Everyday Heroes

School Nurse Day 2024: Encouraging the Next Generation of School Nurses

We want to express our sincere appreciation for the incredible efforts of school nurses. Every day, you play a vital role in ensuring the health and well-being of students in our schools. From administering medications and treating injuries to providing emotional support and promoting healthy habits, your dedication knows no bounds.

This past week, we asked you to share your experiences, advice, and best practices to help empower the next generation of school nurses. Your responses gave us even more insight into how essential you are for nurturing students’ health and well-being.

Below are just some of the submissions we received.

What Would You Like to Share with Future School Nurses?

“Each student is unique.  Each student has their own story and their own history.  Even the frequent flyers are searching for something. It may be your touch, tone of your voice, or calmness of your clinic that brings them some comfort and peace. The days get hectic, but you are making a difference in each of these students’ lives.” – Dawn P.

“In school nursing, compassion with consistency is key. Each student that walks into your office has a story beyond the one that brought them to you. Be kind, be empathetic, and listen to them. Follow up on the issues that you see, call home when you have concerns, and use your resources. Sometimes all it takes is one person to take the extra step to make a huge difference in a child's life, and that one person could be you!” – Casey R.

“Get to know the students and staff outside of the health office. Take some time visiting the cafeteria during lunchtime, show up at the student’s after school activities, volunteer to be on committees. We are all so busy every day, but every so often, leave the office (even five minutes  every other week), to walk around and be present in the school. Getting to know the community you work in gives a whole new perspective to the students you care for.” – Katie P.

“School nursing is a specialty with many unique challenges and rewards. Realize that you will not know everything on day one, day 50, or day 2,000. Trust your training and experience. Connect with other school nurses, mentor when you can, and ask for help when you need it. You got this!” – Rebekkah D.

“When you are feeling overwhelmed between paperwork, screenings, and students coming into the office, take time to reground yourself. Remind yourself daily why you are here and who you are here to help.” -Alison S.

“Be patient, calm, and listen.  Sometimes we feel hurried to get through a checklist of "must-dos" and may miss an opportunity to impact a student's life or academic success.” – Colleen H.

Posted in School Health and Everyday Heroes

School Health Services Give Children a Bright Future

Shared with permission from the Healthy Schools Campaign.


Mary Ellen Barkman, the Medicaid Coordinator for Pinellas County Schools, the eighth largest school district in Florida, is passionate about their vision screening program. “We’re saving children’s lives,” she says.


Spot Vision ScreenerFor instance, last year, there was a new student in the district, a recent immigrant from Egypt who spoke only Arabic. Her teacher struggled to reach her and felt that beyond the language issue, the girl must have some cognitive problems. As part of her special education evaluation, she was tested with one of the district’s new Spot Vision Screeners. This quick screen showed that she had a serious muscle problem that caused triple vision. After she received the specialized prism glasses she needed and hearing aids for her hearing loss, she was at grade level within a year. “Without those screenings she may not have been able to reach her fullest potential,” Barkman says. “With help, children can have such a bright future.”


The district’s investment in spot screeners is the result of careful analysis of the district’s needs. Several years ago, school health services managers reported to Barkman that there was an issue with the district’s protocol for vision screenings. They were inefficient and time consuming, and they simply didn’t work for students who couldn’t talk or who had trouble sitting still or following instructions—often the very students who needed accurate screenings the most. The district researched many options and settled on Spot Vision Screeners, which work by taking a picture of the child’s eye and using it to screen for visual acuity, muscle imbalance and tumors. In fact, in the first year of using the screeners, the district identified a serious tumor in a student that had been missed by his primary care doctor. The machine creates a printout for parents that explains any follow-up services their child needs, and the district has formed partnerships with a vision van, local optometrists and the Lion’s Club to provide services for children who need follow-up services after screenings. And because the screeners are so easy to use, the district’s vision teams can make much more efficient use of their nurses to follow up with students who fail the screenings, rather than having to do the screenings themselves.


Barkman and the Pinellas County Schools team have woven together many different funding streams to build this unique program including Medicaid funding for the actual Spot Vision Screeners. Most of the funding comes from effective maximization of Medicaid billable services, such as Physical and Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Nursing, Social Work, Psychology and Transportation and Administrative Claiming. Half of the reimbursement dollars are given to her program to spend on priorities they identify. The other half goes to operating to offset salary costs of billing providers. Because of this, Barkman works hard with her practitioners to make sure they are billing for all eligible services and maximizing Administrative Claiming reimbursement. They even developed their own electronic documentation system to make this easier. Over five years, the district has increased Medicaid revenue by $1.7 million to increase resources for students.


What’s next for Pinellas County? One priority is developing a micro-credentialing system for the one-on-one assistants who work with children with multiple challenges, to give them skills for physically transferring the children, feeding, seizure monitoring, CPR and social supports. Medicaid will support an increase in their salary after achieving the credential, which will allow them to be Medicaid-claimable health assistants. This invests Medicaid dollars directly into something that meets the needs of some of the district’s most vulnerable students.


“The key is out of the box thinking,” Barkman says, “and the box has gotten smaller.” She continues to look for ways to leverage whatever funding is available. “It’s such a blessing to be able to help a child reach their fullest potential. It’s important that people understand how important the Medicaid dollars are to that,” Barkman says.

Posted in School Health, Hearing Screening, Early Childhood, Vision Screening and Everyday Heroes