United States Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders said it best," ...we can't educate children who are not healthy, and we cannot keep them healthy if they are not educated. There has to be a marriage between health and education."
To better promote Dr. Elder’s vision, SNOM collaborated with the Minnesota Department of Health Adolescent and School Health Unit, University of Minnesota’s Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Centers, Minnesota Service Cooperatives, BrightWorks Educational Cooperative, and the Minnesota Department of Education to support schools and school nurses recovering from the COVID- 19 pandemic. Together, these organizations are committed to improving and enhancing the ability of schools and school nurses to support students’ health and educational needs, so all Minnesota students thrive.
The pandemic impacted the health and wellbeing of students, families, school nurses and educators. The inequities in health and education for students that existed prior to the pandemic are now overwhelming school health resources, specifically understaffed school nursing workforce.
These resources shared here are designed to help school nurses, school leaders, parents and state policy leaders make the case for a comprehensive approach that prioritizes increased investments in the school health workforce that will better support student health and academic outcomes.