Martha Dewey Bergren, editor of The Journal of School Nursing, interviews author Bridget Houlahan to discuss their article, "The Promotion of Early School Nurses in Virginia: Learning From Our History (1900 to Present) to Build a New Future."

To make informed decisions, public health, schools, and elected officials need more timely, actionable, and school-specific data to help successfully prevent the spread of COVID-19 in K-12 settings and to make sure schools can reopen, and stay open, safely. The CDC Foundation, in partnership with Deloitte and technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), launched the Monitoring School COVID-19 Prevention Strategies project to collect data on the impact of COVID-19 on the social, emotional, academic, and mental health of the K-12 community. Read the report.

As schools continue transitioning to in-person instruction, school nurses will help prepare and implement COVID-19 prevention strategies. Kaiser Permanente has collaborated with over 30 national school health organizations to create the “Planning for the Next Normal at School: Keeping students, staff, and families safe and healthy” playbook, which provides evidence-based guidance to adapting to school life after the COVID-19 pandemic. This resource suggests various ways school nurses can work toward decreasing the likelihood of disease transmission. Learn more.

COVID Collaborative, Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Brown School of Public Health, and New America task force released resources to help schools implement CDC guidance and safely get students and staff back to in-person learning. The guidance focused on infection prevention and control, including a roadmap of helpful case studies, a consensus statement from leading scientists on the science of how to best protect students and staff, and a use of funds memo outlining how to strategically use authorized funds.

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.

The 2021 FDA Science Forum will be held virtually on Wednesday and Thursday, May 26 and 27, 2021. The Forum offers an opportunity for the public to view the unique scientific research and collaborative efforts of FDA’s 11,000 scientists. You'll get a chance to see first-hand how FDA's researchers are using novel science and technologies to inform FDA’s regulatory decision-making — and drive innovation.

FDA scientific experts and nationally renowned scientists will speak at the 2021 FDA Science Forum: Science as the Foundation for Protecting and Promoting Public Health. This year’s keynote speaker is NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, M.D.

Skin cancer is America’s most common cancer, and it can affect anyone. Fortunately, skin cancer is also one of the most preventable forms of cancer. About 90 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers and 85 percent of melanoma cases are associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Share facts about the dangers of unprotected exposure with your school communities, encouraging people to check their skin for warning signs. Download stats, fliers, and other resources to help you get the word out.

The National Academy of Medicine Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report explores how we can unleash the power of the nurse to achieve health equity. Learn how the systems that educate, pay, employ and enable nurses can support them in building healthy communities.

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