Greetings! I hope everyone has had a good start to the school year and is staying healthy! I know many of you have been incredibly busy this school year with the addition of all of the activity that goes along with our current H1N1 outbreak. If you are working in your school district and county to provide or add to additional services, such as, augmenting the health department to give vaccine or do education. Please share this information with your regional representative so that we can get a sense of the contribution you are all making. Hang in there, and keep yourselves and your families healthy!

School Nurse Orientation: I gave an overview of school nurse licensure and OASN membership at the training session. I kept to the current licensure standards since no new standards are in place to discuss at this time. The crowd, in general, seemed to be aware of some of the house bill issues and supportive of our work. Renee passed out several membership forms and we also advertised the conference dates.

Statehouse Days: We plan to participate in ONA statehouse day on February 24, 2009. This day fills up fast and registration is closed at this time. I would ask that any school nurses who register, please contact Renee Besecker, our executive director, so that we can catch up with you and have you join us on some legislator visits.

Legislation: We have met with several legislators regarding current amendments and the possibility of corrections to current legislation (regarding the previous HB1 signed in to legislation by Governor Strickland; now the Biennial Budget for FY2010-2011). We will keep you updated if any changes occur. Additionally, Eva Garchar, Ann Connolly, and Nancy Mosca have been appointed to the advisory committee that will determine standards for the new licenses.

A new obesity bill was announced (HB373/ SB210). It involves increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, and monitoring BMI. There are many strategies within the bill to do this. OASN was not a part of developing this bill, and thus is not signed on. As an organization, we support those principles; however, there are a few issues to address in how those principles are applied in the school setting.

H1N1 activities: I have been interviewed by multiple media (television, radio, newspaper) and given positive feedback regarding school nurse role in H1N1 crisis, the importance of having school nurses in place to protect public health, and the challenges presented by having such a poor school nurse to student ratio in Ohio.

We have posted materials on the web site to assist school nurses in keeping up to date on H1N1 issues, and in communicating information to parents, students, and staff.

I sent a letter to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressing our concern that all staff working in an educational setting be added as a priority group for the H1N1 vaccine until it becomes widely available to all who wish to receive it. I also expressed support for Congressman Tiberi's request that law enforcement be added as well. This letter is posted on the web site in the H1N1 information area on our main page. If we receive a response, we will send it to you in an alert. The letter was posted November 20, 2009.

Addition of materials to web site: I asked our webmaster, Julie Kolde, to begin adding fact sheets that are being produced by The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Injury Research and Policy, to the web site. They offered to share these and they looked very user friendly. I hope you find them useful. We will continue to add them monthly or as often as they come out. Please click here to view them.

Respectfully submitted,

Sincerely,

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

OASN is often asked to sign on as a supporter of advocacy organizations. We are careful in our selection and investigate the organization's purpose and mission to make sure it aligns with OASN. We also check with NASN to see whether they have signed on with a particular organization. Here are some recent "sign ons":

Voices for Children, oral health advocacy - Virginia Black and Kate King will represent OASN on this committee whose purpose is to determine available oral health resources to children without insurance or ability to pay.

Drug-Free Action Alliance - The mission for this group is to fight the development of fruit-flavored, sweet, malt beverages, known as "alcopops" that are appealing to teens, especially teen girls. Alcopops is not an industry label for this drink, it is also known as RTD, Ready To Drink, and other acronyms. The group hopes to get the same restrictions on alcopops as distilled spirits, including taxation.

ONSA Annual Convention - Ohio Nursing Student Association had its annual convention this fall. OASN placed a full page ad to promote entry into school nursing.

In other news, the Ohio Association of Nurses (ONA) have developed a Healthcare Reform statement which represents a consensus of many nursing specialty areas in Ohio, OASN included. Please review it on the OASN website.

Finally, I wanted to share a letter of thanks that I received recently:

"Dear Ohio School Nurses Association,

Thank you for the prizes I won through your association at the Ohio School Board Association's Trade Show. I donated the blood pressure monitor to our school district (Ottawa-Glandorf). The OSU basket

Respectfully submitted,
Renee Besecker, RN, BSN, MS, NCSN

The Columbus Medical Association Foundation has notified us with their 3rd quarter report and we are pleased to announce that we now have $14,755.69 in our Endowment Fund. Recent contributions received from "angels" Vivian Carsten, Linda Hilvert, Bev Paulson, Kathleen Rowland and Carol Scott totaled $375.00.

School Nursing leaders continue to stress the importance of adequate research in our field to support the efficacy of its practice. They state that it must be based on evidence from carefully designed and controlled research studies. OASN supports this endeavor through the Carolyn Azbell Research Award. In an effort to ensure that children receive the most appropriate and effective care in the school setting, we also offer the Pat Baum Educational Scholarship on a yearly basis. This ensures that our school nurses remain highly qualified to deliver health services. Financial support from our members, relatives and friends helps OASN to address emerging and present day health issues seen in the schools.

As a donor, your "Bill of Rights" includes:

1. To be informed of OASN's mission, the intended use of donated funds and the capacity to use the funds for their intended purpose.
2. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the OASN Board and the Endowment Advisory Committee and to expect those persons to exercise prudent judgement in their stewardship repsonsibilities.
3. To have access to the most recent financial statements.
4. To be assured that donations will be used for the purpose for which they were given.
5. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
6. To be assured that information about donations is handled with respect and confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
9. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Thank you again to all of our "angels" who have donated in the past. Through these donations you have indeed proved that you care for kids and want to continue to strengthen the school nursing profession in Ohio.

Norma Nikkola, Endowment Chair

This research study was presented at ASHA's national conference in Denver October 28-31, 2009. It has also been submitted for publication in the Journal of School Health.

School Nurses' Perceptions and Practices of Assisting Students in ObtainingPublic Health Insurance
by

Megan L. Rickard, MS, CHES
Candace Hendershot, RN, PhD, NCSN, FASHA
Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, MPH, CHES
James H. Price, PhD, MPH, FASHA
Amy Thompson, PhD, CHES

BACKGROUND: In 2008, 6.6 million children were uninsured in the United States, two-thirds being eligible for but not enrolled in public health insurance programs like Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program. Health is affected by health insurance status and academics are affected by a student's health. Enrollment efforts have been facilitated in schools and are supported by the National Association of School Nurses as a role of school nurses.

METHODS: We assessed public school nurses' knowledge and beliefs of the impact of health insurance on youths; determined whether they or their schools were involved in helping students obtain public health insurance, and if so, how did they help students obtain such insurance. Additionally, we assessed the school nurses' perceived benefits of and barriers to helping students obtain public health insurance. A valid and reliable survey of 30 items was sent to a national random sample of 750 public school nurses listed in the National Association of School Nurse database. A two-wave mailing was utilized with a financial incentive.

RESULTS: Respondents (n=417, 56%) indicated that most (58%) had helped students enroll in public health insurance. The majority perceived that helping students obtain public health insurance would reduce school absenteeism, improve attention during school, reduce the number of students held back, reduce school drop outs and increase academic test scores. While the majority (53%) of nurses thought schools should assist students' parents with filling out public health insurance enrollment forms many expressed reservations about the process.

CONCLUSION: School nurses indicated health insurance is important for the health and academic success of students. These beliefs are congruent with state Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) directors' perceptions, yet few schools have taken on the role of facilitating student enrollment in public health insurance programs.

This research project received funds from the OASN Carolyn Azbell Research Award. Members can learn more about the research award here.

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) uses technology in many ways to connect with people and to streamline processes. In this article we are highlighting one ODH technology system that is helpful to both schools and ODH during this H1N1 influenza pandemic: the Statewide Immunization Information Registry known as "Impact SIIS." While you may already be familiar with Impact SIIS, read on to learn about the changes made to the system in response to the H1N1 pandemic.

Impact SIIS

Impact SIIS was originated to help Ohio meet the "Healthy People 2010" goals related to child immunization. Impact SIIS can be used by private and public health care providers to review a child's immunization record, record immunizations given, monitor their vaccine supplies and generate reminder notices for patients.

How does Impact SIIS help schools? Schools may submit the summary of pupil immunizations report required in Ohio Revised Code 3313.67 electronically on the Impact SIIS site by October 15th of each year. In addition, school nurses may access Impact SIIS to locate those difficult-to-find student immunization records. Statewide, school nurse access to these student immunization records prevented the exclusion of more than 1300 students from school for lack of immunization documentation in 2008-09.

During this H1N1 pandemic, schools have been identified as a priority setting for prevention, education and surveillance of the influenza virus. To assist schools with surveillance efforts, additional features have been added to the Impact SIIS. Notifying state health and education authorities regarding school closures has been automated. If a school closes due to influenza activity during this school year, the school is requested to enter school closure information into the Impact SIIS Web site by 9:00 am the day of the closure. ODH forwards that information to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There is no need to make an additional notification of school closure to ODE. The ODH and the CDC use this information for H1N1 surveillance. In addition, the data from this site are made available to your local health department and emergency management agency to aid in local response to the pandemic.

Another feature added to Impact SIIS for the H1N1 pandemic is H1N1 influenza vaccine management. Health care providers register on the Impact SIIS site to order H1N1 vaccine and record information about who received the H1N1 vaccine. Nationally, CDC is utilizing Impact SIIS to track all the H1N1 influenza vaccinations given so they will know who receives what type of vaccine and which drug company produced it.

As a health care consumer, you may go to the Impact SIIS Web site at https://h1n1vaccine.odh.ohio.gov/ to pre-register to receive the H1N1 vaccine. Some local health departments are utilizing this information to help them determine when and where to hold vaccination clinics. If your school has been contacted to host a school based vaccination clinic you may already have been asked by your local health department to use this pre-registration system as a way to plan for the amount of vaccine needed and to expedite paperwork. People who are pre-registered should take their registration paperwork with them to make the process smoother for them at the H1N1 vaccine clinic.

A Word about the Flu

H1N1 influenza was first identified in the United States and Ohio in April 2009 and has circulated continuously since then. As expected, when schools resumed in the late summer and early fall, a "second wave" of illness was seen as many children became ill. While a vaccine has been developed for H1N1 influenza, production has been slower than expected causing shortages. We are assured that there will eventually be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it, but patience is urged while high risk individuals receive the vaccine first.

There are other ways to avoid the flu, whether H1N1 or seasonal. Schools can help prevent the spread of flu by following routine cleaning procedures and providing students and staff with soap, water, paper towels and alcohol-based sanitizers and the time to use them. Students, families and staff should be provided developmentally appropriate education on respiratory etiquette and hand washing. Everyone should be encouraged to get enough rest, exercise and proper nutrition to maintain health.

Despite all of our precautions, it is likely some people will still become ill with the flu. Symptoms of H1N1 and seasonal flu are similar: headache, cough, body aches and fever. All individuals who become ill should remain home from school or work until they are fever-free (CDC defines fever as an oral temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher) for 24 hours without taking antipyretics.

While many districts have a policy requiring a healthcare provider's note to allow a student or employee back to work if a certain number of days are missed, the CDC is asking schools to relax those policies for this flu season. While most people will not need to visit their healthcare provider if they are ill with the flu, many of those healthcare providers have been overwhelmed by people requesting a note to return to school or work. These requests have bogged down the healthcare system and threaten the ability of healthcare providers to provide care for those who are very ill with the flu or other illnesses. Please consider relaxing this requirement in your school district for this flu season.

Technology can be beneficial to all of us if it is used appropriately. The Ohio Department of Health's Impact SIIS program provides a number of services to schools, both on a routine basis and during this year's H1N1 influenza pandemic. Using this system increases efficiencies and reduces duplication of reporting. Impact SIIS is an excellent way to integrate health issues into the educational environment.

Ann M. Connelly RN, MSN, NCSN
Supervisor, School Nursing Program

Janet Hyme-Householder RN, BSN, MPH
School Nurse Consultant - Emergency Preparedness

Ohio Department of Health
School & Adolescent Health
School Nursing Program
246 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
614-728-0386
FAX 614-644-9850
ann.connelly@odh.ohio.gov

COASN membership chairman Nancy Click is proud to announce that we now have 162 members. 154 are active members, 6 are associate members, and two are retired. We have members from 11 of our 14 counties.

Our COASN board met again on September 24. Lynn DiLoreto showed us the proposed application packet for the Research/Special Project Awards for 2009-2010. We decided since our first meeting won't be till October 7th to extend the deadline for applications from Nov. 15th to November 30th. The two winners of the $250 awards will be notified by December 15th . Debra Stoner announced she had spent $400 updating our COASN website.

A record 107 persons signed up to attend our first meeting of the year which was held Wednesday, October 7th at Villa Milano restaurant/conference center in northern Columbus. However only 99 actually attended. We received 1.3 CE's for attending: " A Local, State and National Update on Pandemics, H1N1 and the Impact on School Nurses". The presenters of this very timely topic were Debbie Coleman, RN, MS, CNS, Assistant Health Commissioner and Director of Nursing at the Columbus Public health Department and Debbie Strouse, RN, BSN, MED, NCSN, Columbus City School Nurse and President of the Ohio Association of School Nurses. During our business meeting prior to the program, Board members were introduced. Lynn DiLoreto informed all about the rules for applying for the awards discussed above. Also 5 names were drawn for the free conference fee to our annual OASN conference if the original winner can't attend. At this time Liz Jones has the option to go and if she can't go there are 2 left of the 6 drawn. The drawing for the registration fee to our 2010 NASN conference in Chicago will be at our January 25th meeting. You have to be a member of COASN to be entered in the drawing. Please take the time right now to go to our website and download the membership form if you aren't already a member. Members will get an email soon with registration details for our January meeting as well as many other timely emails with information pertinent to your school nursing career.

Goals for 2009-2010:
1. To offer three CE programs to COASN membership.
2. To provide an application process and award 2 COASN members health related special projects grants.
3. To promote current school nursing practice through meetings, programs, CE's and networking.

Addendum: COASN treasurer sent a $25 check to OASN towards the OASN basket for the state school board meeting.

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

NEOASN Board members can be contacted by going to our website, neoasn.org, and following the link to the "Executive Board".

President - Deb Weisbarth
President-elect - Kris Purdy
Vice presidents - Maureen Barrett and Rita Roth
Secretary - Pat Kovac
Treasurer - Lisa Mason
OASN Rep. - Mary Massey
Past president - Amy Anter
Newsletter - Susan Inscore
Membership - Mary Ellen Shannon

NEOASN held their Fall General Meeting at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health office on October 21, 2009. President Deb Weisbarth opened the meeting at 5:50 pm with a warm welcome. A detailed treasurer's report was given by Lisa Mason. Mary Ellen Shannon reported we have 21 lifetime/retired members and only 50 renewals, so far, of active members. This is much lower than last year at this time. Newsletter chair, Susan Inscore, reminded the members to notify Mary Ellen Shannon of any change in e-mail address. She needed to mail paper copies of newsletters due to inaccurate e-mail addresses.

Names were drawn for scholarships to help with expenses of attending OASN and NASN conferences. Susan Inscore's name was drawn for the OASN conference in Dayton next March and Lynne Distlehorst's name was selected for the NASN conference in Chicago next June. Four back-up names were also drawn for each conference.

Debbie Weisbarth introduced Life Servers representative Todd Ickes and Doug Huffman. Life Servers of Northern Ohio offers AED resource services. They offer consultation, equipment and supplies. The school nurses had many questions and concerns about outdated equipment and the costs of batteries and supplies. Representatives provided their contact information.

Maureen Barrett introduced the Program speaker Judi Fischer, MA, LPCC-S from Lakeshore Educational & Counseling Services. Her topic was: THE SCHOOLROOM OF LIFE: HELPING CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS WITH GRIEF & LOSS IN SCHOOLS.

The NEOASN Board met the following week, on November 4th, and discussed the possibility of hosting the NASN presentation "Managing Asthma Triggers" on Saturday, January 30. With a substantial continuing education offering, we hope to increase member attendance. A Spring meeting is being planned for the end of April.

Mary Massey
NE Rep. to OASN

Excitingly, the OASN Annual Conference will be held in SWOSNA territory. Save the date for "Healthy Schools: Directed by and Starring Ohio School Nurses" set to debut March 12-14, 2010 at the Dayton Marriott Hotel.

The 10/08/09 SWOSNA General meeting featured "Tween" Safety presented by Jessica Saunders of Children's Medical Center/SafeKids of Greater Dayton at the Holiday Inn by the Dayton Mall. The next SWOSNA General meeting will be held on 1/14/10. Further details about the meeting are to come via your email and will be listed on the SWOSNA website at www.swosna.org

In an effort to improve communication and membership, SWOSNA started using the "One-Call Now" system to alert its members of upcoming events or cancellations. SWOSNA has also been looking at other ideas to help reach out and serve existing members, increase overall membership and increase attendance at meetings. If you have any suggestions to help increase membership or reach out to members please contact Judy Ganguly at judyganguly@hotmail.com

SWOSNA Public Relations officer, Andrea Smalls is looking for stories about co-workers who are SWOSNA members that have touched lives or have done something inspirational. Please send these stories to Andrea at andrea.smalls@sbcglobal.net so we can help spread the word about the great things our members are doing.

SWOSNA just recently filled the Historian position by Mikki Lukens. If you have pictures, stories, or other items from old SWOSNA meetings or events that you would like to share , please contact Mikki at Michele.lukens@wright.edu so we can add them to our collection.

The SWOSNA Ways & Means position is currently vacant and anyone interested in serving this position may contact Crystal Thorton at Thornton4@aol.com or Jeanie Bochenek at jeanine.bochenek@wright.edu Judy Marrinan has given her time so graciously over the years to SWOSNA. Following her role as SWOSNA president, she also filled the Ways & Means chair position with enthusiasm and creative ideas. Thank you to Judy for all of her dedication, hard work, and spunky spirit.

Lastly, another SWOSNA member stepped up to the plate to help serve Ohio's children. Dawn Abbott is serving as the OASN Membership chair.

Wishing everyone a safe and healthy Holiday Season!!

Respectfully Submitted,

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

Northwest conducted a board meeting on August 27, 2009. President - Beth Roth
President Elect - Nanci Murdock
Secretary - Erica Sphychalski
Treasurer - Alice Bruning
Past President - Denise Kaufman
Newsletter - Laurie Gladieux
NW Rep to OASN - Marie Kraus
Membership - Ann Cipriani
Ways and Means - Mary Schwartz

The treasurer listed balances in checking and CDs. There was discussion on a donation from NWOASN to OASN for legislative efforts. The meeting minutes from the May indicated that the membership approved a $500.00 donation to OASN for legislative efforts. The treasurer will give Marie Kraus the check on October 28th to present at the next OASN board meeting.

Membership reported that it is renewal time. Membership is $20.00 for active nurses and $10.00 for retired nurses. Reminder postcards and membership forms will go out with the September's newsletter.

Ways and means reported that t-shirts and bears are still available to sell. Discussion was held on opportunities/places to sell them.

The newsletter will be sent in September and include the membership form and registration for the fall conference.

New Business:
Denise Kaufman is participating in the ADA Walk for Diabetes on Sunday, October 4th. She has an ADA web page which will be posted in the September newsletter. She will be walking on the behalf of school nurses and encourages other school nurses to join her team.

Denise Kaufman was congratulated on her new position as Public Relations Chairperson for OASN.

Nanci Murdock reported on the upcoming fall conference for NWOASN. The conference is scheduled for October 28, 2009 and will be held at the Stony Ridge club in Bowling Green, Ohio. The board had discussed moving the meetings around the membership area and this will be a different venue than the past few years. The continuing education topic is Marfan Syndrome. The fall general membership meeting will be conducted during dinner on October 28, 2009.

Respectfully submitted,
Marie Kraus, NW Rep

Officers are:

President Tammy Lorbach
Vice President Rachel Klaiber
Treasurer Angie Lewis
Secretary Lori Moore
State Rep. Annette Scott

South East has not had their Fall Meeting as of yet.

--Treasurer Report: There is currently $396.00 in the SEOASN account. Membership agreed at last meeting to increase their dues to $10.00 year.

--Ohio School Board Conference Basket - SE region will donate funds towards a basket for the Ohio School Board Conference. Annette to deliver to board meeting.

--Secretary - Lori Moore has volunteered to fill the secretary position.

THANK YOU Lori!

--There have been new Nurses in the South East Region, some from last year:

Rachel Blankenship - Dawson Bryant Schools
Diane Corn - Fairland Schools
Melissa Buchanan - Fairland Schools
Toni Barnette - Ironton City Schools
Kathy Kennard - Logan Hocking
Autumn Risner - Eastern Pike
Beth Shaffer - Clay local Schools - Scioto
Heather Johnson - Portsmouth Local - Scioto
Kristi Powell - Meigs Local
Melissa Hesson

We WELCOME You!

Submitted,
Annette Scott, SE Rep

What Do School Nurses Do After Retirement? They Join the Peace Corps!

Many of you probably know Gail Pohlman (SE). She practiced school nursing in Gallia County and had pretty eventful career for 30 years with 10 schools to manage. Gail was President of the Ohio Association of School Nurses in 2005-06 and Ohio School Nurse of the Year in 2003-04 and runner up for National School Nurse of the Year. Gail decided it was time for her to retire from school nursing in 2006 and return to camp nursing in Gypsum, CO and make it a full time position.