[MaineSchoolNurse] Follow Up to Office Hours 9/6/23

Thu Sep 7 09:35:39 EDT 2023

Good morning!

This is the follow up email to our first office hours yesterday, September 6. It was great to see 55 of you! We started out office hours by discussing the structure of our team. You can read the notes below.

Coordinated School Health<https://www.maine.gov/doe/schoolsupports/schoolhealth> within the Office of School and Student Supports includes the following: Health Education, Physical Education, Health Promotion and Wellness, Data collection efforts associated with Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey and the School Health Profiles.

Emily Poland, MPH, RN, NCSN (she/her)
School Nurse Consultant
Coordinator – Coordinated School Health
Email: emily.poland at maine.gov<mailto:emily.poland at maine.gov>
Phone: 207-592-0387

Sarah DeCato, MSN, RN, NCSN (She/Her)
School Nurse Specialist-Coordinated School Health
Email: sarah.decato at maine.gov<mailto:sarah.decato at maine.gov>
Phone: 207-441-3812

Infectious Disease,

Early Childhood and Education,

Emergency Preparedness

Tammy Diaz, MPH, RN, NCSN (she/her)
School Nurse Specialist - Coordinated School Health
Email: tammy.diaz at maine.gov<mailto:tammy.diaz at maine.gov>
Phone: 207-446-8213
Chronic Disease Management,

School Based Health Centers.

Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention

School Nurse Regional Liaison-Northeast

Interim Contact: Emily.Poland at maine.gov<mailto:Emily.Poland at maine.gov>

School Nurse Regional Liaison-Central

Interim Contact: Tammy.Diaz at maine.gov<mailto:Tammy.Diaz at maine.gov>

School Nurse Regional Liaison-Western

Interim Contact: Sarah.DeCato at Maine.gov<mailto:Sarah.DeCato at Maine.gov>

School Nurse Regional Liaison-Southern

Lori Huot, BSN, RN, NCSN
Email: lori.huot at maine.gov<mailto:lori.huot at maine.gov>
Phone: 207-530-0374

Maine DOE<http://www.maine.gov/doe> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MaineDepartmentofEducation1/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/mdoenews> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/mainedepted/?hl=en> | Maine DOE Newsroom<https://mainedoenews.net/> | School Health Services<https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/safeschools/healthed/nurseresources/guidelines>

Office Hours on first Wednesday 3:15-4:00. This is for updates and for you all to ask questions and connect. There will not be contact hours provided for office hours.

New School Nurse Community of Practice is semi-monthly. Registration is open. The first is scheduled for Sept 21. https://www.maine.gov/doe/calendar#calendar-6c6f22e1-033b-47cd-8ea3-0906acf8c9e4-event-llo7xms8   Regional Communities of Practice are on hold for now. We will re-visit once we have full staff.
Webinar Series for Professional Learning: September 26 on Oral Health. Click here for more information and registration<https://www.maine.gov/doe/calendar#calendar-6c6f22e1-033b-47cd-8ea3-0906acf8c9e4-event-llz9p30w>.

Workforce Development Initiatives 2023-24

50 Maine nurses, who applied and were selected last spring are registered for a review course later in September and will be sitting for the national exam at some point in the next year. We wish them all good luck! Last year 43 nurses sat for the exam with 37 of them passing. That is an 86% pass rate, compared to the national average of 70%.  We currently have 75 nurses who are residents of Maine who hold National Certification as a School Nurse. I say Maine residents, because there are at least two school nurses working in Maine who are residents of NH who hold national certification.

Northeastern University School Nursing Leadership Academy The details for this are being ironed out but we will be opening up applications to be part of the 23-24 cohort within NEUSHA’s leadership academy at no cost. The objective is to strengthen leadership confidence, values and competencies in order to improve student health and achievement in Maine schools. Outcomes include identifying competencies for improvement and leadership style, creating a plan for professional growth, and demonstrating best practices for leadership. More information to come soon (a flyer is attached with information about the academy). See the attached flyer.

Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP), Fourth Edition which is an evidence-based resource of essential medical content for the assessment and management of children in Maine schools. Classed will be offered a few times during the school year in different locations. Once we have those scheduled, we’ll communicate that to you all.

Comprehensive Electronic Health Record Pilot- At the end of last school year there was an opportunity to apply to be part of the cohort. Ten school districts have received notification and will be moving forward with their selected electronic health record. There may be further opportunities for other districts to take part and I will share that as I know more.

COVID-19 protocols are the same as last year. We point to the US CDC guidelines<https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/isolation.html#:~:text=If%20you%20had%20symptoms&text=If%20you%20test%20positive%20for,during%20these%20first%205%20days.> which say:

When you have COVID-19, isolation is counted in days, as follows:

If you had no symptoms

  *   Day 0 is the day you were tested (not the day you received your positive test result)

  *   Day 1 is the first full day following the day you were tested

  *   If you develop symptoms<https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html> within 10 days of when you were tested, the clock restarts at day 0 on the day of symptom onset

If you had symptoms

  *   Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when you tested positive

  *   Day 1 is the first full day after the day your symptoms<https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html> started

 COVID19 Tests: there are no available tests from DOE for schools to order. If your school wants to continue to offer testing for symptomatic individuals, you will need to order from a supplier. If you still have tests on hand and they are expired, you can check with the FDA to see if the expiration has been extended. If not, it is ok to toss in the regular trash.

Immunizations Discussion: Discussed temporary medical exemptions and/or catch-up schedules. This is what the regulations say: For children who have not received vaccinations on a schedule that is in accordance with this rule, the child or parent, in consultation with a Maine-licensed physician, registered nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant, may determine an appropriate catch-up schedule that will meet immunity requirements for this rule. This plan for immunization must be maintained in the child’s health record.

There is the FAQ document<https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Vaccination%20FAQ.10.2022%20Update_0.pdf> for immunizations that has the answers to the most asked.

ImmPact does require annual renewal of your user agreement. If you have had trouble accessing the immunization records online, this might be why. Contact ImmunizeMe.DHHS at Maine.gov<mailto:ImmunizeMe.DHHS at Maine.gov>

The team is working to put together a mid-month Newsletter that will be sent via the listserv. This will combine the professional development opportunities that Tammy has been sharing the past few months with highlights, questions to ponder, good news, etc. If you have good news or item of interest, feel free to share it with us through your school nurse regional liaison.

Be sure to bookmark the Guidelines for School Health Services<https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/safeschools/healthed/nurseresources/guidelines> webpage-it is being updated and will hopefully be a great tool for you in your practice this year.

If you haven't already registered for Office Hours (next one is October 4), <https://mainestate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ud-6gpjovH9SPlYi0dYM0CNBIWSYdt_cI> please take a few minutes to do so.

________________________________________

Emily Poland, MPH, RN, NCSN (she/her)
School Nurse Consultant
Coordinator – Coordinated School Health
Office of School and Student Supports
Maine Department of Education
23 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0023
Email: emily.poland at maine.gov<mailto:emily.poland at maine.gov>
Phone: 207-592-0387
Maine DOE<http://www.maine.gov/doe> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MaineDepartmentofEducation1/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/mdoenews> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/mainedepted/?hl=en> | Maine DOE Newsroom<https://mainedoenews.net/> | School Health Services<https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/safeschools/healthed/nurseresources/guidelines>

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