The Florida Association of School Nurses (FASN) is the premier organization dedicated to serving school nurses in Florida.
School nurses are often the only health care professionals that a child will see unless there is an emergency. School nurses are the watchful eyes and ears of the nation's children, especially as more and more children with special health care needs are mainstreamed into our schools.
OUR VISION
To serve School Nurses statewide through advocacy, education, networking and leadership.
OUR MISSION
To improve the health and educational success of students and the school community by developing leaders to promote and advocate for school nursing best practice.
OUR GOALS
Increase FASN's political power base and recognition in the state. Increase organizational communication within FASN and outward to the communities. Provide support and resources to school nurses in response to emerging public health issues. Increase professional development opportunities through education, certification and recognition. Give school nurses an active voice by increasing structure, governance, and statewide participation by members; and increasing representation from all areas of Florida. Maintain relationships with other national, state and local organizations that are committed to student health advocacy. Broaden the base of school nurse leaders throughout the state. Maintain fiscal responsibility. Promote school nurse research initiatives. Reflect accurately the critical and diverse roles of professional school nurses within the diverse cultures of Florida.
FASN ORGANIZATION
Florida is a large state and has school nurses working in many different situations: from rural to suburban to urban; from a cohesive school population to a very mobile one; from a single language school to multilingual schools; from one school per nurse to several schools per nurse. FASN has developed an 8 region organizational plan within the state. Each region has a Regional Representative and each county has a County Liaison that will work with the nurses within the region.
FASN is governed by Board of Directors consisting of the elected officers, Regional Representatives, committee chairpersons, FDOE State School Nurse Consultant, and FDOH State School Nurse Consultant.
FASN Elected Officers
President: 2-year term following term as President-Elect
President-Elect: 2-year term elected odd years
Past President: 2-year term following term as President
Recording Secretary: 2-year term elected even years
Membership Secretary: 2-year term elected even years
Treasurer: 2-year term elected odd years
NASN Affiliate Director: 4-year term elected even years
FASN Committees
FASN has the following committees to help the organization run smoothly. If any of these committees interest you, please contact an officer and you will be put in contact with the chair of that committee.
Advocacy Committee
Education/Program Committee
Finance Committee
Communications Committee
Awards/Recognition Committee
Membership Committee
Nominating Committee
Research Committee
In addition, FASN may, from time to time, as the need arises, form Ad Hoc Committees to deal with specific tasks or problems.
ADVOCACY
FASN key focus is advocacy -- the deliberate process of influencing those who make decisions. What would happen if all of the school nurses across the state decided to introduce themselves to their state senators and representatives? We feel NOW is the time for to Take Action – Speak Up and Be Heard! Learn more.
CONFERENCES
FASN believes very strongly in increasing the professionalism of school nurses. Your input is very valuable and taken into consideration when educational offerings are planned. These educational offerings not only increase knowledge and make school nurses better, but they offer opportunities for school nurses to network with other nurses and learn from each other.
A state conference is held yearly. FASN is committed to the educational goals of school nurses and strives to provide scholarships to the state conference every year. Scholarships are a benefit of membership and are awarded through an application process. Learn more about the state conference.
Regional representatives may apply for a small stipend to help provide an educational offering in their region. This may be an evening offering, an in-service or preschool day. Representatives may decide to work with county liaisons to help provide an in-service to the nurses within a county.
FASN members receive information about the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Annual Conference. It is an incredible experience to go to a national conference and network with school nurses from all across the country and world.
COMMUNICATIONS
If an organization is to grow and flourish, good communication among its members is essential. Communications from the Board will be posted in the FASN SchoolNurseNet (SNN) community discussion list, the website, Facebook and Twitter.
The website is a great place to read the history of FASN, see the faces of your officers, find information about school nursing for new school nurses, read new and past issues of "FASNating News," find links to other agencies that care about child health, and to learn about the latest happenings in school health services.
"FASNating News," the FASN newsletter, is published quarterly. This newsletter brings information about upcoming conferences, scholarships, and stories of interest to school nurses.
AWARDS
FASN honors a state-level School Nurse of the Year at the annual state conference. Standards are high and based on the Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice, but Florida has some of the best nurses in the country. The nominee must be a registered nurse, a member of FASN the current and preceding 2 years, have 5 years' experience as a school nurse, and currently practice full-time as a school nurse. Judging criteria can be found on the FASN website.
The Florida's School Nurse of the Year is then submitted to NASN to be considered for NASN's the Excellence in School Nursing award.
FASN has also made a commitment to recognize individuals in school nursing for their achievements. Examples include the Florida Nursing Association's Clinical Excellence Awards and district-level School Nurse of the Year.
In addition, FASN hopes to recognize others who have worked with FASN to enhance and improve the professionalism of school nursing. These persons, when FASN is aware of them, receive certificates of recognition.