AFT Healthcare’s school nurse subcommittee met in Washington, D.C., in May to discuss a range of topics, including the recent outbreak of mumps, the Clinton Foundation’s initiative to curb obesity and proposed diabetes legislation.

One of the first things on the agenda for the school nurses was the plan to update its publication of “The Medically Fragile Child in the School Setting,” which was first published in the early 1990s. The updated version will focus on the delegation of school nurses’ duties—in particular, delegation to nonmedical personnel due to the recent push by the American Diabetes Association to legislate the training of nonmedical school staff to provide routine and emergency care for diabetic students.

A discussion about the mumps outbreak in the Midwest, which is being carefully monitored in many school districts, expanded into a discussion about how school districts are preparing for possible disease pandemics such as the flu. Since school nurses are on the frontlines, they are often the first to detect initial signs or symptoms of illnesses.

“Nurses are being encouraged to be proactive,” says Aurelia Barney, who says her district would like nurses to recommend flu vaccinations for students and their families.

The nurses also proposed writing a letter to the Clinton Foundation acknowledging its efforts to curb obesity by working with the American Heart Association and the nation’s largest beverage manufacturers—Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Cadbury Schweppes. The three brokered a deal to replace the high-calorie sugary drinks often found in school vending machines with bottled water, unsweetened fruit juice, low-fat milk and sugar-free sodas.

In response to the American Diabetes Association’s attempt to frighten parents into opposing a proposal by the American Nurses Association that calls for schools to follow the recommended school nurse-to-student ratio, currently one nurse to 750 students, the AFT is encouraging nurses to engage in a letter-writing campaign in support of the proposal.