School Nurse Day - May 6, 2020

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 nation’s students. A PA Certified School nurse is required to have an RN licensure, a bachelor of science degree in nursing and a PA Department of Education school nurse certification plus additional education.

Salisbury Township School District School Nurses, Loretta Becker and Christine Tripp, play an integral role in the health of students, regardless of whether learning is being done in school or remotely. They continue to work from home to complete paperwork required by the state, attend meetings, update procedures and policies and keep the STSD community up to date regarding the Covid 19 pandemic. School nurses support students and student health every day of the year.

Registered nurses, Joanne Marzola, Pam Miles, Sarah Ongiri, Michelle Peters, Patricia Seiger and Lynn Welliver work in the health rooms on a part time basis to treat ill and injured students, give medications and assist the School Nurses.

This year of the 2,645 students served in the STSD district, which includes STSD public schools and Swain, Lehigh Christian Academy and St. Thomas More, there were:

11,769 ill visits

2687 injury visits

6,850 health screenings

5,715 medications administered

(Numbers would normally be higher, but students were not in the building the last 3 months of the year.)

The School Nurse is experienced in illness surveillance. When a School Nurse is present to meet student health needs, children can focus on learning. As schools reopen, the School Nurses and the Health Room Assistants will be more important than ever.