Georgia STOMP Collaborates with Children’s Hospital of Atlanta

On Thursday November 17th, Georgia STOMP was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend Children’s Hospital of Atlanta (CHOA)’s 2022 School Health Leadership Conference. Lead School Nurses from throughout Georgia come together at this yearly training event to learn from one another and from academic and medical professionals. This year’s theme was “Reflect, Reset and Refresh.” Gwinnett County Environmental and Heritage Center, where the conference convened, was the perfect spot to facilitate a day-long learning experience with a retreat atmosphere.

The day may have been a time for school nurses to reset, but it certainly was not a day off from work. The conference was jam packed with speakers and information. Speakers included many of Georgia STOMP’s partners, including the Georgia Association of School Nurses, the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Department of Education (DOE) and CHOA itself.  

Claire Cox, Georgia STOMP Chair, brought an update on state funding for period products. Topics included the amount of funding, how it is allotted to each school district and school, various models for purchasing period products with state funds, what items can be purchased (and what are not allowed), and finally, best practices for product distribution to students – The Three Questions Method.

It was both rewarding and informative to finally be able to talk to nurses face-to-face and hear first-hand how the money is helping students be present in school and attentive to their studies. It was also helpful to understand distribution issues faced by school nurses and how they have been addressed in different school settings.

Claire was joined by Rachel Dornfest, a master’s student at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health. Rachel is assisting Georgia STOMP in a research project conducted in cooperation with The Dignity Pack Project and the Department of Education. Rachel was able to talk to numerous attendees and ask her research questions.

Georgia STOMP looks forward to two additional opportunities to interact with school nurses in 2023. We will be co-hosting a webinar with CHOA for school nurses in January and speaking to the annual Georgia Association of School Nurse meeting in June.