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For Immediate Release
June 6, 2022
Contact: Carol Walsh
cwalsh@nasn.org
National Association of School Nurses Awarded Five-Year Cooperative Agreement from CDC National Initiative to Advance Health Equity in K-12 Education
Silver Spring, Maryland – The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) announced today that it has been selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthy Schools Branch as a funding recipient under a new five-year cooperative agreement: National Initiative to Advance Health Equity in K-12 Education by Preventing Chronic Disease and Promoting Healthy Behaviors.
“Schools and school nurses are increasingly recognized as a community-based asset for achieving health equity for students and staff at the individual and systems level, and they are a hub for health promotion and population-based care,” said Dr. Linda Mendonca, DNP, RN, PHNA-BC, NCSN, FNASN, president of NASN.
With this funding, NASN’s project, Advancing Equity in School Health Services by School Nurses, will work with CDC funded State Education Agencies, districts, schools and school nurses across the country in developing, implementing and evaluating evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that expand access to physical (e.g. chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, food allergies and seizure disorders), mental and behavioral health services, and improve the delivery of school health services to students in underserved communities, using school nurses as the fulcrum. NASN will employ four key strategies in this effort:
- Professional development and technical assistance targeting school nurses
- Broad dissemination of evidence-based resources and tools to advance equity in school health services
- Sustaining and building new partnerships to expand access to physical, mental and behavioral health services, and
- Implementation of technical assistance to assess and strengthen school health services in targeted school districts.
NASN looks forward to working alongside the other national organizations that received awards for activities related to this agreement including American Academy of Pediatrics, Educational Development Center, National Association of State and Territorial Chronic Disease Program Directors, National Center for School Mental Health, and Society of Health and Physical Educators.
About NASN: The National Association of School Nurses is a non-profit specialty nursing organization, organized in 1968 and incorporated in 1977, representing school nurses exclusively. NASN has more than 17,000 members and 50 affiliates, including the District of Columbia and overseas school nurses. The mission of the NASN is to optimize student health and learning by advancing the practice of school nursing. To learn more about NASN, please visit www.nasn.org or call 866-627-6767.
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