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Looking Back Moves Us Forward--Florida Association of School Nurses: FASN

By Janie Sailors, BSN, RN, NCSN-E posted 05-17-2019 15:16

  
FASN—Florida Association of School Nursing
FASN Florida Association of School Nurses
It seems like only yesterday…..it seems like an eon ago….

You see, there was a determined group of Florida nurses who came together in the mid 1990’s to create a state nursing organization for those of us who had chosen a little known, independent, isolated nursing profession—School Nursing… Those early days were ones of trying to determine exactly how could we link nurses in the schools across the state—nurses who often had caseloads numbering into the 1000’s as well as multiple schools of varied types separated by distances that were extensive.

Two Gulf coastal counties-- Lee and Charlotte-- took the initial lead. We were fortunate to connect with NASN in 1994, who, we learned, was hoping to host a national conference in… Florida. That gave us the final needed impetus! Pulling together, we were actually able to serve as the Florida host in Orlando—even with limited members, very basic beginning plans, and a mostly non-existent budget! We worked with the then NASN President, Patricia Baum, to create our first bylaws and to complete the affiliation process. We were very excited and proud to pull it off! We learned about NASN’s amazing resources by on-the-job-training!!!

Realizing we needed at least some kind of basic budget, we reached out to the Florida Citrus Growers with our first FASN logo and motto: “Orange You Glad You’re A School Nurse!” They agreed to support us with a grant and underwrote the cost of FASN shirts sporting the new logo. We were able to supplement our treasury from the sale of those shirts, and FASN truly took shape.

Looking back helps FASN move forward—thankful for our roots and stimulated by the opportunities and challenges ahead! Visit www.fasn.net for more details.

Janie Sailors, BSN, RN, NCSN-E
Past FASN President and Affiliate Director
#NASNat50
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Thanks Janie for sharing about Florida school nursing history.   You have come a long way!    How lucky you were to have the support of the Florida Citrus Growers.