Public School Nurses Serve During Pandemic
Public school nurses are valuable sources for updated and dependable health information in our schools. Nurses helped create pandemic response plans and safety guidelines during student meal distributions. In addition, they offered advice and support for physical and mental health and wellness in district communication and websites.
Laurie Combe, president of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), said school nurses attempted to “address anxiety with factual information.” Combe spent 25 years in Klein ISD, and currently she teaches professional development for school nurses. She was a collaborator on the NSBA’s COVID-19: Preparing for Widespread Illness in Your School Community, A Legal Guide for School Leaders.
Ms. Combe credits school nurses with voluntarily assisting the health department in virus contact investigations. They identified COVID symptoms and conducted interviews in order to verify contact transmissions of the virus. Nurse Combe explains that school reentry plans should include information on the stigmatization of infected individuals. She wants to provide advice on how to prevent that from happening. Furthermore, she predicts we may be dealing with COVID-19 for a while. This means she wants to help ensure that schools are safe and students and nurses are protected.
The health and safety of our students are of the utmost importance to district administration and school healthcare staff. Public schools provide health services to children in hopes of keeping kids safe, healthy, and ready to learn at full potential!
