May 12 is National School Nurse Day

May 12 is National School Nurse Day
Posted on 05/12/2021
This is the image for the news article titled May 12 is National School Nurse Day

As the nation pauses to celebrate nurses in every state, city, and county, DeSoto ISD also recognizes its School Nurses during National Nurse Appreciation Week and on National School Nurse Day. 

National Nurses Week has been designated as a time to honor the commitment, dedication, and hard work of those in the nursing profession. It is also a global opportunity to encourage our nurses to continue to protect and serve our students, staff, and their families and help maintain the wellness of our learning system. 

Like many school nurses, the DeSoto Health Service team helps families feel confident that their children, even those with more complex health concerns, will receive the care they need because of the district’s effort to ensure a qualified healthcare professional is staffed at every campus. 

Our school nurses are very versatile, service-oriented professionals who work daily to meet the critical and non-critical needs of the school community. From providing band-aids and ice packs to managing medicine distribution, immunization records, and COVID-19 protocols, to providing immediate on-site medical support when needed amongst others, our nurses are the vital link between health and learning. 

These professionals are in a position to make a positive difference for children every day. School nurses play a very critical role in improving public health and in ensuring students’ academic success by addressing factors that may impact health and wellness. They provide health care through assessment, intervention, and follow-up for all students in a school setting. 

National Nurses Week celebration began in 1954. The first National Nurses Week occurred in October and commemorated the hundredth anniversary of a British Nurse Florence Nightingale’s work in Crimea where she selflessly tended to wounded soldiers and whose advocacy set the standard for modern nursing today. In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan declared May 6 as the National Recognition Day for Nurses. Then, in 1990, the American Nurses Association extended that day into a week of celebrations, culminating on Nightingale’s birthday on May 12.

DeSoto ISD appreciates the continuous contributions of our healthcare professionals and recognized this day with an appreciation celebration and a proclamation from the DeSoto ISD School Board.