School Nurses Recognized for Service to Public School Students and Staff Members
March 16, 2009
COLUMBIA, SC – March 16, 2009 – Two school nurses have been recognized for their professionalism and service to South Carolina’s public schools.
Jessica Porter, a registered nurse at Oak Grove Elementary School in Lexington County School District One, has been named the School Nurse (RN) of the Year, and Jackie Dickert, a licensed practical nurse in the Greenville County School District has been named the School Health LPN of the Year.
The awards are presented annually by the South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to a registered nurse and a licensed practical nurse working in a school setting who provide outstanding school health services.
Jessica Porter has worked as a school nurse for eight years. In addition to giving the direct health services necessary for keeping students at her school in the class and ready to learn, she works diligently to promote an overall school experience that supports a healthy lifestyle.
Porter manages the care of students with chronic health conditions by developing and implementing individual health care plans, responding to the episodic needs of students, and creatively reinforcing healthy behaviors such as hand washing and cough etiquette. She reaches out to parents and community groups and has built a strong base of support for assuring that student’s health needs are met.
Under Porter’s leadership, students, parents and school staff learn healthy habits through such activities as Walk to School Day, Turn Off the TV campaigns and health fairs. Porter is fluent in Spanish and uses this knowledge to assist families of Hispanic or Latino heritage in being involved in their children’s school endeavors. An active member of the South Carolina Association of School Nurses, Porter is a past president of the organization and is a Nationally Certified School Nurse.
Jackie Dickert is the school nurse at Greenville Middle Academy. Dickert has worked as a school nurse for six years. She uses her knowledge and skills to care for students during school hours as well as after school in her role as the girls’ soccer coach. Students, parents and school staff respect her as an adult who really cares. She has formed many alliances with community agencies to support the health needs of students and staff. These alliances have resulted in dental services for students, flu vaccine clinics for staff and health fairs for the school community.
Dickert continually strives to maintain current knowledge regarding topics related to school health issues. She is a Certified Asthma Educator. Through her affiliation with the Association of Camp Nurses, she has become skilled in meeting the health needs of school-aged youth with autism and Asperger Syndrome.
The South Carolina Association of School Nurses (SCASN) also recently presented Nathan White, principal at Olympia Learning Center in Richland County School District One, with its School Health Services Award. This award is presented annually to honor an individual or entity – other than a school nurse – whose support of school nursing and school health promotion is exemplary.
SCASN promotes the delivery of quality health programs to the school population and school community by strengthening the growth of professional school health nurses and advancing the practice of school nursing.
