NURSE’S STATION Where are the Nurses? Virginia Thompson, RN, MPH An appalling situation exists in the American School Health Association. Despite the preponderance of school nurses on the membership roster, their participation in affairs of the association is seriously lacking. Oh, school nurses attend the annual meetings of the association and they are the major supporters of the constituent and affiliate organizations, but how many school nurses have written articles for the Journal? How many school nurses participate on study committees? How many school nurses chair those committees? How many school nurses are willing to commit their time and efforts by serving on the governing council and/or as officers of the association? Within the past year, 19 articles written by school nurses have appeared on the pages of the Journal. Is this because they don’t have a chance to be published, don’t have the knowledge or experience to share or aren’t encouraged to write? Absolutely not! The Editorial Board anxiously seeks articles written by school nurses. The editorial staff assists in editing and polishing manuscripts, and there is ample variety of forms of expression in the Journal to encourage school nurses to submit manuscripts. All members were invited to write editorials for “The Last Word.” Have you had your say? There is a regular feature of reviews of new books. Have you offered to review books? There is a feature called “News Briefs.” Have you sent a brief report of some interesting event from your area? Many school nurses are enrolled in graduate courses and are required to write papers. Have you discussed with your instructor whether your paper has publishing possibilities? Come on, the Journal is not for you, it is by and for you. SEPTEMBER 1978 Guidelines for the preparation and submission of manuscripts are found in the April 1978 Journal. A survey of the current study committees reveals that there are only 19 school nurses serving on committees other than the subcommittees of the School Nurses Study Committee. That is less than one percent of the committee membership and .Ol% of the total nurse membership. What a showing! All committees are supposed to be interdisciplinaryand you are welcome to join them. Do you know how you go about joining them? Each year, you will find an invitation to submit your name for possible membership on a committee of your choice in the Journal. It is not presumptuous of you to take that opportunity and responsibility. You may write to the Coordinator of Study Committees, American School Health Association, for information. There are seven members of the Executive Committee - one is a nurse, two are women. There are 16 members of the Governing Council - five are nurses at a time when the majority of members of the association are nurses. Why aren’t there more? Is it because the nominating committee ignores nurses? Oh, no! They beg for more nurse participation. Let it be known to the chairman of the nominating committee that you are available and committed. Start by being an active member of a committee, graduate to the Governing Council, and you stand a very good chance of being invited to run as an officer of the Association. If you want to be more than an observer as the parade passes by, decide to participate today. No one has more knowledge and experience in all aspects of a compre- hensive school health program than school nurses collectively. Take your rightful place. THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH 447

Where are the Nurses?

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NURSE’S STATION

Where are the Nurses? Virginia Thompson, RN, MPH

An appalling situation exists in the American School Health Association. Despite the preponderance of school nurses on the membership roster, their participation in affairs of the association is seriously lacking.

Oh, school nurses attend the annual meetings of the association and they are the major supporters of the constituent and affiliate organizations, but how many school nurses have written articles for the Journal? How many school nurses participate on study committees? How many school nurses chair those committees? How many school nurses are willing to commit their time and efforts by serving on the governing council and/or as officers of the association?

Within the past year, 19 articles written by school nurses have appeared on the pages of the Journal. Is this because they don’t have a chance to be published, don’t have the knowledge or experience to share or aren’t encouraged to write? Absolutely not! The Editorial Board anxiously seeks articles written by school nurses. The editorial staff assists in editing and polishing manuscripts, and there is ample variety of forms of expression in the Journal to encourage school nurses to submit manuscripts. All members were invited to write editorials for “The Last Word.” Have you had your say? There is a regular feature of reviews of new books. Have you offered to review books? There is a feature called “News Briefs.” Have you sent a brief report of some interesting event from your area? Many school nurses are enrolled in graduate courses and are required to write papers. Have you discussed with your instructor whether your paper has publishing possibilities? Come on, the Journal is not for you, it is by and for you.

SEPTEMBER 1978

Guidelines for the preparation and submission of manuscripts are found in the April 1978 Journal.

A survey of the current study committees reveals that there are only 19 school nurses serving on committees other than the subcommittees of the School Nurses Study Committee. That is less than one percent of the committee membership and .Ol% of the total nurse membership. What a showing! All committees are supposed to be interdisciplinary and you are welcome to join them. Do you know how you go about joining them? Each year, you will find an invitation to submit your name for possible membership on a committee of your choice in the Journal. It is not presumptuous of you to take that opportunity and responsibility. You may write to the Coordinator of Study Committees, American School Health Association, for information.

There are seven members of the Executive Committee - one is a nurse, two are women. There are 16 members of the Governing Council - five are nurses at a time when the majority of members of the association are nurses. Why aren’t there more? Is it because the nominating committee ignores nurses? Oh, no! They beg for more nurse participation. Let it be known to the chairman of the nominating committee that you are available and committed. Start by being an active member of a committee, graduate to the Governing Council, and you stand a very good chance of being invited to run as an officer of the Association.

If you want to be more than an observer as the parade passes by, decide to participate today. No one has more knowledge and experience in all aspects of a compre- hensive school health program than school nurses collectively. Take your rightful place.

THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH 447