education

SHIELD Develops Leadership Series to Empower School Nurses

Two innovative new courses equip Massachusetts school nurses with the leadership and advocacy skills to promote public health in their communities.

While a teacher usually supports a student for just one year, with the student moving to a different classroom and teacher in the next grade, a school nurse can provide continuous support to the same student over several years, depending on the school system. Beverly Heinze-Lacey, director of the School Health Institute for Education and Leadership Development (SHIELD) at the School of Public Health, believes that this extended engagement, when combined with proper training, uniquely equips school nurses to be highly effective advocates for the wellbeing of both children and their families.

“They are the ones that see the kids, see the families, and recognize the barriers that they are facing,” says Heinze-Lacey. From delivering basic healthcare, such as screening for vision problems and managing type 1 diabetes, to intervening when a child is experiencing emotional distress from bullying or family issues, school nurses play a vital role in identifying and addressing children’s needs. Yet, Heinze-Lacey points out, school nurses often lack access to the training and resources they need to navigate the wide range of physical, social, and emotional challenges facing today’s students.

That is where SHIELD comes in. Established in 2016 in partnership with the Activist Lab and now housed within the Department of Community Health Sciences, SHIELD offers a variety of innovative educational programs to provide continuing education in the clinical, management, and leadership skills needed by school nurses and other school health personnel.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, SHIELD launched a nine-part virtual series on supporting mental health in schools. When the initiative was announced, Erin Sivak, a nurse educator and SHIELD’s assistant manager, said, “Our goal is to provide [school health professionals] with the necessary skills and information to feel confident in helping students and staff work through their unique experiences and mental health concerns and to create a safe and supportive school environment for all.”

This year, to further enhance the ability of school nurses to promote health in their communities, SHIELD has introduced two courses focused on leadership with plans to establish a dedicated leadership series. The goal of leadership training is to help school nurses recognize the power of their own voices and the value of what they bring to the table, says Heinze-Lacey. “[School nurses] bring an incredible collection of knowledge and resources that can help improve student health and achievement in school. For example, all of the refugee families that are coming into Massachusetts—the [school] nurses are receiving those families and their children and looking for resources and ways to advocate for these families.”

To date, over 300 people have enrolled in The Essentials of School Nurse Leadership, a 3.25-hour, self-paced virtual leadership course SHIELD introduced in January. Feedback from participants who have finished the course is so far overwhelmingly positive. One anonymous comment read, “This is one of the best online courses I have ever attended. I LOVED it and really feel like I can immediately begin implementing what I have learned into my everyday practice. Thank you!”

Development of The Essentials of School Nurse Leadership was made possible through donations from BU School of Nursing alumni, in particular a large donation from Nancy Beeuwkes. SHIELD is otherwise funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and partners with the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine Barry M. Manuel Center for Continuing Education to deliver continuing education credits to nurses and other school health professionals upon completion of its courses.

Building on the success of The Essentials of School Nurse Leadership, SHIELD added a second leadership course, Strengthening Your Leadership Presence and Management Practices, designed to be completed by school nurses already versed in the basics. In October, 19 enrollees in the Fall 2023 cohort began to build their skills in communication, cultural competency, and data-informed decision making through a series of live webinars, self-paced activities, and peer discussions. During the first month of the program, participants focused on applying these skills to their personal practice, and now, in the second month of the program, they are concentrating on how to lead and manage others. In the final month of the program, they will expand their scope to the leadership and management of organizations.

Heinze-Lacey envisions many ways school nurses could apply what they learn in SHIELD’s leadership series. “It might be as simple as: we are seeing a lot of injuries in the playground on a particular piece of equipment—I am seeing it, you are seeing it, but do we have the data to support that? School nurses [can] create systems to be able to collect that information, collect it consistently, and then share it back, so that something can be done to fix that equipment,” she says.

Or, Heinze-Lacey says, school nurses could look at the community more broadly and ask, “Do the children have access to healthy food?” She knows nurses who have helped organize a supply of vegetables from local community gardens for families in their schools. “Nurses should know these [opportunities] exist in the community and be part of the conversation to solve problems.”