For Immediate Release
December 21, 2021
Contact: Jennifer McNally (jmcnally@nasn.org)
National Association of School Nurses
NASN Supports COVID-19 Testing in Schools
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated guidance on what to know about COVID-19 Testing in Schools. In addition, the CDC updated the Science Brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to include information about studies on Test to Stay strategies used in some schools.
National Association of School Nurses (NASN) supports COVID-19 testing in schools as one of several mitigation strategies against transmission of SARS-CoV-2. NASN advocates for outside organizations to partner with schools for COVID-19 testing to reduce the burden that Test to Stay implementation has on school staff, including school nurses. Test to Stay programs are labor-intensive and may not be adopted in schools with limited resources.
Partnerships between schools and outside organizations allow testing strategies, e.g., Test to Stay to be implemented with decreased interruption of in-person student learning and improved health equity for students. Test to Stay can allow teachers to teach, administrators to lead, and school nurses to focus care for students with acute and chronic health conditions and mental health concerns.
School nurses bring public health expertise as well as a real-time view of health conditions in the schools. Including school nurses in COVID-19 testing decisions enables school leaders to be informed about how best to operate schools safely and support the health, wellness, and learning of students.
About NASN:
The National Association of School Nurses is a non-profit specialty nursing organization, representing school nurses exclusively. NASN has more than 18,000 members and 50 affiliates, including one in the District of Columbia and one serving school nurses overseas. The mission of NASN is to optimize student health and learning by advancing the practice of school nursing. Please visit us at www.nasn.org.
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