School Health Services Update: July 7, 2018 – Summer Edition

Colleagues,

While some of you are away on vacation, many of you are still providing much needed services to our students over the summer months! Many of you are working in your offices, planning programs for the coming year, sorting through volumes of new physical exams and immunization records, cleaning and sorting offices, contacting families concerning much needed services…and reaching out for consultation and assistance as needed!  Thank you for all you do!

We hope everyone is provided with some rest and relaxation and time to reflect and refresh this summer.

This email update is being sent now but some sections will be resent later this summer so no one misses any of the essential updates!

Enjoy the summer!

Mary Ann, Janet and Alison

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – -William James, philosopher and psychologist

 SCHOOL NURSES IN THE NEWS!

Congratulations to Shanyn Toulouse, Regional Consultant for the Northeast, for being awarded the NASN Advocacy Scholarship Award at the recent NASN Conference in Baltimore!  The purpose of this scholarship is to provide financial support for a school nurse to participate in an advocacy education program.

DESE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW SCHOOL NURSE LICENSURE:

The below information will be posted in ELAR and the License Requirements Tool on the DESE website with relation to the orientation requirement for licensure as a School Nurse in Massachusetts:

If you complete the school nurse orientation program through the Boston University School Health Institute for Education and Leadership Development (SHIELD) prior to 7/1/18, please submit a copy of your certificate of completion for each one of the three following mandated trainings:

• Foundations of School Nursing Practice;
• Medication Administration in a School Setting: School Nursing Practice in Massachusetts; and
• Mandated Screening Training.

Individuals completing the school nurse orientation program on or after 7/1/18 will need to submit copies of the above noted certificates of completion and a copy of your certificate of completion for the SBIRT in Schools mandated training. Information regarding the orientation program mandated trainings may be found here.

• Foundations of School Nursing Practice;
• Medication Administration in a School Setting: School Nursing Practice in Massachusetts; and
• Mandated Screening Training
• SBIRT in Schools mandated training

OR

Northeastern University no longer offers the school nurse orientation program. However, if you completed the school nurse orientation program through Northeastern University on or after 7/1/12, please submit a copy of your certificate of completion for each one of the following three trainings: Introduction to School Nursing in Massachusetts, or Professional School Nursing Practice in Massachusetts; Medication Administration and Delegation in MA Schools; and Mandated Screening Training for School Nurses, or Mandated Screenings Competency Check for School Nurses. If you completed the school nurse orientation program through Northeastern University prior to 7/1/12, please submit a copy of your certificate of completion for either Introduction to School Nursing in Massachusetts or Professional School Nursing Practice in Massachusetts verifying the completion date. Information regarding obtaining a certificate of completion from the Northeastern University School Health Institute may be found here.

Please note that documents may be uploaded into your ELAR account or mailed to the Office of Educator Licensure. Information regarding the uploading and mailing of documents may be found here.  Basically, this means the following and how candidates will be transitioned:

• If a candidate applied prior to 7/1/18 and completed the BU training/orientation prior to 7/1/18, have satisfied the orientation requirement.
• If they applied after July 1, 2018 but they had completed all of the BU orientation prior to the SBIRT section implemented on 7/1/18, they have satisfied the orientation requirement.
• If they apply on/after 7/1/18 and have not completed all of the orientation by 7/1/18, now need to complete SBIRT section of orientation in order to satisfy the requirement.
  

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AED IN SCHOOLS GUIDANCE:

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education  (DESE) recently released AED in Schools Guidance, related to An Act Requiring Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in Schools. This law takes effect July 1, 2018 and requires that each school district, vocational district, charter school, approved private day or residential school, and collaborative school shall provide and maintain at least one AED on site at each school facility. These guidelines can also be found on the Emergency Management Planning for Schools webpage.

Additionally, please note that updated Medical Emergency Response Plans are required to be submitted by Sept. 1, 2018 via the MERP DropBox. A model plan (download) and submission information are on the Medical Emergency Response Plans webpage.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY:

The Office of Sexual Health and Youth Development is announcing a new youth development funding opportunity.  Please forward widely to your colleagues and partners!

The STRIVE Initiative will implement evidence-based curriculum and/or strategies that are medically accurate and age appropriate, culturally responsive, and effective in delaying the onset of sexual initiation. MDPH intends to fund partners that are currently working with youth and plan to integrate STRIVE into existing youth programs.  Applications from organizations that are not currently receiving MDPH funding are especially encouraged.  Pending a successful federal application, MDPH anticipates awarding contracts between approximately $25,000-$50,000, with a minimum of 35 youth served per fiscal year.

For more information and instructions on a brief application due Friday, August 3, 2018, please visit www.commbuys.com/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo?docId=BD-19-1031-BCHAP-BCH01-29326&external=true&parentUrl=bid.

MDPH LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH UPDATE:

Please see the attached newsletter with news and information from the Office of Local and Regional Health at the MDPH.  Some is of importance to school nurses!

FROM THE BUREAU OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES – RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS BEST PRACTICES:

We’ve heard about different ways that schools districts and nurses are planning to implement the new requirement in the fall for all religious exemptions for immunizations to be renewed annually.  While policies around enforcement of exclusion for unimmunized or partially immunized children are developed by individual schools/school districts, we’d like to share some best practices to consider when requesting annual renewal of religious exemptions.

We do not recommend a form be used for religious exemptions, rather that parents or guardians state in writing that a vaccine or vaccines are against their sincerely religious belief.  For obtaining annual renewal of these statements of religious exemptions, we’d suggest a targeted approach of reaching out to families of students with an exemption currently on file to request an updated statement. This is generally a small number of families—the state average is 1.4% of kindergarten students with an exemption.

Please share this information with your school administrators.  For more information on school immunizations, including our school immunization data, school requirements, and other resources, please visit our School Immunizations website and School Immunization Information for School Nurses website.   If you have questions or wish to share feedback on your experience with annual exemption renewals, please contact that Immunization Program’s Assessment Unit at 617-983-4330.

NEW ONLINE COURSE! UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENT MARIJUANA USE:

Find answers to your questions about adolescent marijuana use

Who? 
A collaboration between IRETA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
What?
An online course exploring why some adolescents use marijuana and how to converse with youth about substance use and referral to treatment.
Why?
An hour of informative content for free, and you can start and stop whenever you want. PCD and NAADAC CEUs are available.
Where?
Online now at ireta.org.
How?
Click here! After a quick registration, you can get started immediately.

SAVE THE DATE(S):  FREE SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION CURRICULUM TRAINING:

Tentative dates for Substance Use Prevention Curriculum training are:
Good Behavior (PAX) Game trainings on Tuesday, October 2nd – Friday October 5^th; and
Life Skills Training (LST) on October 16-19^th
A link to registration will be posted as soon as the dates and locations are finalized.

SAVE THE DATE: MIAP PEDIATRIC IMMUNIZATION CONFERENCE:
23rd Annual MIAP Pediatric Immunization Skills Building Conference
Thursday, October 18, 2018
9:00a.m. – 4:00p.m.
New Location!
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center
Framingham, Massachusetts

 SAVE THE DATE(S): MASSHEALTH

Please see the attached flyer with dates for upcoming informational sessions from MassHealth at the UMass Medical Center Campus in Shrewsbury.

 A REMINDER:  ONLINE CONCUSSION TRAINING VIDEOS:
DPH has worked with BU School of Public Health and SHIELD to develop another free online training program on concussion management and return to play and school.  This training is 90 minutes long. Here is a direct link to the course:  http://www.nephtc.org/enrol/index.php?id=36

You need to set up a one-time username and password to access the course.  A flyer about the course is attached so feel free to distribute wide and far.

Also just as a reminder we have another free online training on our website that we developed in partnership with Brain Injury Association and Mass. Medical Society and this can be accessed at:

http://www.massmed.org/ConcussionTreatmentManagementandPrevention/#.WxlORTQvyM8

REGIONAL CONSULTANT CONTACT INFORMATION (SUMMER HOURS VARY):

Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN
Director of School Health Services/ School SBIRT Coordinator
MA Department of Public Health
250 Washington Street – 5^th Floor
Boston, MA  02108
mary.gapinski@state.ma.us
Website: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/community-health/primarycare-healthaccess/school-health/

SBIRT information:  www.masbirt.org/schools