I hope everyone had a great summer and is energized to start work with our students and families again! OASN has been very busy this summer. I will highlight just a few points and ask you to refer to other information in this newsletter.

Legislation: We continued to work and advocate regarding house bill one until the Governor signed the final version on July 17. All members received an alert in August regarding the final outcome. Please see the article in this newsletter detailing the outcome. As you will see in that article, there is more work to do.

Survey: OASN survey was completed with much thanks to ALL who participated, especially Nancy Mosca, the regional reps, Renee Besecker, and Eva Garchar. At the November board meeting, a work group will consider some format of posting survey data on our web site so that all members can have access. This survey gives a very clear picture of exactly who is providing health services to students in our public schools. Additionally, Nancy Mosca created a first place, award winning poster presentation of the survey results at the national Conference in Boston. Look for a possible article in JOSN in the near future.

I attended the NASN conference in Boston. We had quite a few Ohio nurses attend, and even a first timer. During the conference, I spoke on a panel regarding H1N1 flu and what occurred and worked in our school. Look for many changes with the NASN web site. It was shared at the President's luncheon that many areas will begin to be accessible only by members. So, this is one more reason to keep that membership up. Look for more information on this as it becomes available.

I sent a letter to the NASN research section in support of a grant NASN is seeking through CDC to connect our members to evidence based immunization resources and also tailor existing CDC materials to school nurses.

Gabi Karpowicz held a class to update and train planners and reviewers for the OASN continuing education providership on August 5th. This is an excellent service that OASN provides. If your region was unable to send at least a planner or two, another opportunity may occur around conference time.

Thank you for all that you do every day to help preserve the health and wellness of all of Ohio's children and families.

Sincerely,

Deborah Strouse, RN, BSN, MEd, NCSN
President, Ohio Association of School Nurses

Baker Nonprofit Management Becomes New Legislative Advocate

Introducing Carrie Baker and Heidi Welch Of Baker Nonprofit Management, LLC : Advocates for OASN

Baker Nonprofit Management, LLC was founded by Carrie Baker, President, in May of 2008 after several years consulting and contracting with non-profits and associations. The firm provides several services, including advocacy, event planning and management and association/non-profit Board and membership leadership and support. It's three employees, Carrie Baker, Heidi Welch (Vice President of Grassroots Strategies) and Christine Titran (Director of Administrative Operations) work tirelessly to ensure associations like OASN and other clients have the advocacy tools they need to succeed in developing and maintaining positive relationships with the Ohio General Assembly and other decision makers.

Carrie and Heidi also bring strategic alliances to their client base. By working with other school health groups including the Ohio Association of School Based Health Care, Voices for Ohio's Children (supporting the Covering Kids and Families Conference and the Ohio Afterschool Network) as well as serving on the Steering, Advocacy and Executive Committees of Ohio Action for Healthy Kids and holding memberships in the American School Health Association and the National Assembly on School Based Health Care, the Baker Nonprofit Management team connects OASN to other initiatives and collaboratives and supplies a wealth of knowledge in school health and education initiatives.

Prior to joining Baker Nonprofit Management, LLC in June of 2008, Heidi served as Senior Legislative Aide to Rep. Jim Raussen (R), Cincinnati, leading his efforts with state health care reform in the 127th General Assembly. Through this work, she first met both OASN and Carrie Baker. Heidi has also planned several political events and fund-raisers and continues to lead Baker Nonprofit Management's state advocacy work. Heidi received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the Ohio State University and is considering attaining her Master's in Public Policy.

Previous to starting the firm, Carrie worked for the Ohio Nurses Association as Director of Marketing and Public Relations as well as for the Ohio Manufacturers Association and a downtown Columbus lobbying firm. She attained her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation for the American Society of Association Executives in January 2008 and also received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the Ohio State University. Carrie is considering a Master's in Public Health in the near future.

Carrie and Heidi signed a contract with OASN in April as legislative consultants and advocacy experts, bringing not only their working knowledge of the state's political system but their alliances with other health care association entities, including nursing. Their blend of knowledge positively facilitated our working relationship as they guided OASN through the political intricacies of the school nurse and school nursing practice issues in House Bill 1.

Carrie and Heidi further demonstrated their expertise in a presentation on advocacy at the OASN Board of Director's August Retreat. OASN is benefiting not only from Carrie and Heidi's consultations but teaching us in the process. In addition to regular communications updating OASN on further work related to HB 1, Heidi prepares an e-newsletter, NEWS CLIPS, on current legislative activity for OASN. OASN is pleased to have Carrie, Heidi , and Christine on board! Both Carrie and Heidi live in Columbus. Baker Nonprofit Management Offices are housed in LeVeque Tower, downtown Columbus.

OASN Signs On (Again):

The Advanced Practice Nurses (OAAPN) have asked OASN to again support their legislation which gives APNs prescriptive authority for Schedule II drugs. A benefit of the passage of this legislation would be to minimize delays for students requiring a Schedule II drug in order to function optimally in school. HB 206 is the new designation for this legislation introduced in the 128th General Assembly.

Renee C Besecker, RN, BSN, MS, NCSN
Executive Director
Ohio Association of School Nurses
PO Box 150
Tipp City, OH 45371
Phone 937-667-0850
Fax 937-667-3366
email: exdirector@oasn.org

Wow! What an honor it has been to advocate on the state level for school nurses! Renee Besecker and Deb Strouse have done an amazing job working for all of us! Meetings with legislators and members from the governor's office, learning the legislative process, working on amendment language, giving testimony, and sharing a grassroots advocacy campaign with our tremendous OASN members leaves me with an experience I'll never forget.

In 2010, we will have open positions on the OASN executive board. Please be thinking what special gifts and knowledge that you can bring to OASN by serving our organization. Open positions for next year include President-elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. In addition, your own regions will be looking for members to serve as OASN Representatives. With a legislative mandate for school nurses, this will be an exciting time to represent our school nurse members!

Be thinking about it.


Best regards,

Eva Garchar

Where School Nursing Ended up in the Governor's signed version of HB 1
Licensure of School Nurses

Language states: Sec. 3319.221- The state board of education shall adopt rules establishing the standards and requirements for obtaining a school nurse license and a school nurse wellness coordinator license. At minimum, the rules shall require that an applicant for a school nurse license be licensed as a registered nurse under Chapter 4723 of the Revised Code.

OASN advocated for the elimination of a perceived two- tiered school nursing system, and the reversion to current school nurse language. This was not the end result. However, our main priority was the elimination of the requirement that included one RN per district and one LPN per organizational unit (usually equivalent to a building). The LPN language was removed from the final version. This ensures that school RN's including public health RNs are the providers of health services in schools, not LPN's.

School Health Services Advisory Council

Language states: Establishes the nine member School Health Services Advisory Council to make recommendations on:
(1) The content of courses of instruction required to obtain a school nurse license or a school nurse wellness coordinator license;
(2) Best practices for the use of school nurses and school nurse wellness coordinators in providing health and wellness programs for students and employees of public schools.

Members of the council: Sec. 3319.70

(1) A registered nurse licensed under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code who also is licensed as a school nurse pursuant to section 3319.221 or former section 3319.22 of the Revised Code and is a member of the Ohio association of school nurses, appointed by the governor;
(2) A representative of the board of nursing, appointed by the governor;
(3) A representative of the department of health who has expertise in school and adolescent health services, appointed by the director of health;
(4) A representative of the department of education, appointed by the superintendent of public instruction;
(5) A representative of the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents, appointed by the chancellor;
(6) A representative of a nurse education program, appointed by the chancellor;
(7) A representative of the department of development who has expertise in workforce development, appointed by the director of development;
(8) A representative of the department of job and family services who has expertise in child and adolescent care, appointed by the director of job and family services;
(9) A representative of the public, appointed by the governor.

OASN will have an important role on this advisory council, which is a positive as the council will be making important decisions on course instruction and best practices for school nursing.

Administration of Prescription Drugs to Students

Language states: Sec. 3313. 713 - Effective July 1, 2011, only employees of the board who are licensed health professionals, or who have completed a drug administration training program conducted by a licensed health professional and considered appropriate by the board, may administer to a student a drug prescribed for the student.

OASN advocated that the word "successfully" be added before completed, a somewhat technicality that was probably overlooked in conference committee. OASN plans to work with state leaders to help develop administration program content and successful completion requirements to maintain health and safety for Ohio's students.

The full text of HB 1 can be found at:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText128/128_ HB_ 1_EN_N.pdf

Our work is not done!
As you can see, we had some victories, but our work must continue to ensure that these new provisions are carried out in a way that ensures Ohio's students continue to receive the highest quality nursing care in schools. Stay tuned, continued OASN advocacy to come!

Thanks!

Deborah L. Strouse, RN BSN, MEd, NCSN President, Ohio Associtaion of School Nurses

Emergency Preparedness: Lessons Learned from H1N1, Spring 2009

On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization raised the H1N1 influenza alert level to phase six, thus declaring a global outbreak or pandemic. While Ohioans have been hearing about H1N1 since April 2009, the pandemic status has reminded us of the importance of assessment, planning, training and evaluating schools' emergency plans.

Health experts say the late spring outbreak was a "trial run" for what might return in the fall. How did your district pass the trial run? If your school emergency preparedness plans are needed-whether for H1N1 or any other emergency-- we hope you have done your homework and have a working plan in place for your building that is relevant to the needs of your district. Let's examine emergency preparedness a little more closely.

Monitoring

Monitoring relates to the assessment or mitigation stage of emergency preparedness. As a school nurse, you and your district planners must ask and answer questions such as:

Our new COASN board met on June 3rd, 2009 at La Chatalaine restaurant in Dublin. Our meeting was led by the president, Carol Lynne O'Neil. Nancy Click, membership chair announced we ended the year with 156 members. We are adding several different sections to our membership form. One addition will include a section to indicate if the member is retiring this year, so this person can be honored at one of our

We are trying to keep our dinner meetings to $25 but it is difficult as prices have increased. Debra Judy, vice- president, accepted ideas for meeting topics and speakers.

Our first meeting of the school year will be Wed., October 7th.
5:00- Registration and Social Time
5:30- Dinner (Choose between a pepper vegetarian lagsana or meat lasonga )
6:15-6:45 - Business Meeting

After the treasurer report, we voted to give $1000 to offset the CEU programs (so we don't have to charge members more than $25). Also we voted to once again give a lucky member registration for the OASN annual meeting at our first meeting via a drawing. Additionally, we voted to hold a drawing to give an NASN registration to a lucky member who attends our second meeting. We will wait to hear from OASN if

We are proud to say Joan Keith, Upper Arlington City Schools has been selected for OASN School Nurse of the Year! This was announced at our OASN board retreat this summer and her local paper has already interviewed her! Joan really desires this title and she has been a great mentor to me over the last 16 years! She will be honored at the OASN banquet at our Spring OASN conference. Please plan on attending to

Respectfully submitted,
Ann Underwood, R.N. B.S.N.
COASN Rep. to OASN

Newly elected board members of NEOASN met at the Wild Ginger restaurant on July 10 for a planning meeting. NEOASN President, Deb Weisbarth, began with welcome and introduction of new members.

The treasurer's report showed that we are still in strong financial standing, but that our expenses for the two meetings last year exceeded the meeting fees. The board agreed that the meetings and CNE's are a benefit of membership and should be subsidized for those who participate. It was also reported that a check for $1000 to OASN to support increased legislative efforts had been sent as voted on by members at the spring meeting. An additional check in the amount of $100 was sent to the OASN Education and Research Endowment Fund to honor Aurelia Barney for being Ohio School Nurse of the Year for 2008-2009.

The membership report showed a slight decrease this year. We acknowledge that we are a large geographic region and the distance to travel to meetings is great. Possible ideas to increase involvement and membership were discussed: rotate meeting locations, find out where nurses are currently getting CNE's, focus recruitment at the districts with licensed nurses that haven't joined, and possibly offer an additional meeting in January with a significant topic, possibly one of the NASN programs.

Legislative efforts this year increased public knowledge of the health needs of students and the role of school nurses, but due to the lack of state finances, we have not made headway in increasing services to underserved students.

Meetings for this year are proposed for an October evening and Saturday morning in April with the dates pending scheduling with speakers. Membership forms will be updated and sent out with a letter from the president.

Mary Massey
NE Rep. to OASN

The SWOSNA board meeting was on August 6, 2009 at the Children's of Dayton Advocacy Center. The Board was busy coming up with some extra fun ideas to keep things interesting at the upcoming meetings for the year. The first general SWOSNA meeting is planned for the week of October 5th with the location to be announced. If you are not receiving emails about SWOSNA, please contact Jeanie Bochenek at southwestrep@oasn.org .

Judy Marrinan has stepped up to lead the Ways & Means Committee. If you would still like to serve on the SWOSNA board, we are looking for someone to fill the Historian position. Anyone interested in this position may contact Jeanie Bochenek at southwestrep@oasn.org .

Thank you to all the SWOSNA members who wrote letters and had fellow co-workers write letters to our legislators regarding HB 1. If you have not had a chance to follow up with a thank you, please remember to do so. It's not too late!

Lastly, SWOSNA is looking for members to volunteer with their time and talents for the upcoming 2010 OASN conference to be held March 12-14 at the Dayton Marriot. If you are able to help, please contact Kathy O'Dell at godell2@woh.rr.com

Respectfully Submitted,

Jeanie M. Bochenek, RN, MS, NCSN
Southwest Representative to OASN

NWOASN conducted a membership meeting following our spring banquet and continuing education event in May 2009. The CE topic was "Eating Right for Health and Wellness" which was presented by J. Brennan, PhD - Director of Behavioral Sciences at UT School of Medicine.

New officers were inducted:

President - Beth Roth
President Elect - Nanci Murdock
Secretary - Erica Spychalski
Treasurer- Alice Bruning
Membership - Ann Cipriani
Ways & Means: Mary Schwartz
OASN Rep: Marie Kraus
Website: Jan Overmeyer

In new business, the board discussed supporting OASN and donating money for legislative issues. The membership voted and approved a donation of $500.00 to OASN which will be transferred next year.

Denise Kaufman encouraged promoting School Nursing through community events such as the Diabetes walk, etc. Members were encouraged to notify Denise of any upcoming events and she would organize interested participants.

The NW board also met on August 27, 2009 to plan events for 2009-2010.

Respectfully submitted,
Marie Kraus, NW Rep

On August 12th, a Gold Standard Planning Meeting for Congressional District 17 was held at the Trumbull County ESC. Representatives of many public and school health, medical, legal, and educational disciplines had been invited to explore the best way to re-stimulate the true Coordinated School Health , in our district's schools. Dr. Susan Wooley, Director of ASHA, chaired the meeting. She had previously met with Congressman Tim Ryan, who believes that funding resources would be available to districts, if there were a more cohesive effort to establish programming. The meeting was spent defining real outcomes and skill development, for improved health of our children and their families, so that future meetings might focus on "best practice" interventions. Further discussion pinpointed other stakeholders that need to be included, in order to promote acceptance of programming and policy development in the schools. Dr, Wooley will extend further invitation to these stakeholders, as well as develop a list serve for dialogue. No date was set for our next meeting, but our deadline is February 2010.

Karen Kunkle, BSN,MEd., NCSN, CHES.

Myriah Carroll, a Greenville High School student, was awarded the National Lifesaving Award of Merit by the American Red Cross for performing CPR on an unresponsive person in a parking lot outside of the Arby's restaurant where she worked. She was the only person among several bystanders to step forward, recalling the steps for CPR she had learned in a health class in her sophomore year taught by school nurse, Kathy O'Dell (SW). The man who was given CPR came back to the restaurant weeks later to thank her. Myriah stepped forward because "something needed to be done. I was taught that and I did it". The award Myriah received recognizes those who have taken Red Cross training and used it to sustain or save a life. (Article taken from the "Neighbors Section" of the Dayton Daily News for June 11 - 19th, 2009)

Myriah now wishes to pursue a career as a paramedic! We do influence on the career choices that our students make!

Betty Lou Mantzell, a school nurse with more than 40 years of nursing and supervisory experience in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, received the Alumni Association President's Award from Case Western University School of Nursing at an alumni banquet in May 2009.

Betty, a Supervisor of Health Services for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District from 1986-1998, she currently provides nursing services to students at John Hay High School and Buhrer Elementary School.

Betty is also a former recipient of the Consortium for Healthy and Immunized Children in 1998 for contributions in championing immunization initiatives to improve the health of greater Cleveland's children.