Bullying prevention in schools: position statement.

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses that the registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as the school nurse) is a crucial member of the team participating in the prevention of bullying in schools. School nurses are the experts in pediatric health in schools and, therefore, can have an impact on the health and safety of all students, including students who bully, students who are bullied, or students who both bully and are bullied by others (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011a, 2011b). The school nurse role includes the prevention of bullying and the identification of students who are bullied, bully others, or both.

Every study begins with a query: how to present a clear research question.

School nurses have demonstrated a keen interest in research and the research process with the purpose of generating evidence that supports their practice and increases the value of school nursing services. This article will help school nurses to formulate research questions and to identify the components of the research question that delineate the next steps in the development of a research study from such questions. School nurses benefit from collaborating with experienced nurse researchers in order to gain competence in defining research questions.

Implementing pulse oximetry in the school health office: the time is now.

Pulse oximetry can be a useful tool for professional school nurses who daily assess students with a variety of health issues and injuries. Pulse oximeters are now smaller and more affordable and, therefore, an option for school districts to purchase. Before implementing this new tool into their practice, school nurses must have an understanding of how pulse oximeters work and how they measure the oxygen saturation of arterial hemoglobin.

An intervention to increase the use of Asthma Action Plans in schools: a MASNRN study.

School nurses, in collaboration with primary care providers (PCPs), can work to better manage asthma by using the Asthma Action Plan (AAP) with peak flow monitoring. The aim of this pilot study was to determine the effectiveness of an intervention to increase the number of AAPs in schools for students with asthma by having school nurses provide the students' peak flow measurements to their PCPs with a request for an AAP. The study found a significant increase in AAPs when school nurses provided PCPs with accurate peak flow data and requested an AAP from the PCP than when school nurses requested an AAP via the students' parents and did not provide peak flow data to the PCP.

School nurses' perceptions of empowerment and autonomy.

The purpose of this study was to explore Kanter's Theory of Structural Power in Organizations, using school nurses and to answer the research question of whether there is a relationship between empowerment and autonomy in school nurses. This study found a positive relationship between the nurses' perceptions of empowerment and autonomy. The school nurses surveyed perceived themselves to have a high degree of autonomy and a moderate degree of empowerment, and they reported that their access to informal power structures was higher than their access to formal power structures in their school systems.