Partner Spotlight

NDEP applauds the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) for a productive partnership over the years. As one of NDEP’s eight national organizations funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NASN develops and implements activities to help disseminate NDEP’s messages and materials to high-risk audiences.

The goal of NASN’s CDC-funded program, the Managing and Preventing Diabetes and Weight Gain project, is to capitalize on the intimate and credible relationships school nurses have with the communities that they serve to strengthen behaviors and provide positive messages about the management of type 1 and the prevention of type 2 diabetes in children. Affiliate sites include: Oakland, California; Columbus, Ohio; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and the entire state of Colorado. The diabetes prevention programming targets fourth grade students, while the diabetes management programming targets grades K through 12.

Nichole Bobo, R.N., M.S.N., A.N.P. has been the NASN representative and a member of NDEP's Diabetes in Children and Adolescents Work Group (CAWG) for the past several years. A key CAWG collaboration was NASN’s role in helping NDEP develop and disseminate the 2003 Helping the Child with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel to school nurses across the country. Currently, NASN is helping NDEP revise and update the School Guide, which will be available by early fall 2009. Additionally, NDEP collaborates with NASN to develop articles for each issue of NASN Newsletter, which has a circulation of 14,000. Past topics have included carbohydrate counting, glucose sensors, school nurse volunteers at diabetes camps, and an overview of NDEP’s resources for teens.