Membership
Benefits/Join
Online application and explanation of the many benefits of membership.
Licensure
Description of requirements for licensure and resources available to school nurses.
Professional Development
Explanation of professional development points and ways of earning points.
Benefits & Application
Membership Benefits & Application
Benefits of MSNO/NASN Membership
- Journal of School Nursing (peer-reviewed research journal)
- NASN School Nurse clinical (peer-reviewed journal)
- NASN Weekly Digest
- Discount for NASN Publications
- Discount for NASN/MSNO conferences
- Discount for NASN/MSNO regional workshops
- Priority for NASN Training Projects
- Legislative representation at state and national level
- MSNO Discussion Forum – online
Representation in various professional organizations
Nurses Who Belong to MSNO/NASN:
- Are better informed about their practice.
- Have a wide range of opportunities for professional development.
- Have the opportunity to have their collective voices heard at the state and national level.
- Can better inform educator colleagues, administration, parents and their community about school health and school health services.
- Have the opportunity to network with their school nurse colleagues.
- Can expand their professional leadership and nursing skills.
- Can impact legislation at the local, state, and national level.
MSNO Regions
- The MSNO is organized by region across the Commonwealth.
- There are 10 regions, each with its own Chairperson.
Printable Membership Application
- Applicants join both NASN and MSNO with this single application.
- You can print the application and pay by check or credit card and mail directly to NASN.
Online Membership Application
- You may join and pay for membership using NASN’s secure online application.
If you have questions, contact our MSNO Membership Chair, Terry Grimm at grimm@msno.org
Licensure
Requirements for Licensure in Massachusetts
DESE Licensure for MA School Nurses
- School nurses practicing in Massachusetts public schools are required to hold a current MA Registered Nurse (RN) and a Professional Support Personnel license issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). This is required by Massachusetts regulation 603CMR 7.00, Regulations for Educator Licensure.
- DESE grants licensure to school nurses based on nurse standards of practice and credentialing as recognized by the American Nurses Association (ANA), the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), the Massachusetts School Nurses Organization (MSNO) and proven competency on Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL).
- This is consistent with DESE licensure requirements for all public school professionals, including administrators, teachers, teacher specialists and other support personnel. Most Districts require prospective school nurses to hold a DESE Professional Support Personnel license at the time of hire.
- If not licensed at the time of hire, school nurses must obtain DESE licensure as soon as possible after hiring per individual district requirements. On rare occasions, a district may apply for and be granted, a “critical need” waiver to hire an unlicensed registered nurse if attempts to hire a nurse with current DESE licensure are unsuccessful.
- Full regulations and requirements for Professional Support Personnel License types including Initial, and Professional licensure can be found on the DESE website.
School Nurses & Professional Teacher Status
- Chapter 267 of the Acts of 2006, approved August 21, 2006, amended Chapter 71 section 41 of the Massachusetts General Laws to include school nurses in the list of school personnel who are eligible for professional teacher status if they meet certain established criteria.
- Nurses are now included with teachers, school librarians, school adjustment counselors, school social workers and school psychologists among eligible personnel.
MA DESE Resources
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Main phone number: 781-338-3000.
- The Licensure Call Center: 781-338-6600.
- DESE Licensure News Headlines
- Professional Support Personnel Info
- MSNO DESE Liaison, Barbara Hedstrom: hedstrom@msno.org
MA Department of Public Health – SHIELD-BU
School Health Institute for Education and Leadership Development
- SHIELD provides training that fulfills DESE certification requirements, discusses emerging trends, shares best practices, and addresses the complex physical, behavioral, and psycho-social health issues facing school-aged children.
- In addition, SHIELD also offers continuing nursing education (CNE) and continuing medical education (CME) credit, curated resources, and leader development for comprehensive school health programs.
- Contact SHIELD with questions at SHIELD@bu.edu
Requirements for PSP License (All Levels)
- Below is a link to a document detailing the requirements for Professional Support Personnel Licenses for School Nurses:
Historical Perspective of DESE Licensure
- Below is a link to a document providing an historical perspective of DESE (formerly MA DOE) licensure of School Nurses in Massachusetts:
If you have questions, contact our DESE Liaison, Barbara Hedstrom at hedstrom@msno.org
Professional Development
Educator Professional Development
Earning Professional Development Points (PDPs)
- Educators may receive PDP’s after the successful completion of a professional development program (minimum of 10 hours on a topic) with an observable demonstration of learning that could include a written product or other documentable product.
- Providers may only award PDP’s after an educator has demonstrated proficiency in a relevant subject area or has demonstrated proficiency in a professional skill. All end-of-course assessments must assess at least 10 hours of professional development on a given topic. (Guidelines for Professional Development Providers February 2000)
- A topic is a single area of study or one that is tightly integrated within a given clinical topic, such as Mental Health and Clinical Health Needs of Children. A variety of professional development activities in one topic can be used to satisfy the ten hour topic minimum requirement.
- A course product or an observable demonstration of learning would be a newsletter article, presentations to parents, staff, the community or student groups. An assessment would be a test at the end of a professional development program.
- If a Certificate of Attendance is received at a conference relevant to a subject area where PDPs or Certificates of Attendance have already been obtained, the hours can be changed to PDPs and be added to the subject area in which you have already completed an observable demonstration of learning (up to 40 PDPs).
Additional Ways to Earn PDPs
- Graduate Level Courses
- 1 Semester hour = 15 PDPs • Advanced academic study or DESE sponsored activities
- 1.5 PDPs = 1.5 clock hours • Educator designed professional activity that results in a professional product
- 1 Presentation at a professional conference in a five year renewal cycle
- 30 PDPs — Developing and implementing an activity for students, parents or teachers. These activities can include:
- Series of seminars
- Series of health related issues and their impact on learning
- Extended learning activities for students
- Curriculum Development
- Doctoral Dissertation — 90 PDPs in five years
- Masters or CAGS Thesis — 45 PDPs in five years
- Chapters or professional articles in a book or professional journal: 30 PDPs per chapter or article
- Published results of action research: 30 PDPs in five years
Additional Info Re: CEUs, PDPs & IPDPs
- Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are not related to contact hours.
- See the CEU definition on the DESE web site.
- Individual Professional Development Plans (IPDPs) and PDP’s are not submitted to DESE unless an audit is requested. (Same as MA RN re-licensure process with the MA Board of Registration in Nursing (BORN).)
- Instructions for Developing an IPDP
Calculating PDPs
- If PDPs are awarded by the school district: 1 PDP is equal to one clock hour.
- If a program for continuing education credit is presented and or approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC): 1 PDP is equal to one clock hour (contact hour).
- If a program is presented and approved for continuing education credit by the BORN, 1 PDP is equal to 1.2 contact hours.
Organizing Professional Development Activities
- It is best to organize Professional Development activities according to topics, remembering that you need at least 10 PDPs in a topic area with an end product to count as PDPs.
- Most professional development programs presented for nurses that meet the criteria of BORN for contact hours are eligible for conversion to “certificates of attendance” that can be linked together to meet the criteria for PDP’s.
DESE Audit
- The DESE can request an audit of an educator’s Individual Professional Development Plan.
- Educators must maintain the documentation, record log, professional development plan, and application for five years from the date of recertification.
- The following is needed if an audit is requested:
- An Individual Professional Development Plan that is current and approved by the educator’s supervisor.
- Reasonable documentation that validates the completion of an activity and the number of points accrued
- A record of complete recertification activities that must include:
- The topic and type of professional activities completed
- The dates of the activities
- The number of points completed.
- Assessments or products