March 26, 2018
Dear Colleagues,
It has been wonderful to see so many at the regional meetings (that weren’t cancelled due to weather conditions!) recently. The regional network that has been developed for all public and non-public school nurses has provided us a wonderful opportunity to meet the goals of promoting strong school nursing clinical practice and developing leadership skills for all school nurses here in Massachusetts! Thank you for your participation and attendance! (hope to see many of you at our Western Regional meeting on Wednesday this week!). Thank you to our regional consultants that provide this leadership! These meetings are held at no cost to participants.
In addition, the School Health Institute For Education And Leadership Development (SHIELD) sponsored theFoundations Of School Nursing Practice Conference for all nurses new to school nursing in Massachusetts this past week….with over a hundred new school nurses attending. Be sure to check with your regional consultants for the contact information for these nurses who are seeking employment – both part-time (per diem) as well as full time in our schools.
SHIELD is also sponsoring several upcoming professional development events being held in the coming weeks. Included in this list of learning opportunities are the Racial Equity Institute, Domestic Violence/ Sexual Assault Conference, and Medication Administration Program Management Workshop. SHIELD is also planning an exciting series of intensive courses for this year’s Summer Institute. The anticipated course topics include: Domestic And Sexual Violence; Motivational Interviewing/Substance Use 101; Planning For Equity; Social Determinants of Mental Health; and Trauma Sensitive Schools. Please see the attached flyer or the website at: www.shield-bu.org for more information.
And it’s not too late to schedule an SBIRT essentials workshop for your school by completing the training request at: http://www.masbirt.org/training-request Additional information for upcoming events for school health personnel is listed in the email below!
Happy learning! Happy Spring!
Mary Ann and Janet
“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” – Stephen Hawking
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH PERSONNEL:
HUMAN TRAFFICKING WORK GROUP LED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
March 28, 1-3pm, here at Department of Public Health, 250 Washington St., Boston, MA 02108 in Room 6A.
We’re excited to have Hannah Fraley, PhD, RN talk about her work. She has an article in “Advances in Nursing Science” entitled “School Nurses’ Awareness and Attitudes Toward Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children” and concludes “School Nurses are in an ideal position to identify, prevent, protect and raise awareness of students who are at risk or victims of CSEC.” She will discuss this research, her findings and next steps from this work. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions. We’ll also have program updates. Please contact Linda Brown for additional information or to suggest agenda items
ANNUAL BRAIN INJURY CONFERENCE
March 29, 8:00am-4:00pm 181 Boston Post Road West, Marlborough, MA
http://www.biama.org/annualconference
UMASS MARIJUANA LEGALIZED: RESEARCH, PRACTICE & POLICY CONSIDERATIONS
April 2, 9:00am-11:30am UMass Campus Center’s Amherst Room
Please take a moment to register for the symposium. For more information, contact Risa Silverman at risa@schoolph.umass.edu
MIAA MINDFULNESS AND POSITIVITY WORKSHOP
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at the MIAA Office, Franklin
8:00 am – 8:30 am: Sign-in and Coffee
8:30 am – 1:30 pm: Workshop
Workshop fee of $40 per person includes light breakfast, lunch and materials
WHAT’S THE HYPE?: JUUL ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE’S POPULARITY WITH YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTS
Thursday, April 26, 2018, 12:00 – 1 p.m. Central Time.
This webinar will familiarize participants with JUUL, a relatively new, discreet, and best-selling e-cigarette brand that is very popular among youth and young adults. Policy, legal, and advocacy experts will describe JUUL and discuss concerns and emerging reports about youth and young adult use, ease of use without detection, potential health risks, and regulatory gaps and opportunities. Presenters will address the company’s recent outreach to schools, public health officials, and advocates in California and other states, and authorities’ concerns about partnering with JUUL Labs, Inc., on educational and other initiatives. Presenters: Jeffrey Willett, Vice President, Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute; Erika Mansur, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Arizona Attorney General; and Kimberlee Homer Vagadori, Project Director, California Youth Advocacy Network. Moderator: Susan Weisman, Senior Staff Attorney, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, Public Health Law Center. http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/webinars/upcoming
MCAAP ANNUAL MEETING: SCHOOL NURSES/ SCHOOL PHYSCIANS
The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MCAAP) School Health Committee is sponsoring the program for the MCAAP Annual Meeting on May 9th at the Massachusetts Medical Society in Waltham. Please see the attached flyer. We encourage ALL school nurses and school physicians to plan to attend this day-long conference! $80 Registration Fee. For more information or to register, please contact Cathleen Haggerty at chaggerty@mcaap.org
MDPH PAX GOOD BEHAVIOR GAME TRAINING
FREE Evidence-Based Training and Teacher and Administrator Materials to Prevent Future Substance Misuse, and Increase Social Emotional Learning, and Time-in-Learning in the 1st-2nd Grade
PAX Good Behavior Game Training
8:30 AM-4 PM
June 5, 2018
Worcester MA
CEUs will be granted by the New England Institute of Addiction Studies Summer School
By March 27, 2018 the Required Free Registration for June 5th will be at this link http://www.neias.org/
Teams are encouraged to attend.
To learn more about this program, please click on the National Website: Https://Goodbehaviorgame.Org/ Or Contact Denise Adams dadams@neias.org (logistics) or Kathleen.Herr-Zaya@MassMail.State.MA.US (program content)
GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN:
A helpful resource for schools and districts working with grandparents (or relative caregivers) who are raising grandchildren (or younger relatives) is the Commission on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, which has a website devoted to education, networking, research, programs and support. The commission will host regional workshops for any grandparents or kinship caregivers this spring, at which the commission will cover topics important to relative caregivers and have representatives from agencies who work with grandparents raising grandchildren. For questions on the commission or to register for a regional workshop, contact Colleen Pritoni at colleen.pritoni@state.ma.us. Sessions include:
- 5:30-8:00 p.m. March 29: Quincy Family Resource Center
- 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 4: Haverhill YMCA
- 5:30-8:00 p.m. April 30: The Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield
- 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. May 24: Athol Senior Center
- 5:30-8:00 p.m. May 30: YMCA Camp Lyndon in Sandwich