FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas’ Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, in conjunction with the Area Health Education Center Northwest of UAMS, will conduct the third annual School Nurse Summer Institute from August 6 through 8 at the AHEC Northwest Continuing Education Center, 2855 E. Joyce Blvd. With the theme of "Leading School Health Programs: Visions for the 21^st Century," over 60 school nurses from throughout Arkansas—double last year’s enrollment—will network with colleagues and acquire new skills and knowledge.

Organizers from the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, Kathleen Barta, associate professor, and Marianne Neighbors, professor, built on the demonstrated success of the institute in Northwest Arkansas and, in cooperation with AHEC Northwest, contacted school districts statewide to expand participation. In addition to the contributions of AHEC Northwest and the Arkansas Leadership Academy, the institute has partial funding from St. Mary’s Foundation and Bates Medical Foundation.

This year’s institute will provide an opportunity for school nurses to develop leadership capacity, will offer clinical updates on school health issues, and will contribute to collegial relationships among school nurses in Arkansas.

Barta and Neighbors reported that school nurses have been enthusiastic about the summer institutes. As evidence, they quoted comments from several past institute evaluations, such as "excellent networking opportunity for the professionals that we are" and "this institute is our ONLY resource to better learn how, when, where to serve our school-age kids."

An important function of the School Nurse Summer Institute has been to build community for school nurses by giving them an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge. Barta explained that school nurses, who may staff more than one school, are often isolated from their colleagues and are confronted with increasingly complex demands each school year.

The institute will feature a return visit by Paula Cummins, a trainer with the Arkansas Leadership Academy, whose workshops on key aspects of leadership, including planning change, forming collaborative relationships, and managing conflict, were a popular component of last year’s institute.

Neighbors and Barta will present the School Health Index, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to Cummins’ leadership workshops, the institute will feature clinical sessions with Beth Finch, RN, who will update nurses on the care of children with diabetes; Dr. Jeffrey Tate, who will discuss "Risk Factors of Obesity in Children"; and Saundra Seidel, APN, MNSc, who will present information on childhood encopresis and enuresis.

State Nurse Consultant Susanne Tullos, MNSc, will update participants on state issues relevant to school nurses, including recent legislation that created advisory groups for school health issues. In addition, Nancy Marsh, RN, BSN, RNP, Community Health Nurse Specialist with the Arkansas Department of Health, will discuss tobacco prevention initiatives.