Fall 2005 | Fall 2006 | Spring 2007
President's Report (Spring 2007) by Carla Lott RN
Time passes quickly and we are already near the end of this school year. This past year was a busy one for USNA and will continue to be eventful next year. The safety of Utah’s Children is an issue we continue to address. As I contemplate the privilege I have been given to be USNA President, I am reminded of a poem that was given to me. It is called, “Butt Prints In The Sand.” It goes as follows:
One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
“Those prints are large and round and neat,
But Lord, they are too big for feet.”
“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”
“And there I dropped you on your butt”
“Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”
I hope you can appreciate the message in this poem and take it to heart as I have. There was a time I enjoyed sitting on the sidelines, thinking I knew everything. I thought I could tell from the sidelines the moves one should take without even knowing all the players. I decided I didn’t want to leave unsightly “Butt Prints” in the sand. I took the challenge to get involved and have been greatly rewarded. I have done things I never imagined and have grown professionally. More importantly, the game looks different from here. I have gotten to know the players and see their talents. I realize how much time and work is done behind the scenes. I have also come to know many of you and the great things you are doing in your schools. There are some frightening things happening in our schools and it is time we all stand up as advocates for Utah’s Children in what ever way we can. You don’t need to be the president to make a difference. There are many creative ways to contribute to the good of “our” schools, the students and the USNA. This state has great school nurses. Great things continue to come from you, “The Great School Nurses of Utah.” Dr. Seuss, in 1976 pretty much sums it up with this, “Unless someone cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. IT’S NOT.” Have a great summer! Carla
President's Report (Fall 2006) by Carla Lott RN
I hope you are all excited for the upcoming conference November 10th. Our focus is on making the difference for the “One.” I know each and everyone of you have made the difference in the life of a child! It is not our style to flaunt it, yet we should. We need to make positive statements about the good that we do. Our supervisor, Margie Golden is good at that. She puts our work in dollar amounts. For example, the immunizations we work on and follow-up save the school two to three thousand dollars per student. That adds up in a hurry when you compile the number for the whole district!
I found a thought by Ralph Marston titled “Over and Over Again.” It goes as follows:
“What you do over and over again becomes a part of you. What you do over and over again becomes so comfortable and familiar that you don’t even think about it.
So what do you do over and over again? What thoughts do you think to yourself again and again?
What words do you repeatedly say to others? What habits have you built into your daily life?
Do something once, and it has a small effect. Do something over and over again, and it can grow into a powerful, unstoppable force.
Success is built not by getting lucky on a one – shot attempt. Real success comes by integrating the small seemingly trivial positive actions firmly into the fabric of your life.
The road to fulfillment is not hidden or complicated, and yet it does involve many steps . . . one after another.
Achieve the small goals, over and over again, and they will surely grow into magnificent achievements.”
I share this with you to remind you that we are accomplishing great things! We should all acknowledge this to ourselves! There are many children’s parents out there that sing our praises! Those of you with unreasonable student to nurse ratios need to pat yourselves on the back for not giving up. Even if you only help ONE child, you have made a difference to that one. You have made a friend for life that may one day be a legislator.
It is important we remember who we are and what we stand for. As I listened to Senator Mayne talk to the Utah State Board of Nursing on how they are allowing the others to chip out bigger and bigger pieces of the law, (first Glucagon and now Insulin), he commented on the important role we have and how sad it is that the current legislators do not get the picture or care about what we do and our concerns for student safety.
It is a privilege to represent you and work side by side with the board. We have incredible people working hard in Utah Schools. Gratitude is not enough to express the thanks we owe each of you. There are a lot of positive things happening. Little things are happening, over and over. Never giving up, just looking for other avenues and doing it over and over, never tiring, moving on over and over. . ..
My message, Keep doing the good things you are doing. Concentrate on being indispensable! Be kind, be loving, go the extra mile, and do it over and over again. Make a difference, and if they don’t appreciate us they may lose us and THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Carla Lott RN, USNA President 2006/2007
Lott810@alpine.k12.ut.us or czlott@juno.com Tele: (801) 851-7024
President’s Report (Fall 2005) by Deborah Milan-Niler
In late June, twelve of us attended the NASN conference in Washington, D.C. The conference was very educational and it was so nice to be with 1,200 other school nurses as well as having the opportunity to network. One of the days of the conference was devoted to lobbying our state senators, congressmen, and representatives. Fortunately, we were able to visit with all of our legislators or their aides. The focus was to specifically talk about health issues that affect Utah’s school children.
The most memorable visit was with Senator Orrin Hatch and his legislative aides who represent Health and Human Services and Education. We discussed the health issues of Utah’s school children and thanked Senator Hatch for his dedication and continued involvement in the funding of the CHIP program. We also discussed the importance of having a school nurse consultant at the federal level to represent the interest of school nurses through the Department of Education. This specific talking point is a goal of NASN in the coming years. Senator Hatch expressed great interest in this and was very supportive. He was interested in reviewing this further and information he requested was sent to his office this past summer. Rob Bishop’s office was very gracious in providing tours of the Capitol for us. All in all the food, shopping, and sightseeing were fabulous!!! I encourage all of you to plan on attending the next NASN conference which will be in New York City June 30th – July 3rd, 2006. It will be a magnificent conference and I hope many of you will try and attend.
The USNA board had a working retreat meeting in September. The board is very enthusiastic about this year. The board identified many goals to focus on this year. The following list identifies some of the priority goals:
The fall conference “Healthy, Happy, Hopeful Nursing – The time is now!” was a fantastic success. The conference committee worked very hard to provide informative and exciting speakers for us to enjoy. One of the focuses of the conference was School Nurse Advocacy. We were fortunate to have Paula Tuck, a parent from Tooele speak about her petition (The Michaela Petition) to get more school nurses and share her story about what happened to her daughter during school. She is determined to have a school nurse in every school in Utah and has contacted media from all over the United States to publicize her concerns and gain support. We are very fortunate to have a parent advocate whose interest is for the health and safety of Utah’s school children as well as for school nurses. Paula asks that all of us as school nurses please get these petitions signed in our individual communities. Remember that Every Signature Counts.
Unfortunately Senator Mayne was unable to attend the conference, but sent a letter to the membership concerning his support for school nurses. As many of you know Senator Mayne is sponsoring a bill to request funds from the legislature to form a task force of all interested stakeholders (including school nurses) to study the issues of school nurse staffing as well as medication administration in the schools. AFT and USNA are very involved with contributing to writing this bill. A copy of the letter from Senator Mayne is included in this newsletter.
We also had the privilege of hearing from Janet Bass, AFT’s (American Federation of Teachers) media specialist. Janet shared some great tips and ideas on how to promote school nursing and how to work with the media. She engaged several members of the audience in role playing to help teach us what to say and do when confronted by the media and feel comfortable in that role. Coincidentally, Paula Tuck, Senator Mayne and I were interviewed right after the conference by reporters from USA Today for an article on school nurses and the shortage of nurses in schools. The media has taken an interest in this subject and have been interviewing school nurses from around the country. This article will focus on why some states have more school nurses and others have less and will be on the front page of USA Today the day before Thanksgiving. The Deseret News also interviewed Paula and me for an article that they will be running about school nurses. (copy attached) Paula, Senator Mayne and I were interviewed by Channel 4 News for the same reason. Now that we have gained the listening ear of our law makers, representatives and the media about school nurses and the shortage of nurses in our schools I want to encourage and challenge each of you to get the word out to your communities and let people know that there isn’t a school nurse in every school and that the health and safety of our children is at risk in the absence of the expertise of a professional school nurse. I also encourage each of you to get involved in some way in USNA. Run for an office, or join a committee. It is really important to have all the different areas of our state represented. Your ideas, successes, and struggles are important to us as an organization in order to learn and grow together.
I hope all of you had a great start to your year. Please remember that we are all in this together. Have A Happy Thanksgiving
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