A good nurse shares comfort, compassion & caring without a prescription – T. Guillemets
Our Mission
Elevate the quality of school nursing and provide leadership for the delivery of quality health programs for all Southwestern Ohio school children.
SWOSNA has membership with representation from seventeen southwestern Ohio counties: Adams I Auglaize I Brown I Butler I Clark I Clermont I Clinton I Darke I Greene I Hamilton I Highland I Mercer I Miami I Montgomery I Preble I Shelby I Warren.
Message from our President
Happy New Year Southwest Ohio School Nurses!
I hope you are all refreshed after winter break. I know January and February can be challenging with the “let down” from the holidays and cold weather, etc. Remember to take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally as we pass the halfway mark of the school year. Participate in activities that bring you joy. Reach out to friends and foster positive relationships. You can’t take care of others if you don’t look after yourself as well.
We have a few exciting opportunities in 2023 for Ohio school nurses. First, OASN will celebrate its Golden Anniversary - 50 years of serving Ohio’s school nurses! I am so grateful for our professional organizations. They not only provide guidance for best practices and supporting data for our districts, they provide camaraderie and a chance to network with other school nurses. I value the relationships I have made over the years with my involvement with SWOSNA, OASN, and NASN. Before becoming involved, I felt like an island. It can be difficult being the only person in a building who does what you do and the only person who thinks the way you think. School nursing is a truly unique specialty, and it is one that is not easily understood by the education community or really the nursing community. When I found this community of nurses who faced what I was facing, who could understand how I feel, it changed me for the better, and I’m so grateful to count these individuals as friends as well as colleagues. The OASN conference in April will be a great opportunity to meet and network with nurses from our region as well as the other regions. I’m sure there will be an added sense of excitement as we will be able to celebrate this Golden Anniversary together.
This June, the NASN annual conference will be held in Orlando, FL from June 30-July 3, 2023. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet School Nurses from across the country and to see what they are accomplishing. This year Ohio's own Kate King will be installed for her term as our NASN President! I hope we can get as many members of SWOSNA to Orlando for this momentous occasion. Kate is so deserving, and she will make a wonderful NASN president. Let’s get as many SWOSNA members to both of these conferences to mark these milestones together.
Lastly, SWOSNA will be hosting our Winter General Meeting on Tuesday evening, January 24th at Dayton Children's Hospital. Please see the
Heidi Sandlin, RN, LSN
Winter GENERAL MEETING - Deadline Saturday 1/21/23 at Midnight
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Time: 5:30-8:30pm (Dinner 5:30, General Meeting 6:00, Educational Program 6:30 - 8:00 PM)
Location: Dayton Children's Hospital
One Children's Place, Dayton OH 45429
PDR, Rooms A&B
Cost: Includes dinner (Potato bar/side salad/dessert/drink) and facility fees
$25 SWOSNA members
$30 Non-members
Topic: Pediatric Sleep Disorders and How They Can Affect Performance, Behavior, etc. in the School Setting.
Presenter: Lindsey Combs, Polysomnographer RCP
Outcomes:
1. Learners will gain knowledge about sleep disorders that affect students at school and how to screen and better educate in the school setting.
This continuing nursing education program is being provided by Dayton Children's Hospital
1.5 Contact Hours will be provided
***We will be collecting donations for our annual Conference baskets and will also have a basket to raffle off that evening. Raffle tickets that evening will be $1 each/ $5 for 6/ $10 for 13. If you are interested in pre-purchasing raffle tickets, please choose your choice in the registration drop down list ***
Please go to the Paypal button below to pay. Please DO NOT use VENMO button. We are experiencing some issues with this. If you have used it to register, please email our Treasurer, Betina Irwin at betina.irwin@ketteringschools.org to discuss your transaction.
SUBSTITUTE NURSES NEEDED!
****If you know of any nurses that would be willing to sub in the area in which they live, please have them reach out to their school district's Nurse in charge or Human Resource office to inquire. Many of our districts are looking for qualified subs and would appreciate any help that you can send their way. Requirements are an active Ohio RN license, RN and preferably BSN, and current nursing experience preferably with pediatrics, diabetes, or special education, and current CPR certification. ****