Page 8 - MMP-N-NJ CCN 21st Century School Nurse Leadership Book

Permission to use granted by the National Association of School Nurses. Re-printed with
permission by the National Association of School Nurses.

ST
ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK FOR 21 CENTURY SCHOOL NURSING PRACTICE™

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN), identified that a more current,
comprehensive framework that reflects school nursing practice was needed. NASN believed
that the framework must include concepts that represent the complexity of school nursing
practice, embodies evidence-based practice and is guided by the scope and standards
of professional school nursing practice. A panel of experts that included NASN nursing
staff, outside experts in conceptual framework development, practicing school nurses and
school nurse leaders provided input and feedback (NASN, 2016a).

The draft of the framework was first published in July 2015, with final revisions made
in October 2016. NASN’s Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™ central
doctrine is that student-centered nursing care occurs within the context of the students’
family and school community. See Figure 1.

Additionally, it was important to align the framework with the Whole School, Whole
Community, Whole Child Model (WSCC) (Lewallen, Hunt, Potts-Datema, Zaza, & Giles,
2015; Maughan, Duff, et al., 2016). The WSCC model integrated and built upon the old
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Coordinated School Health model. A collaborative
effort from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and the
CDC, including input from NASN, developed this new model. See Figure 2.

The purpose of the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice™ is to provide an
evidence-based, visual illustration of the holistic role school nurses play in keeping students
healthy, safe and ready to learn. NASN envisioned the application of the framework to
multiple areas of the school nurse practice. For example:

• Novice school nurses can use the framework to enhance their understanding of the
expectations of the school nurse role;

• Facilitate professional development;
• Enhance the vision of how daily activities fit into keeping students healthy, safe,
and ready to learn;
• Incorporate the key principles and components into school nurse job descriptions and
provide guidance for annual reviews;
• Guide the development of continuing education and school nurse orientation programs;
• Provide foundation and focus for research and evidence-based practice projects;
• Share the framework with internal and external stakeholders and partners to create
meaningful discussions that can advance school nursing practice and student health;
• Provide an opportunity to explore potential shift in practice from technical (task) to
professional school nursing practice;
• Offer ways to investigate opportunities to reform the healthcare system to improve
outcomes; and
• Creates framework that enhances the school nurses’ ability to articulate how their role
impacts students’ health (NASN, 2016a). 3