State Advocacy Resources

Background

Adults hold an overwhelmingly positive view of school nurses and the role they play in keeping students safe, healthy, and ready to learn. There is bipartisan support for ensuring that every school has a nurse. In fact, 87% of adults have a favorable opinion of school nurses, making them the highest-rated group among school staff, surpassing teachers (85%) and principals (78%). After being informed of the specific responsibilities of school nurses, favorability further increases to 91%.

School nurses are widely viewed as essential to student health and wellness, with broad public support for ensuring that they are present in every school. The critical role they play, combined with strong backing for policies that ensure their funding, underscores their importance in the education system. The public's recognition of the value of school nurses is high, and this extends to voter preferences, demonstrating the role school nurses play not just in health but in shaping future policy and educational priorities.

Furthermore, September 30, 2024 was the deadline to spend the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds and 85% of people support renewing this funding. After being informed of the roles of school nurses, support for increased funding rises to 89%. This support crosses political lines and impacts voter preferences, with over two-thirds of voters more likely to back candidates at the local, state, or federal level who support increased funding for school nurses.

It is critical that we advocate at the local, state, and national levels for increased funding and access to school nursing services in the school setting. Your voice is critical to educating elected officials about school nursing and the health of children. We must ensure that our elected officials understand the qualifications, role, scope of practice and how school nurses contribute to important academic outcomes.

Your voice is critical!

Setting Advocacy Priorities

It’s important that each Affiliate set Advocacy Priorities to help guide advocacy efforts. Use the following to guide your Affiliate in setting Advocacy Priorities.

~ Advocacy Priorities define key issues of importance to your State Affiliate.

~ Your Priorities will serve as a framework for your advocacy.

~ Helps to prioritize engagement on issues.

Develop “Core Advocacy Priorities”

Questions to consider:

  • Look to the mission of your organization.
  • What major issues keep coming up at the state level?
  • What is needed to improve school nursing in your state?
  • Look at NASN’s Advocacy Priorities as examples.

NASN Advocacy Priorities and Legislative Examples

These are only a few examples of legislative examples NASN advocates for under Advocacy Priorities. However, these priorities are broad enough to allow flexibility and adaptability to add additional issues as they arise.

Student Well-being: Student well-being is intricately connected to the well-being of the broader community, including adults and school nurses. Student well-being is not isolated but is deeply intertwined with the well-being of the entire school ecosystem. NASN advocates for the well-being and safety of all students and is committed to advocating for health equity for all children/youth in the country.

  • Legislation that prohibits all flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars, and vaping.

School Nursing Workforce: NASN advocates for the school nursing workforce to ensure a robust and sustainable pipeline of school nurses and their full-time presence in every school in the country to ensure every student has equitable access to quality health care in schools.

  • NASN’s NURSE (Nurses for Under-Resourced Schools Everywhere) Act.

Securing Sustainable Funding: NASN advocates for sufficient funding to ensure school nurses are present in every school in the country, including the simplification of Medicaid billing and secure sustainable funding for school health services.

  • Expanded Medicaid School-Based Services.

Evidence of School Nursing Value: By employing these strategies, school nurse advocates can build a compelling case for the value of school nursing that resonates with decision-makers and stakeholders across education, healthcare, and policy domains. NASN advocates for collecting evidence to demonstrate the value of school nursing for student well-being and academic success.

  • Present data-driven reports to school boards and legislators demonstrating return on investment.

Contacting Your State Representative

An important aspect of advocacy is building your relationship with your elected officials. Your elected officials depend on content experts, such as school nurses to inform and educate them on important issues of that happen in schools, particularly school health. This is your opportunity to use your voice and advocate for the need for school nurses to help students have their health needs met in order to achieve their best academic success.

Furthermore, many elected representatives do not have the knowledge of what a school nurse does on a daily basis. You can provide key information and education to Legislators and their staff. Legislators are looking for key subject matter experts to provide advice and understand the intersection of health and education as they consider important legislation that will affect children and schools.

Additionally, being a nurse is one of the most trusted and respected careers in this country. Your word carries a lot of weight. Elected leaders want to hear from constituents – your voice is important.

Develop Your Message

Letter/Email Templates 

This template that can be customized with your information before sending to your state representative and senator - COMING SOON. The template provides a baseline for your message. However, the more that you can customize it to reflect on the legislation in your state and incorporate specific data/information on how the proposal will impact your students and school, the more impactful it will be.

Talking Points

NASN developed Talking Points that explain the importance of school nursing and children’s health - COMING SOON. These talking points focus on the critical role that school nurses play in promoting student health and academic success. The talking points also demonstrate the effectiveness of school nursing services.

School-Specific Data

Elected officials want to hear how proposed legislation will impact the communities they represent, specifically children, families and schools. Providing specific data to your students and schools is a great way to show your representatives that their support of school nursing legislation yields positive results for their district and constituents.

Maintain the Relationship

After conducting your outreach, it is important to maintain the relationship that you build with your lawmakers and their staff.

~ Follow up with a note or email thanking the lawmaker/staff for taking the time to hear your concerns.

~ If questions came up during the meeting that you were not able to answer, follow up with the additional information that was requested.

~ Report back to your region or state any relevant information that might be helpful in strategizing future advocacy efforts.

~ Keep checking in with your contacts, even when there is nothing specific that you want to address. Sending a short email every month or so keeping the office informed of what is going on in your school is a great way to stay on their radar for when significant issues do arise, or the office needs input on school nurse funding/legislation.

~ For example, you may consider sending an update each semester or month highlighting what your office is working on, how many students are benefiting from your state aid program, or any new issues that may have arisen.

Find Your Representatives

  1. Go to Find Your Member
  2. Enter your zip code and find out who your local lawmakers are.
  3. If your primary residence is in a different district than the district your school is located in, you might consider reaching out to representatives from both districts.

Tips for Effective Advocacy

Keep it local: Elected officials want to hear how proposed legislation will impact their constituents and the local communities they represent. Discussing how the school nursing has positively impacted the students in your school is a great way to show your lawmakers that support for school nurse issues yields positive results for the community they care about most including the students and their families.

Keep it personal: As a school nurse providing health care to students, your stories and experiences are your most powerful tool. Share your personal experiences that will explain how additional funding, or a specific bill would help you better support students.

Keep their position in mind: Research the lawmaker's background, committees served on and voting history to better understand how they may feel about the issue you plan to discuss. Understanding what their position may be will help you frame your advocacy to be as effective as possible. Has the representative supported the issue you are advocating for in the past?

Keep it factual: Speak in an objective, factual manner. You can absolutely share your perspective as a school nurse, but always ensure your position is based on facts, your experiences and available data. Don't worry if you are asked a question that you do not know the answer to — it's always okay to say that you’re not sure and will follow back up.

DO . . .

DO NOT . . .

• Be on time.

• Clearly state who you are representing.

• Show gratitude for something specific.

• Share your information, but also listen.

• Be concise. 

• Ask for support on something specific. 

• Focus on students. 

• Have some "fast facts" and data about your school and student population. 

• Be honest, brief and factual.

• Always be polite and pleasant regardless of the circumstances.

• Suggest cutting other programs.

• Engage in political discussion.

• Answer a question for which you do not know the answer.

State Hill Day Planning

Set the Date: Set the date for your Hill Day anywhere between a minimum of two months or out as far as four months to allow maximum planning as well as scheduling of legislative appointments.

Recruit Participants: Inform your Affiliate of the upcoming Advocacy Day and ask for their participation via email and at in-person events. You want to maximize the number of school nurses attending the Hill Day so inform your Affiliate repeatedly.

Schedule Hill Visits: Have your participating members request meetings from their elected representatives. Since members’ schedules often fill up quickly, it’s best to contact them as soon as possible. Here’s how to schedule your visit:

Find your state Assembly Member/ Representative and State Senator. Send them a meeting request by email. Then, follow-up on your invitation by calling the scheduler in your representative’s office. You may need to repeat this process.

Create Lobby Day Packet: It’s a good idea to make a packet of school nurse materials that highlight issues that school nurses can use as notes and visuals during the meeting, as well as leave behind. These Hill Day packets should include contact information of the point person (Affiliate President or Legislative/Advocacy Chair) who can answer the member or staffer’s follow-up questions.

Prepare for your Hill Visit: As you prepare to meet with your elected officials, you should research them (google or go to their website) to see if your Assembly Member/ Representative and Senator have supported or opposed school nurse legislation in the current or previous legislative sessions as well as general information about them. If they have voted in support of school nurse legislation, be sure to thank them during your visit. If not, you will need to educate them why school nurses are important for children’s health and their academic success in addition to their families and constituents. You are the health expert in the school. Ask for their support for school nurse legislation that helps children.

Pre-Lobby Day Check-in: Set up a conference call a week or two before your meeting for everyone participating in the lobbying visits to ensure everyone has the same information to use for their meetings. Encourage your members to confirm their meetings with the member’s office a couple of days before your visit. At that time, start a discussion of future contact or a meeting with the representative’s staff to follow up on the member’s commitments.

Follow-Up: Write to the legislator and staff personally thanking them for their time. Follow up with any questions or additional information that was requested by member office. Offer to be a resource in the future.

Additionally, keep checking in with your contacts, even when there is nothing specific that you want to address. Sending a short email every month or so keeping the office informed of what is going on in your school is a great way to stay on their radar for when significant issues do arise, or the office needs input on school nurse funding/legislation.

Page published February 2025.