The Arizona Department of Education, with funding support from the Arizona Department of Health Services, implemented the Arizona School Nurse Access Program (ASAP) , from 2022-2024. This program, aptly named, aimed to expediently increase the number of school nurses in Arizona.
The ASAP supported professional growth and development of both new to practiced school nurses as well as the incumbent workforce. The goal of the ASAP was to foster a highly educated workforce that functioned to the full extent of their license and education. The COVID-19 funding through the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Workforce Development Crisis Emergency Cooperative Agreement made the ASAP possible.
To optimize the health of school age children by increasing the number of school nurses and increasing the core competencies of school nurses in public schools throughout Arizona.
The ASAP Mentor Program was established to partner experienced school nurses with new nurses hired through ASAP with the goal of increasing new school nurse job satisfaction, ability to demonstrate core competencies and intent to stay. The ASAP Mentor served as a role model, teacher, coach and advisor for the assigned newly hired ASAP school nurse for a year. Mentors attended monthly support sessions with mentee(s) and were available for calls and emails from their mentee between sessions.
Eligibility Criteria:
Mentor Requirements:
Mentor Benefits:
The Arizona School Nurse Access Program (ASAP) National Certified School Nurse (NCSN) Program was established to support at least 40 Arizona school nurses in successfully testing for and obtaining their national school nurse certification from the National Board for Certification of School Nurses, 20 Arizona school nurses in 2022 and another 20 in 2023. School nursing is a nationally recognized nursing specialty, becoming a NCSN demonstrates professional recognition of expertise in this specialty and commitment to lifelong learning and quality care. The ASAP was dedicated to increasing the number of Arizona school nurses meeting nationally recognized standards for providing excellence in school nursing care.
The ASAP covered the cost of each Arizona school nurse applicant in seeking and obtaining their NCSN following acceptance of their application to the ASAP NCSN Program.
To learn more about the NCSN and the exam process, visit: https://www.nbcsn.org/
Expenses reimbursed and covered by ASAP for those accepted in the ASAP NCSN Program include:
In addition, ASAP provided:
Eligibility Criteria for ASAP NCSN Program:
These courses, available through MCCD, were offered to ASAP nurses:
Summer 2022 School Nurse Courses
Fall 2022 School Nurse Courses
Dear Arizona Nurses,
For the last year, we have talked about our need for Arizona specific school nurse data. We now have an opportunity to collect and submit this information in partnership with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) so we can generate our own reports at the local, state and national level.
We are asking for your time and support in completing the surveys below. NASN is collecting data through the Every Student Counts! Project, assessing four main areas:
Each set of questions will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and can be completed separately from one another. This way, you may complete surveys over time and submit as you go, allowing for breaks between submissions.
It is through the collection and analysis of this data that NASN hopes to “influence local, state, and national student health policy; identify best practices in school health; and better understand child health.” It is the hope that we can use this data in Arizona to advocate for school nursing, for the needs of our students and to improve youth health outcomes. The data collected for the Every Student Counts Data set will be collected at the school level. Once data is collected, the aggregate report of your school's data can be shared with you in a summary format similar to the template NASN uses for national data. If your school district would like to report data at district level, please contact sarah@azffn.org.
Here is a sample data summary template from NASN.
Do I need a data agreement to submit my data?
The data being collected in the Every Student Counts Data Set is deidentified, aggregate data. No student identifiable information will be collected or shared with NASN. For this reason, no data agreement is likely needed. However, check with your district privacy officer regarding the sharing of data. In large districts, there may actually be a person who has this title. However, in most districts, the privacy officer is part of another district leader's responsibilities. Check the district policies for the person who makes final decisions for authorization to release data to parents and outside agencies. The privacy officer is most often the Special Education Director or an Assistant Superintendent. If the district has not identified anyone responsible for student data privacy, ultimately the Superintendent is the accountable privacy officer.
Resources
Support
We are here to help you successfully submit your answers to the surveys. If you have a question, please contact sarah@azffn.org or call (623) 455-6186.
Survey Questions in PDF (Individual School and District Level)
Ready to Submit
When you are ready to begin data submission, use the links below to start:
The Arizona School Nurse Access Program (ASAP) School Nurse Transition to Practice (T2P) Program supported at least 20 Arizona school nurses hired who were new to school nursing by providing additional school nurse competency-based courses beyond a school health office orientation provided by the school/school district, a mentor for a year and ongoing support from school nurse experts through meetings and an online communication platform for T2P school nurses. School nursing is a nationally recognized nursing specialty, and competency-based coursework in this specialty area will guide the new school nurse in optimizing the health of school aged children while also creating a supportive environment to increase school nurse retention.
The T2P Program enrolled 20 Arizona school nurses in the spring semester 2023. The program consisted of online school nurse coursework through the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and a mentor pairing for each T2P Program enrollee. The T2P school nurses were assigned an incumbent Arizona school nurse mentor for one year. The T2P school nurse was required to maintain open communication with their school nurse mentor and to attend monthly support meetings with ASAP staff and their school nurse mentor.
When enrolled in the T2P Program, the ASAP covered the cost of registering for the MCCCD School Nurse Coursework. The T2P Program covered the cost of membership to the American Nurses Association (ANA)/Arizona Nurses Association (AzNA) and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN)/School Nurse Organization of Arizona (SNOA) for one year.
Resources
Sarah Portle served as the Program Manager for the Arizona School Nurse Access Program (ASAP), working with the Arizona Foundation for the Future of Nursing. Sarah is a graduate of both Aurora University, with her BS in Nursing and of Eastern University, with her M.Ed. in School Health Services. She has been a school nurse for over 14 years, working in almost every school health care setting. Sarah also serves as a Board Member for the National Association of School Nurses. In her free time, Sarah enjoys hiking and travelling with her family. Sarah is excited to use her passion for students and nursing to advance the practice of school nurses in Arizona.
Trisha served as the Administrative Assistant for the Arizona School Nurse Access Program (ASAP). Her career path in administrative and operations roles in the medical field have taught her everything from maintaining employee relationships to managing nitty-gritty details of technical projects. Born and raised in the Midwest, Trisha used to spend lots of time running around barefoot in the grass playing frisbee with her dog. Now when she is not working, she likes to spend her time traveling, cooking, doing arts and crafts of all kinds, and getting her hands dirty in the garden.
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