Christina Lucido Williams, Sarah Oerther, Elise Schaller
{"title":"A Call to Action: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Schools.","authors":"Christina Lucido Williams, Sarah Oerther, Elise Schaller","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261461504","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261461504","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>School nurses play a key role in addressing the growing mental health crisis faced by school-age children. Rates of anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, depression, and suicide continue to rise. These conditions reflect a complex interplay of genetic predisposition, environmental influences, and policy factors. School nurses can act at the federal, state, and local level to address the crisis. At the federal and state levels, nurses can engage policy discussions surrounding initiatives such as the 2025 MAHA report, universal screening mandates, school nurse staffing ratios, and cell phone legislation. At the local level, nurses can conduct mental health screenings using validated tools, coordinate referrals, manage individualized care plans, advocate for extended recess and digital literacy education, and pilot balanced daily routines. By collaborating with administrators and legislators and addressing the causes associated with the mental health crisis, school nurses are well positioned to support student well-being and academic success.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"204-208"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148319623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"School Nursing Is a Specialty Nursing Practice.","authors":"Wendy A Doremus","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261467758","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261467758","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The profession of nursing includes many specialty areas of practice. Several criteria specify the requirements for this designation. School nursing fulfills these requirements as a nursing specialty. These standards are important for advancing the practice of school nursing.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"218-221"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148473186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jodi S Bullard, Dixie Rose, Angela J Preston, Janice Miles, Jenifer M Chilton
{"title":"Development of a School Nurse Data Science Boot Camp.","authors":"Jodi S Bullard, Dixie Rose, Angela J Preston, Janice Miles, Jenifer M Chilton","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261460808","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261460808","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A continuing education program was developed by School of Nursing faculty at a Northeast Texas university to strengthen school nurses' ability to use data for effective communication. The 8‑hr <i>School Nurse Data Science Boot Camp</i> included a keynote speaker introducing data science concepts, followed by morning skill‑building stations on data interpretation and communication strategies. Afternoon stations guided participants in applying these skills to create slide presentations tailored to specific school nursing scenarios. The 15 participants were divided into five groups, each assigned a scenario and stakeholder audience. Groups developed and delivered presentations that demonstrated their ability to translate school health data into meaningful messages. Participants reported high satisfaction with the boot camp and expressed interest in an advanced offering. This program provides a valuable local continuing education opportunity and supports a growing regional partnership among school nurses, School of Nursing faculty, and Education Service Center personnel.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"213-217"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13451604/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148340061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coordinating School Nursing to Advance Student Wellbeing: From Seven Kingdoms to One Boat.","authors":"Erin D Maughan, Matthew Hickling","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261474847","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261474847","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article uses two analogies to frame school health and school nursing: the seven kingdoms of \"Game of Thrones\" and the unified crew in \"The Boys in the Boat.\" The first portrays practice domains as separate territories competing for legitimacy, resources, and influence, weakening the profession. The second presents a coordinated, relational model in which diverse strengths move toward a shared goal. Because school nursing is too important, complex, and resource-limited to progress through fragmentation, school nurses must lead efforts to build a unified \"boat\" for school health and the profession. By emphasizing partnership, shared priorities, and children's well-being and learning, school nursing can move from isolated effort to collective impact.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"209-212"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148593903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carol Cox, Joseph D Visker, Emily Forsyth, Kayla Schilly, Brooke Wagner
{"title":"Answering \"How Do I . . .?\": Questions When Teaching Puberty Education.","authors":"Carol Cox, Joseph D Visker, Emily Forsyth, Kayla Schilly, Brooke Wagner","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261462863","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261462863","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Puberty, the physical and sexual maturation process of a young person, is associated with cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial changes. Puberty is a key time for health education and health promotion interventions, and school is an important setting for developmentally appropriate, evidence-based puberty education for all students. School nurses, with their clinical understanding of growth and development and patient and family education skills, are qualified and uniquely positioned to advocate for and assist in delivery of puberty education in the schools. However, school nurses may not have received any formal instruction in puberty education content or on classroom teaching as part of their training. This can put the school nurse at a disadvantage and is a gap this article intends to address. Therefore, a team of school health content and technology experts developed a free, online learning module-based puberty education training resource to answer some common puberty education questions.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"200-203"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148413507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hydrocephalus: An Invisible Condition.","authors":"Lisa Munch","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261465660","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261465660","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydrocephalus is a common pediatric neurosurgical condition. The causes of hydrocephalus are varied and treatment typically involves surgical placement of a shunt or an endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Both treatments have a high failure rate, often resulting in multiple surgeries. Hydrocephalus is associated with a number of physical, learning, and mental health challenges that may affect a child's success at school. School nurses play a pivotal role in identifying and managing medical complications, supporting students in managing day-to-day school life and providing resources to students and their families.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"193-198"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148473226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Practicing With a <i>Framework</i> Mindset: A Closer Look at the Principle of Community/Public Health.","authors":"Andrea L Tanner, Deborah D'Souza-Vazirani","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261466709","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261466709","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This fifth and final article in the <i>Practicing with a Framework Mindset</i> series describes the principle of Community/Public Health and its components, or actionable description statements. The specialty practice of school nursing has a long history with both community and public health. These two distinct, but related, concepts of community health and public health are defined, and we provide a rationale for the inclusion of both in the Community/Public Health principle. This article continues unfolding the case study of Jenny, a student with functional seizures, to illustrate the day-to-day steps school nurses can take to practice with a focus on the <i>Framework</i> and its Community/Public Health principle.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"186-192"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148437470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Who's That? The Importance of Your Virtual First Impression.","authors":"Catherine F Yonkaitis","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261471864","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261471864","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"183-185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148521004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medical Child Abuse: Preparing School Nurses to Identify and Report.","authors":"Kelly Brunning","doi":"10.1177/1942602X261455904","DOIUrl":"10.1177/1942602X261455904","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article examines the unique position school nurses are in to identify and address medical child abuse as clinical awareness continues to grow. The lack of education available on the topic of medical child abuse and why cases are inherently difficult to diagnose is discussed. Information for school nurses on how to identify and intervene as well as resources available are provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":39156,"journal":{"name":"NASN school nurse (Print)","volume":" ","pages":"154-157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148176810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}