1/14/21 MDPH School Health Unit Update
Greetings from the School Health Unit!
You have all been in the forefront of my mind as vaccine has begun to roll out, and testing in schools expanded. I have heard from so many of you, as have the Regional School Nurse Consultants, since the start of the New Year, and I hope that every single one of you had your call or email returned, and that you felt HEARD. If that is ever not the case, I want to know.
So, when I am feeling my feelings, I often turn to my favorite feelings person, Brenè Brown. She has two podcasts running, “Unlocking Us” and “Dare to Lead”. Her latest episode in “Unlocking Us” was exactly what I needed to hear this week. I have been feeling like someone is poking holes in my brain, and information I had stored there (that I NEEDED thank you very much) has leaked out without my noticing. Do you know what I mean? In this episode, Brenè (because we are definitely on a first name basis at this point) talks about the biology of overload, especially with the multitudes of “first times” we have all had to navigate in the past year (I’ll let you guess what the other F in FFTs stands for). I found it SO reassuring that what is happening to me makes sense, and that it was probably happening to everyone else as well. Not only does she reassure, but Dr. Brown also gives us some strategies for dealing with our tired brains. It’s a really great episode if you can spare about 25 minutes:
“In this ‘On My Mind’ episode, we revisit FFTs and talk about tired brains and new strategies for recovering from too many hard first times.”
With great respect,
Karen
VACCINE UPDATES
School nurses will be included in Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout as healthcare providers; they are currently in the last bullet, “non-COVID-facing” healthcare providers on the following website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/when-can-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine
If school nurses are doing testing or vaccinations, they are eligible for vaccine now. Information about locations of local or regional vaccination sites, which are currently vaccinating first responders, can be found here. Many health departments are working with other communities for a regional site, so the pins on the map provide assistance on where they can go (click on a blue pin to see which sites include which towns). There are around 170 health departments that are not doing clinics at all; nurses in these areas will likely need to go to a mass vaccination site when they open (green pins). More information on how to access mass vaccination sites will be forthcoming.
All requests to be placed into a different priority go through a process of review/recommendation by a clinical advisory group. Requests can be sent to COVID-19-vaccine-plan-ma@mass.gov to be added for review.
TESTING UPDATES
Topic: Pooled Testing Webinar
Jan 12, 2021
Meeting Recording:
Slides are attached below.
Pooled testing initiative_ 1 12 21_ FINAL
BU SHIELD UPDATES
The School Health Institute for Education and Leadership Development (SHIELD) is one of three public health workforce training centers located in the Lifelong Learning center at the Boston University School of Public Health. SHIELD is seeking a Nurse Educator to work with other training center staff to plan, develop, manage, deliver, and evaluate trainings on school health issues and for a school nurse audience. More information and instructions for applying for this exciting position can be found here.
BinaxNOW training registration is located here on the BU SHIELD website. Please remember that this is a train-the-trainer offering, and there should only be one or two staff from each school/district trained so that we can continue to serve as many school/districts as we need to.
OTHER INFORMATION
A reminder that the DESE Family Communications Toolkit is a shared Google Drive file that is NOT widely available online for various reasons, but the link to the toolkit can be found here.
What Drove The Drop In Kids’ Asthma ER Visits At A Boston Hospital During Lockdown?
SCHOOL NURSES IN THE NEWS!
Brockton Public Schools nurse Ann Linehan fills a syringe with doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to Brockton’s first responders at Brockton High School on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.
ALYSSA STONE/THE ENTERPRISE
Karen Robitaille, MBA, MSN, RN, NCSN
<she, her, hers>
Director of School Health Services
Division of Child/Adolescent Health and Reproductive Health
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
250 Washington St. 5th floor, Boston, MA 02108
cell 781-675-0463
Personal Webex room: https://statema.webex.com/meet/Karen.Robitaille3