Today, May 8 is National School Nurse Day!   School nurses optimize student health and learning every day of the year.  But, on National School Nurse Day, we take time to celebrate and recognize the contributions that school nurses are making to the health and learning of our 27,700 students. Public Health Nurses from Arlington’s School Health Bureau staff the school clinics and provide complex services for students, including:

• Working with families to ensure that new and existing students are up-to-date with all required school immunizations and health requirements
• Creating and implementing Individualized Health Care Plans (IHCPs) for the thousands of students who require in-school health services for asthma, diabetes, seizures, cancer, life-threatening food allergies, and many more
• Connecting families to medical, dental, mental health and other resources in Arlington County and the greater Capital region
• Working with APS and communicable disease experts to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks
• Training APS staff to recognize and respond to health emergencies that require use of emergency medications (such as insulin and epinephrine)
• Working with families and APS to assist students in special education or who require accommodation for physical or mental health disabilities (such as “504” plans)
• Providing vaccinations at school

Please join us in honoring our school nurses as we celebrate National School Nurse Day.