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What unique strengths, skills, expertise, or resources does your specialty area bring to nursing and patient care? What are strengths of nursing profession and your specialty organization?

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From your specialty area/organization perspective what weaknesses or limitations within nursing practice, education, or workforce structures are hindering progress or consistency across settings?

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What emerging trends, innovations, practice healthcare landscape, or policy shifts present opportunities to elevate nursing practice and influence health outcomes?

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What external factors—such as practice setting, competition, regulation, or resource constraints—hinders your specialty area? What is a threat to your organization’s growth or influence?

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Strengths. Legislation is trying to catch up with the needs of young children.

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As a school nurse my "client" is the school community. Taking care of acute illness or injury and chronic illness on a daily basis requires the strength of triage skills, complete assessment skills and independent decision making. Collaboration with parents, administrators and other community resources in order to effectively give the best care for the student. Educating students on their health to be self-advocates in order for them to be more independent in their own health care as they reach adulthood.

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Feeling isolated is a big weakness for a school nurse. Since we are not teachers, or administrators but working in a school our needs tend to be overlooked. There's a saying "you don't need the school nurse until you do"--that highlights us 'not being thought of' until there is an medical emergency or urgent medical need for a student. We are integral in the school community and need to be involved in decision making for the school community as a whole not only "when needed".

Decision making for policy and procedure, often times decisions are being made for our health rooms without our input. These decisions are made by administrators that have no health care background but our 'department' falls under the a category of "student services" and that director is usually someone with a teaching background not in health care. We do have a Medical Director but often times, that director is not well-versed in school health and is making decisions that make sense for a doctor's office but may not translate for a school health office.

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Having Emergency Response Team drills as we have Fire Drills and Shelter in Place drills. I find this is emerging with school nurses being in the forefront to have well planned procedure so there is not a panic. Community emergency preparedness includes nurses.

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As a school nurse, school shootings are a threat.

I have experienced being verbally abused first hand by parents. I have not experienced physical threats but know that is a real possibility every time we have intruder drills.

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CT's qualifications for being a school nurse have not been updated since 1982. Over the past 40+ years, the physical and behavioral student & family needs have increased exponentially. Legislation needs to address the essential role school nurses provide.

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Nursing professional organizations raise our voices! Consider joining CNA & ASNC if you are a school nurse. Together we can do so much more!