The Virginia Association of School Nurses (VASN) offers Excellence in School Nursing Awards in the following categories:
- School Nurse of the Year (SNOY)
- School Nurse Administrator of the Year (SNAOY)
- Private, Independent, and Parochial School Nurse (PIPSN)
Nomination deadline: May 1, 2022
Purpose
The purpose of these awards is to recognize outstanding school nurses in Virginia who demonstrate excellence in school nursing practice, as well as leadership in school health.
Sponsor
Nominations may come from school administrators, supervisors, educators, school nurse colleagues, parents, students, or members of the community. Nurses may even self-nominate.
Criteria
Eligibility is based on meeting all of the following requirements.
- The candidate must be a Registered Professional Nurse (RN) licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. (The SNAOY and PIPSN category also requires a BSN).
- The candidate must be a current member of VASN with continuous, uninterrupted membership during the preceding two years, without lapse in membership.
- The candidate must have two years of experience as a school nurse and currently hold a full-time school nurse position (where at least 50% or more of the nominee’s time is spent providing direct care for the SNOY category).
- Demonstrate evidence of excellence in school nursing for the specialty practice of School Nursing, related to the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing PracticeTM (NASN, 2015).
- Nominations may come from school administrators, supervisors, educators, school nurse colleagues, parents, students, members of the community, or a school nurse may self-nominate.
- Candidates may not be a current VASN elected officer or NASN Director.
Procedure for Nomination Form Submission
- Nomination form may be downloaded from the VASN website.
- Complete and submit the Nomination Form by the deadline. No late entries will be accepted.
- Nominees will be notified and congratulated on their nomination. Nominees who are eligible for the awards will be given additional information regarding the process to submit the required portfolio. (See below for the nomination portfolio materials.)
Nomination Portfolio Materials
- The Excellence in School Nursing SNOY/SNAOY/PIPSN Award Nomination Form (already submitted with nomination).
- A letter of support by the nominator, stating why the Registered Nurse deserves the nomination (1-page maximum).
- A two (2) page self-reflection completed by the nominee -- summarizing how she/he demonstrates Outstanding levels of excellence in school nursing according to the School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th Edition (NASN 2022).
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (4-page maximum).
- Two (2) Supporting documents of recommendation from a school nurse colleague, administrator, parent, student, supervisor, member of the community, etc. (one page each).
- Headshot photo to be used for VASN and SNOY recognition (in a jpeg image format).
The completed Portfolio shall consist of no more than ten (10), single-sided pages using double spaced font.
The completed Portfolio requirements must be uploaded to a designated Google form with all documents in PDF or or Word format by the deadline. No late entries will be accepted.
Judging
A minimum of three (3) judges will independently score all candidates who meet the criteria for each category/award. The candidate with the highest score in each category will be awarded the titles of SNOY/SNAOY/PIPSN, respectively.
School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th Edition (NASN 2022) will provide guidance in the judging criteria, using a predetermined point system. All decisions shall be final with no appeals accepted.
Award
Awards are presented at VASN Annual Fall Conference. The winning school nurse’s portfolio in each category will proudly represent VASN at the National Association of School Nurse (NASN) Annual Conference.