School Nurses Across the State Receive Workforce Professional Development

The Coordinated School Health Team of the Office of School and Student Supports at the Maine Department of Education is proud to report that as part of the funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for COVID-19 Emergency Response, Public Health Crisis Response, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, 103 school nurses from across the State of Maine have received certification in emergency procedures to help strengthen the quality of health services within schools.

Training courses were held in Caribou, Bangor, Waterville, Lewiston, and Portland.  The training focused on recognition, assessment, and acuity of injuries and/or illness.  By developing the current school nurse workforce, we can improve health equity in care across the state.  This supports the CDC Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model, allowing students to reach their highest potential.

A school nurse who attended one of the trainings recently, remarked, “I will have been an RN for 50 years next year (many years as a flight nurse and NICU, PICU, and ICU/CCU nurse) and this “old” person learned several new things yesterday!”