November 6, 2017
Dear Colleagues,
It has been wonderful to see so many school districts represented at our Regional Meetings in the Haverhill, Springfield and Bridgewater over the past week! We look forward to seeing others at the Regional Meetings in Marlboro and Dedham this week and next, respectively. And we hope to see many of you tomorrow at the Racial Equity in School Health: A Groundwater Approach Conference at Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Rd in Sturbridge. A reminder that there will be two additional conferences offered (space is limited) on March 27 and April 24.
We are also excited to announce that Wanda Visnick, RN, will be working on a part-time basis to coordinate all SBIRT trainings, materials and resources! A reminder that Introductory Sessions to this screening process will be ending in December and only SBIRT Essential workshops will be offered moving forward. It is imperative that all school staff who will be participating in the screenings attend an Introductory Session. Planning and implementation by ALL school districts is required to be completed by June 2018. (Aggregate data needs to be reported to DPH within 90 days of completing the screening.) It should also be noted that the final recommendations from the White House Opioid Commission include the implementation of SBIRT for adolescents in all middle school, high school and college levels. This commission has ruled that SBIRT serves as a significant prevention tool.
A reminder, too, that Beginning November 2017, SHIELD will be offering two new Medication workshops:
- Medication Administration in a School Setting: School Nursing Practice in Massachusetts
This is an online course that replaces the formerly offered live workshop: Medication Administration and Delegation. Designed as an “on your time” training, learners will be able to register and take this course at any time that is convenient for them. This course provides the key information every public and private School Nurse needs to know about medication administration and delegation in Massachusetts schools, including laws and regulations, school nurse role and responsibilities, and best practice approaches.
This course is one of three training workshops mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in order to be licensed as a School Nurse and it is designed for:
- Nurses seeking Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) licensure as a School Nurse in Massachusetts (mandated course)
- School Nurse Managers who are listed on a school district’s MDPH Medication Delegation Registration Application (mandated every five years)
- Any School Nurse seeking to refresh their knowledge of the regulations, requirements, and responsibilities for medication administration in MA schools
New required course for Nurse Managers!
- Medication Administration in Schools: What School Nurse Managers Need to Know
This live 3-hour workshop is designed for public and private School Nurse Managers who are signatories on the Handling, Storage and Delegation Registration Application with the MA Department of Public Health. Using presentations, group discussions and case studies, this workshop will provide School Nurse Managers with the knowledge and tools they need to oversee their district’s Medication Administration Program.
Participation in this workshop and the online course Medication Administration in a School Setting is required every five years for school nurses listed on the district’s MDPH Medication Delegation Registration Application. The next course for Nurse Managers will be held at the Assabet Valley Collaborative in Marlboro on Tuesday, November 14th. Registration is now available at: http://bucme.org/node/1168 Additional dates for this course will be posted soon.
A second email will follow this week from Jessica Burkhamer, an Environmental Analyst in the MDPH Bureau of Environmental Health (BEH). This email will contain information about MA Department of Environmental Protection’s Assistance Program for Lead in School Drinking Water and to offer MDPH BEH’s assistance with risk communication. This email will include some fact sheets related to lead and copper in drinking water. We hope this will be helpful to you and your school community.
Thank you for all you do!
Mary Ann, Carol and Janet
SCHOOL NURSES IN THE NEWS!
Great article on Worcester Public School Nurses and their accomplishments under the leader ship of Debra McGovern, Coordinator of Health and Wellness! Well done!
http://www.telegram.com/news/20171027/worcester-schools-immunization-up-concussions-down
Immunization Records for Students from Puerto Rico:
If you have children enrolling in your school from Puerto Rico who need an immunization record, you can work with families to locate immunization information for these children in the Puerto Rico Immunization Registry.
You can access the registry here:
https://prir.salud.gov.pr/PRIRPRD/portalInfoManager.do
There is a link at the bottom of the page for public immunization record access, or go directly to the public access page here:
If you have further questions about immunization records or requirements for any child, please contact the Immunization Program Assessment Unit at 617-983-4330.
Massachusetts Environmental Health Tracking:
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health/Bureau of Environmental Health (MDPH/BEH) has been in the forefront of analyzing information from statewide disease registries for cancer and birth defects as well as the pediatric asthma surveillance program to determine if exposure to environmental contaminants may be contributing to higher rates of these chronic diseases. This website provides an opportunity to begin to more closely examine the possible links between environmental exposure and chronic diseases statewide and locally. The MA EPHT website provides information on the following health data in Massachusetts residents:
- Asthma Hospitalization data at the state, county, and community levels by calendar year
- Birth Defects at the state and county levels by calendar year
- Cancer incidence data at the state, Executive Office of Health and Human Services region, Emergency Preparedness Regional Coalition, county, community, and census tract levels by calendar year
- Carbon Monoxide Poisoning data at the state, county, and community levels by calendar year
- Childhood Lead Poisoning information at the state, Executive Office of Health and Human Services region, county, and community by calendar year and birth cohort
- Heart Attack Hospitalization data at the state, county, and community levels by calendar year
- Heat Stress data at the state, county, and community levels by calendar year
- Pediatric Asthma prevalence data for students in K-8th grades at the state, community, and school levels by school year
- Pediatric Diabetes prevalence data for students in K-8th grades at the state, community, and school levels by school year
- Reproductive and Birth Outcomes data at the state, county, and community levels by calendar year
| NUTS & BOLTS OF SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS CONTINUATION SERIES FROM THE STALKER INSTITUTE: |
| Are you looking to increase your knowledge about and ability to implement the USDA National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs? This training series will provide you with the vital information and skills to improve program operations. Opportunities throughout the year will include both in-person and online sessions. Those who complete seven or more sessions in the series will be recognized at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Programs Summit in May 2018.
All in-person sessions will be held at Framingham State University from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All online sessions will take place from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Cost: $40 for in-person sessions. Online sessions are FREE.
November 15, 2017: USDA Foods & Inventory Management Registration Extended to 11/8/2017 This in-person session will provide an in-depth understanding of USDA foods such as DoD Fresh, monthly offer sheets, diversion survey, and making the most of your entitlement dollars. During this in-person session you will learn about school food service procurement from the high level macro view followed by a drill down into the details of the procurement cycle. Specifically, we will discuss procurement procedures, planning/forecasting, procurement methods, solicitations, evaluation, contract award and monitoring. Lastly, we will outline the procurement review process including what we will be looking for, and hear some feedback about what we have found in our first year of procurement reviews. This online session will review other programs associated with school nutrition programs such as After-school Snack, At-Risk Snack, and Extended Day Snack.
February 13, 2018: Farm to School This online session will review requirements for developing a strong local wellness policy and provide examples and strategies for developing a meaningful policy. |
Recent Emergency Cases Involving “Designer Benzos”
Over the past two weeks there have been an increase in visits to Emergency Departments for what seem to be “designer benzo” overdoses. All cases involved older teens with somnolence and respiratory depression, one requiring admittance to an Intensive Care Unit. Two of the patients who presented about a week apart each said they took ½ tablet of a homemade “pressed tablet” they were told was a mix of Xanax and other benzos. A third patient denied any drug use but told his mother 3-4 days later that he took “synthetic Xanax”. The urine drug screens tested positive for benzos on initial tox screens but then negative for all known specific benzos on confirmation testing. Results for Fentanyl and other opiates were negative. Serum tox screens for alcohol, ASA, Tylenol were also negative. Through some research we have learned that there several designer benzos that are increasing in circulation. Two of them, clonazolam and flubromazolam, are long acting and extremely potent – about 8x stronger than lorazepam. I wanted to make sure you all were aware given the severity of their symptoms (somnolence, respiratory depression, amnesia).
AN MIAA CONFERENCE:
| Faces of Addiction: The Opioid Abuse Prevention Conference Wednesday, December 13, 2017 Check-in/Continental Breakfast: 7:30am Conference: 8:15am–2:00pm Doubletree Hotel, Westborough, MAA conference for High School Students, School Administrators, Educators, Advisors, Activity Group Leaders, Wellness Coordinators, Guidance Counselors, Athletic Directors, Coaches, Nurses, and School Resource Officers |
The conference will feature a keynote speaker, resource exhibits, and concurrent workshops.Workshop topic include:
Cost: $55 per person |
Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN
Director of School Health Services/ School SBIRT Coordinator
MA Department of Public Health
250 Washington Street – 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
mary.gapinski@state.ma.us
SBIRT information: www.masbirt.org/schools