The Journal of School Nursing
2021, Vol. 37(4) 228-229
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/10598405211016994
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The public health crisis that has impacted our lives with this pandemic since March 2020 has challenged us all. School nurses have risen to the occasion and been forced to stretch beyond capacity. They have shown their school communities public health expertise, how to conduct surveillance, contact tracing/case investigation, and COVID testing within the school setting. Doing all of that on top of the “normal” duties and responsibilities of a school nurse has been unprecedented. Many school nurses put their leadership skills into high gear having a “seat at the table” on reopening planning committees and collaborated with school administrators. Ironically, last year was the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2021) Year of the Nurse, which has continued into 2021.
The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) has strived over the past 18 months to help school nurses in their role during one of the most difficult and challenging times that we have experienced. NASN provided many resources on their website to assist with these challenges such as information on personal protective equipment, school reopening, operating virtually, and COVID testing and vaccination to name a few (NASN, 2021). Having these resources and links to guidance to inform the practice of school nursing is invaluable.
None of us could have imagined or predicted the impact of a deadly pandemic. The losses and disruption to our “normal” lives have certainly taken a toll on our existence as we knew it. I certainly never expected to be serving in this role as president-elect and now president of NASN during a pandemic. It is a unique and rewarding opportunity to experience a public health crisis and to be able to serve the members of NASN during this challenging time.
In Japanese culture, the koi fish are symbolic as they persevere and can swim upstream under extreme adversity. They swim as if on a mission and are not distracted or deterred by anything. One can analogize the koi fish to school nurses during this challenging time. School nursing lies in the arena of public health, and thinking upstream is a focus of our practice. Like the koi fish, school nurses have had to swim upstream during this pandemic to meet many adversities to fight this pandemic.
My journey to NASN President started 40 years ago with nursing school graduation. At the time, leadership was not the intent but kept creeping into my path. My leadership skills emerged in nursing school when I was elected class president. Since then, I have served as president of my nursing school alumni association, United States Ship Nimitz officer’s wives club, and my state affiliate, the Rhode Island Certified School Nurse Teachers Association. When I attended my first NASN conference back in 1999, I knew then that I aspired to build my leadership skills to become president of this fine organization dedicated to my passion, the practice of school nursing.
As a military spouse, I was first introduced to school nursing as a substitute in a Department of Defense School in Seoul, South Korea. Having that global exposure to the practice of school nursing while living overseas sparked me upon return to the United States to pursue my school nurse certification at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This practice aligned nicely at the time with my responsibilities as a mother of four school-age children and the spouse of a seagoing navy sailor. I practiced in five states serving students in PK–12th grade in predominately urban settings. After 25 years of direct service practice, I currently share my years of experience and knowledge with nursing students teaching public/community health nursing at the undergraduate level and as the state school nurse consultant at the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Nurse leaders preparing for 2021 need to reflect a global mindset, be moving forward with technology, have the expertise for critical decision making, and be politically astute (Huston, 2008). My experiences practicing school nursing in many diverse settings have prepared me for the challenges ahead as we move forward through this pandemic and beyond. Looking postpandemic, it will be important to reflect on lessons learned and future public health efforts and preparedness for school nursing.
I aspire to follow Florence Nightingale’s lessons in leadership, practicing many of her leadership qualities. Last year was the 200th anniversary of her birth, and her lessons are as relevant today as they were during her nursing practice. Nightingale focused her leadership on advocacy, research, and environmental conditions of the soldiers during the Crimean War (Hegge, 2011). I tend to be an “out-of-thebox” thinker and take my time thinking about concepts and new ways of tackling a challenge with innovation in mind. My leadership style embraces communication, collaboration, and treating people with respect along with advocating for just causes. I also aspire to my values of authenticity and stewardship and will bring those to my work as president of NASN.
To be able to accomplish this work, our own health and well-being are of the upmost importance. It is essential to care for oneself especially now during these extreme times of added stress in both our professional and personal lives as we endure this pandemic. Self-care is crucial to maintaining both our physical and mental health. If you do not take care of yourself, then it will ultimately be difficult to care for others in your role as a school nurse.
The ANA has extended the 2020 Year of the Nurse into 2021 to honor the contributions nurses have made. In addition, the American Nurses Foundation has a Well-Being Initiative focused on the mental health and resilience of nurses due to the extreme demands nurses are facing during this pandemic. The resources include tools for self-care, gratitude journal, breathing exercises, mindfulness mediation, and much more (American Nurses Foundation, 2021). It is important to nurture yourself by doing things that are meaningful to you. Utilizing the resources in this Well-Being Initiative is a great place to start. Also, consulting with your colleagues, reflecting and educating yourself by utilizing NASN’s resources, and gaining new knowledge from the NASN conference sessions are the ways to nurture your school nursing practice. Having that capacity to bounce back and be resilient will depend on how well you care for yourself.
Working through this pandemic as a school nurse has been transformative. Things will be different moving forward. The butterfly is a symbol of transformation. During the four stages of metamorphosis, the butterfly matures from an egg to an adult. During these stages, time and care are taken to allow the transformation to occur. It will be important for school nurses to step back and reflect on the challenges of these past several months and the changes that have occurred. As you go through this process, it will be important to take care of yourself along the way.
Transformation and growth happen over time in response to the challenges and adversities that ultimately lead us to do the hard work of seeking new ways to make improvements. Our immediate NASN past presidents focused their work on advocacy, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This work has led to the convening of the NASN “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force” this past April and is a prime example of the beginning of transformative work. The organization’s focus will help NASN leaders to inspire and influence at the state affiliate level. In turn, this will lead to school nurses impacting students they serve through policy work and advocacy to support an upstream approach to systemic issues.
We must do this work together in hope of the transformation needed to create healthy learning environments that focus on the whole child and achieve student academic success. Recently in the local newspaper, my horoscope read— “If you are going to lead, you need to have a destination in mind.” My destination points to leading with my passion for school nursing and the contributions I plan to make to serve the members of NASN.
Linda L. Mendonça, DNP, MEd, RN, PHNA-BC, NCSN, FNASNPresident, National Association of School Nurses
American Nurses Association. (2021). Year of the nurse 2020-2021. https://anayearofthenurse.org/?utm_term=YON2020&utm_content=%20Nursing%20World%20Shortcut%20Link
American Nurses Foundation. (2021). Well-Being Initiative. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus/whatyou-need-to-know/the-well-being-initiative/
Hegge, M. (2011). The empty carriage: Lessons in leadership from Florence Nightingale. Nursing Science Quarterly, 24(1), 21–25.
Huston, C. (2008). Preparing nurse leaders for 2020. Journal of Nursing Management, 16, 905–911.
National Association of School Nurses. (2021). COVID references. https://schoolnursenet.nasn.org/covid19ref/home