School Nurse Strategies to Support the Development of Resilience in Children
This blog post provides information about the breakout session on Saturday, July 2, 2016 at NASN2016.
I am one of those really fortunate people who have the opportunity to learn every day from the work and passions of other school nurses. My work supporting school nurses has given me a view of their professional joys, problems, frustrations, and successes. As a pediatric nurse for the past 32 years, I have seen the nature of the challenges in our work with children and families gradually shift. Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in seven children under age 9 in this country have mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders? More than ever, as society becomes more complex, we see children who struggle to cope, are more dependent on the adults in their lives, and less able to navigate problems, both big and small. Indeed, in school health, we struggle to help students who seem overwhelmed by situations both within and outside of their control. While issues such as poverty and parental mental health concerns may be outside of the individual student or school nurse’s ability to impact, we are in a position to teach our students very important resilience skills to support them on their journey to adulthood.
The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress …It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences.” One of the most hopeful realities for us as school nurses is to know that resilience can be learned and we, as school nurses, can make a difference in the lives of the students we serve! Just as managing chronic illness requires a team approach in schools, supporting resilience and the emotional well-being of students is everyone’s responsibility. School nurses are in a unique position to touch the lives of many children with interventions that support the development of resiliency. Additionally, all of us can learn from each other as we strive to help students gain mastery of resilience.
Please plan to join me and my school nurse colleague, Stefani Lailari, as we explore the topic of School Nurse Strategies to Support the Development of Resilience in Children. We will look at eight characteristics of resilience which can help guide our interventions with students, school staff, parents, and school communities as a whole. We will also share a tool kit of ideas and resources gleaned from years of working with talented and committed school nurses. I look forward to meeting you and thinking together about this important topic!