure to cover many hot top-

ics as well as several sessions of

how to take care of ourselves as we

journey towards building relation-

ships and success with students.

` I hope that each one of you is

Karen Flad

PASNAP

President

The PASNAP Pulse

9

continued from page 2

another significant group of

stakeholders. Every August, the

nurses in my district prepare our

staff to handle classroom emer-

gencies during a presentation at

our general staff meeting. We

use humor, music, and bad act-

ing to make our message memo-

rable. This has become the most-

anticipated event of the first

week of school, and it has gener-

ated positive PR for the nurses.

Flu shot clinics, staff health

fairs, and CPR classes are other

ways to connect with this group.

Please do not neglect to de-

velop positive relationships with

the school board of directors of

your district. Attend school

board meetings and introduce

yourself to the board. Consider

developing an annual presenta-

tion for the board, featuring a

special program you have devel-

oped or perhaps a description of

the proactive methods you used

to achieve 100% immunization

compliance. They probably will

not know what their district

nurses have been up to if you do

not tell them. Connecting with

the community at large will

require you to reach out a

little more. If you are fortu-

nate enough to have a public

relations person on staff at

your district, do not hesitate to

make use of his or her exper-

tise. Try to include school

nurse information in the

newsletter your district mails

out to the community. Moni-

tor your local newspaper to

discover the reporters who

write about topics linked to

health and education, and

email them to pitch an idea

for a story about student

health and school nurses.

Alternatively, identify the

reporter who is covering your

district’s school board meet-

ing and establish a relation-

ship. Be sure to clear any

media contact with your dis-

trict administrators to prevent

any missteps or misunder-

standings. If you belong to a

local or county school nurse

organization, consider ap-

pointing a public relations

person within the group.

Letters to the editor are a

great way to get school nurs-

ing issues into the newspaper.

A letter can address an article

previously published or a cur-

rent health issue. Keep the

letter positive in tone, succinct,

and focused on a single topic to

increase the likelihood that it

will be published.

I know you are thinking,

“I’m way too busy to do all

those things!” I agree that do-

ing everything described above

might require you to clone

yourself! The point is to think

“public relations” as you do

what you do everyday. You

will find you have many oppor-

tunities to let the community

know all the ways school nurs-

es help kids succeed.

Susan is the CSN of an

elementary school in South

Central Region.. She currently

serves on the PASNAP Board

as Secretary and Public Rela-

tions Committee Chair. In her

practice she truly advocates for

school nursing, Susan has spo-

ken with parent groups, school

administrators, legislators and

the media to help promote the

message of what school nurses

do in order to make the needs

of our PA students known.

School Dental Record

Private Dentist Report

Order these new forms by the num-

ber of forms you need, not by num-

ber of packets. Order in increments

of 50 forms (i.e. 50, 100, 150, etc.)

Please deplete existing supply

before ordering new forms.

School Health forms may be or-

dered:

On-line (preferred):

www.health.state.pa.us/

schoolhealth, on the “School

Health Forms- Welcome”

page.

By Mail or Fax:

Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for

Beth Anne Bahn, RN, CSN, CRNP

Director Division of School Health

Beginning immediately, the January

2013 order form is the only order

form which will be accepted by

mail or fax. This form is available

on the school health website,

(www.health.state.pa.us/

schoolhealth) on the “ Publications

and Documents” page.

The only school health forms avail-

able to order are:

School Health Record (NEW-

1/1/13)

Physical Examination (School/

Private) (NEW– 1/1/13)

Progress Notes (NEW–1/1/13)

delivery. Place orders in advance of

anticipated need. If an order is not

received within 6 weeks, Do not reor-

der forms. Contact the Division of

School Health at (717) 787-2390.

(Please type or print legibly. Incom-

plete or unreadable order forms will

not be filled.)

Forms and manuals are available on

the School Health website

www.health.state.pa.us/schoolhealth.

Click on “Screening Programs” to

view/print screening manuals.

Click on “Examinations” to view/print

dental and physical examination

forms.

To order “Certificate of Immunization

cards Call the Division of Immuniza-

tions at 717-787-5681.

All PR is Local

Effective Immediately: Changes in School Health Forms

The new order form

is available at

www.health.state.pa.

us/schoolhealth) on

the “ Publications &

Documents” page.

“Think public

relations as you do

what you do

everyday.”, says

Kirkpatrick

Opportunities to have your message heard:

Back to school night

School Board and

Faculty Meetings

Daily interactions

with parents and other community members

Newsletters and

district websites

The PASNAP Pulse

10

Especially for fans of the hundred acre wood

Go ahead….

SMILE

PASNAP Pulse Staff

Kathy Verbel ...Editor

Cindy Stanton

Charity Istone

President

Karen Flad

President Elect Conference Coordinator

Cheryl Peiffer

Secretary Susan Kirkpatrick

Treasurer Melissa Bechtel

NASN Director Judy Morgitan

CSN at Large Mary Ann Canales

NP at Large Charity Istone

Past President Cheryl Mattern

Do you have a story or anecdote you are willing

to share with your peers?

-a heart warming narrative

-a student comment that made you to grin from ear to ear

-a wonderful resource in the community, on the web, or for your

smart phone

-a new way of doing something ( or an old way that still works

great!)

-an award or accomplishment that made you proud

Send to kjverbel@gmail.com “attention newsletter “

Who loves you, baby?

PASNAP!

PASNAP Executive Council

2012-2013

The PASNAP Pulse

Some humor can only

be best appreciated by a

nurse. These items were

found on Pinterest on a

nursing board.