Weekly Digest from NASN View as Webpage Weekly Digest NASN news & updates February 4, 2021 NASN News and Highlights See more. Upcoming Events See more. Weekly Digest Archive See past issues. Follow Us on Social ‌ ‌ ‌ President's Message As we know, February is American Heart Month, a time when we focus on cardiovascular health. And within February, the first Friday of the month is Wear Red Day. This day is when we wear red to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and save lives. Everyone is at risk for heart disease, and i's important to understand the factors that increase those risks for heart disease. I encourage you all to take a look at the healthy living tips the Go Red for Women website suggests we take. These healthy living tips apply to everyone, so let's all try to implement them and also support the others in your lives and pass this information along to them. Laurie Combe, MN, RN, NCSN NASN President BETTER HEALTH. BETTER LEARNING. ™ NASN News and Highlights See Who is Running in the 2021 NASN Election Become familiar with the candidates stepping forward to lead NASN. All candidates have completed the nominating committee process. In the upcoming election, NASN members will select a president-elect, secretary/treasurer, and a nominating committee member. The election will be conducted online from March 15, 2021 to April 15, 2021. CANDIDATES Paid advertisement NASN’s Digital Poster Hall Launches With 3.5 Free Hours of CNE NASN’s Digital Poster hall features a wide variety of topics ranging from creating a school nurse lending library to supporting substitute school nurses, immunization compliance for children of ESL families to mental health continuing education preferences. Here is your chance to collect up to 3.5 CNE Contact Hours (each completed poster is worth .25 CNE Contact Hours).Watch the presentation, complete the assessment and evaluation, and collect the certificate. These posters were originally presented at Virtual NASN2020 and are now available in the NASN Learning Center. LEARN MORE Check Out SAGE/NASN Member Research Center NASN and SAGE have teamed up to provide NASN members with access to school health and child health articles from a selection of journals published by SAGE. Articles will be available for six months and different articles will be highlighted every six months. This new Research Center is designed to increase NASN members’ access to current research related to school nursing and student health. RESEARCH CENTER Are You Hiring? Let NASN Help Don't miss out on the best candidate for the job. Advertise your open positions in the NASN Employment Center: your recruitment solution. We offer packages that include resume bank access, posting for 30 days, and email distribution of your job posting. Hire smarter. You don't need all the candidates, you need the right ones. NASN EMPLOYMENT CENTER School Nurses in the News NASN and school nurses have been widely represented in the news media over the past few months and we are now including a section in the Weekly Digest to highlight some of those stories twice a month. If you have a story about school nurses you'd like us to consider including, please send it to us. Strengthen school nursing to support COVID-19 recovery and resilience (Source: The Seattle Times) This is How COVID Has Changed My Job as a School Nurse (Source: Nurse.org) Lee Co. nursing coordinator: ‘The one thing this pandemic has brought to light is the need for school nurses’ (Source: WALB.com) COVID-19 Updates NASN’s New COVID-19 Reference Site Launches NASN’s COVID-19 Reference (the evolution of our original COVID-19 Resource page) is now live. This reference site contains condensed information and evidence-based references and resources designed to assist school nurses in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as they formulate nursing judgement and participate in planning and policy development. Content on this site is organized into topics including school reopening/closing; screening students and staff; healthy hygiene practices; personal protective equipment; healthy environments; screening and vaccinations; special populations; and operating virtually. Each topic page includes subtopics, as well as links to resources shared by school nurses on our SchoolNurseNet community. Please note, this site is designed to be dynamic -- some topics and content are still under construction, and all of the site will continue to evolve as resources and guidance surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic evolve. We look forward to your feedback on this new resource. COVID-19 Reference Resources Interim Guidance: Role of the School Nurse in COVID-19 Testing in Schools Considerations for School Nurses: Health Equity Implications During the COVID-19 Pandemic CDC Vaccine Data Tracker New CDC guidance for healthcare workers and COVID-19 vaccines and CDC guidance for schools COVID-19 Diagnosis Screening Flow Chart MMWR report on early childhood and mitigation strategies COVID-19 Symptom Screener Sample Tracking Tool Information for Pediatric Healthcare Providers Considerations for School Nurses in Planning for Students with Disabilities and Special Healthcare Needs in the Return to School Schools Reopening Decision Tool Free COVID-19 Vaccine Training CDC has resources for training healthcare professionals to administer COVID-19 vaccines. Many school nurses are volunteering to administer vaccines in their communities. Schools may be used as community sites in the future. Learn more. COVID-19 Variants Information about the characteristics of the COVID-19 variants is rapidly emerging. School nurses can monitor updates and learn more on the CDC resource page. Evaluation of Abbott BinaxNow Rapid Antigen Test CDC released a MMWR on evaluation of Abbott BinaxNow rapid antigen test for sars-cov-2 infection at two community-based testing sites. Sensitivity of the BinaxNOW antigen test, compared with polymerase chain reaction testing, was lower when used to test specimens from asymptomatic (35.8%) than from symptomatic (64.2%) persons, but specificity was high. Antigen tests can be an important tool in an overall community testing strategy to reduce transmission. New CDC Vaccine Communication Toolkit for Essential Workers CDC released a new resource for employers to effectively communicate with employees to build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine. As teachers and other school staff become eligible for the vaccine in states, this resource includes a template letter, slide deck, key messages, frequently asked questions, and other additional resources and sample documents. New CDC Tool to Decide How to Go Back to School Many parents, caregivers, and guardians face new and difficult choices about how their child will return to school. This tool is designed to help parents, caregivers, and guardians weigh the risks and benefits of available educational options to help them make decisions about sending their child back to school. School Nurses Can Request PPE or Donate to Those in Need GETUsPPE has released their December PPE Shortage Index demonstrating that PPE remains critically short in many schools and a resource called – What is behind the Nitrile glove shortage? School nurses may request PPE or donate to support schools needing PPE. CDC Vaccine data tracker CDC has a resource to quickly see how your state or territory is doing compared to others. Additional data is available at this CDC site. Medicaid and CHIP COVID-19 Summaries Medicaid covers 4 in 10 children in the U.S. and provides critical health services. Primary, preventive, and mental health services have declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Slides 18-29 in the report share data showing how children have been accessing benefits during the pandemic and the gaps in services, including essential care for immunizations, dental and behavioral healthcare. See the report. Improving School Community and Student Health Social Media Resources Spread the Word about American Heart Month Research shows that we're more successful at meeting personal health goals when we join forces with others. When we take care of #OurHearts as part of our self-care, we set an example for those around us to do the same. Inspire and motivate yourself and those you love to make heart health a regular part of your self-care routine. Use these social media resources to get the word out at your school. Managing Chronic Health Conditions Black People Like Me Virtual Conference The Allergy & Asthma Network (AAN) hosts a series of six online events to better understand the impact of asthma and COVID-19 on the Black community. Learn more. EPR-4 – New Asthma Guidelines – Webinar The Allergy & Asthma Network (AAN) will host the webinar EPR-4 vs GINA – Differences Overlap, and Challenges in 2021 on February 10, 2021. Check out this webinar, and others from AAN. Mark Your Calendar NASN Calendar of Events This calendar includes upcoming events hosted by NASN and NASN affiliate school nurse organizations. Access the calendar. NASN CALENDAR National Health Observances Calendar This calendar lists special days, weeks, or months dedicated to raising awareness about important health topics. Access the 2020 calendar. 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