National School Nurse Day is recognized as a time to celebrate the nursing profession and the specialty of school nursing. On May 11, 2011, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) will recognize the contributions that school nurses make every day to improve the health and success of our Nation’s children, who face more challenging issues today than ever before. This year’s theme, “Vision, Voice, Visibility: Sail Towards Healthy Horizons,” is reflective of the overall positive impact school nurses have on priority one--the health and well-being of students.
Within Bismarck Public Schools there are sixteen nurses meeting the new challenges facing today’s students and actively transforming school communities. “National School Nurse Day emphasizes the school nurse’s critical role in keeping our school communities healthy now, and into the future. “Nurses educate our schools and support the health and well-being of students and staff,” said Evy Monzelowsy, full time Special Education Nurse for the Bismarck Public Schools.
School nurses provide a non-negotiable value for our school’s children, keeping them healthy, in school and ready to learn. Bismarck Public Schools and Bismarck Burleigh Public Health (BBPH) believes every elementary teacher deserves a school nurse so they can focus on teaching success, and every parent deserves to be able to send their child to a school with a nurse, knowing their child will be safe. “National School Nurse Day provides an opportunity for school nurses to articulate what they do to remove or minimize health-related barriers to student success. “We are school nurses; we support student success—which is priority one,” said Monzelowsky.