Page 6 - MMP-N-NJ CCN 21st Century School Nurse Leadership Book

Introduction

PREFACE
School nurses are key professionals “that collaborate with families, school personnel, other
healthcare providers, and are responsible for the health and wellbeing of school students,
and the school community” pg. 3. School Nursing scope and standards of practice ANA
and NASN 2017.

In 2016, New Jersey Health Initiatives, a national program of Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, funded New Jersey Collaborative Center for Nurses (NJCCN), a grant defined
a need to address the role of New Jersey school nurse as leaders in school health. This
initiative led to a series of New Jersey school nurse retreats during 2017 in which the
participants were charged with using NASN’s Framework for 21st Century Practice™ key
principles and components to brainstorm ideas and initiatives. From those brainstorming
sessions, the inspiration for this toolkit developed.

The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice,TM introduced in 2016, provides
the framework to help school nurses focus on their role of optimal health outcomes
and academic success for all students (NASN, 2016a). Additionally, the framework is in
alignment with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model (WSCC) (ASCD
& CDC, 2014). By using a framework that reflects the uniqueness of school nursing practice,
direction is provided to school nurses as a method to reflect upon their work, and to
integrate the overlapping key principles as part of their job responsibilities. The result
reflects the holistic and comprehensive art and science of school nursing practice; that the
student is at the center of everything.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this toolkit is to identify how the principles and components of the
framework can serve as a guide for school nurses to implement professional development
activities with the goal of promoting student and/or community/public health outcomes.
The Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™ is a model for the foundation of
Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) that many school nurses must develop and implement
as part of their annual individual professional development plan. Use of a model as a
framework shapes professional practice and directs the user toward evidence-based goals
and objectives that encompass the foundation of school health nursing (Glassman, 2016).
Many nurses and schools are already using components of the key principles, but now
have a larger, collective vision of how their efforts contribute to the big picture of the
outcome of their work (Maughan, Duff, & Wright, 2016).

Learning and professional development are elements of a healthy work environment
that provide a source of joy and elevate the inner spirit (Narayanasamy & Penney, 2014).
This sense of joy spills over into our practice and impacts the quality of care and student

outcomes (Cottrell, 2016).

5 1