Excellence in school nursing workshop: Florida's experience in standardizing school nursing orientation and education

Specialty preparation is needed for safe, effective school nursing practice. The Excellence in School Nursing workshop was envisioned as a means to provide a statewide orientation and education program for school nurses in Florida. As a result of a needs assessment, the Florida Departments of Health and Education formed a curriculum development committee to address the educational needs of school nurses. A 3.5-day workshop was designed for school health nursing supervisors and school nurses employed by county health departments, school districts, and community agencies. The workshop was piloted and, based on evaluations and feedback, was revised and replicated nine times throughout the state. The workshop has proved to be an effective method of providing statewide orientation and education for school nurses. The purpose of this article is to describe the workshop curriculum, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Recommendations for adaptation and replication in other states are included.