Texas School Nurses Organization- Region 19
TSNO-Region 19 school nurse of the year 2023-2024
Grace Carbajal
My name is Grace Carbajal. I have been a nurse for 31 years, and 17 of those years I have been a school nurse: 15 years with CISD and 2 with EPISD. My nursing experience ranges from critical care, Orthopaedic, Neuro, Pre-Op and PACU (Post Anesthesia Care). When I became a school nurse I quickly understood what the role of the school nurse was (nurse, mentor, facilitator, counselor, educator). I brought with me strong assessment skills, critical thinking skills, health knowledge and most of all, a strong work ethic with the desire to help and serve the student population and my community.
I am committed to providing quality nursing care to the students. I offer a holistic approach as a school nurse. By performing a thorough student assessment, prioritizing their medical care and engaging the student in his/her self-care, it empowers the student and maximizes student’s instructional time. Some instrumental approaches I have taken to provide the best nursing care to the community I serve are being proactive, taking initiative, keeping open communication, continuing education opportunities through nursing organizations such as TSNO (Texas School Nurse Organization), NASN (National Association School Nurse), nursing symposiums and trainings, as well as incorporating an interdisciplinary team approach. Through this commitment I was honored to have received the CISD Superintendent Excellence Award in 2010-2011.
Working as a Float nurse for the past 2 years at EPISD has been a great experience. It has given me the opportunity to work with Elementary, Middle school and High school students throughout the district. I welcome change and the challenges that come with the different dynamics of each campus. I strive to continue providing optimum quality nursing care, efficiently and effectively, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team (such as a teacher, SPED teacher, Diagnostician, counselor, parent, administration, coaches and medical provider, etc.).
I had the opportunity to be an active member in SHAC (School Health Advisory Council), DAC (District Advisory Committee) and CIC (Campus Improvement Committee) for several years. For the past 3 years I have also been a BLS (CPR) instructor.
Community Service:
Throughout the years I have enjoyed volunteering in my community. I volunteered for the Muscular Dystrophy Summer camp providing nursing services to the campers.
During COVID when El Paso was in lockdown, I volunteered for 5 months at BorderRac with the Emergency Response Team in the COVID-19 Drive-thru site as a Clinical Group Supervisor. When CISD wanted to open a drive-thru site for the community, I helped organize it and work it. I have also volunteered at the Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
I love the nursing profession. I believe that as a school nurse, it is essential to promote health and safety through teaching and practice, offer diligent care by following up, advocate for the student community, promote and enhance student character building, be a resource and serve as role model not only to our community, but our peers.
I am honored to have been nominated as a candidate for the 2023-2024 Texas School Nurse of the Year.
TSNO-Region 19 CO-school nurse of the year 2021-22
Donna Betancourt
My name is Donna Betancourt. I have been a nurse for nearly 18 years. I have been a school nurse with EPISD for 15 years; eight of those years at Canyon Hills Middle and the past seven years at Hillside Elementary. I originally went into school nursing because my daughters were of school age and it gave me more time with them while they were growing up. I returned because I love school nursing. I have always enjoyed working with children. I started my nursing career at Thomason Hospital on the pediatric floor. School nursing gives you different learning experiences every day. Yes, we see a lot of the same issues daily….tummy aches, nausea and vomiting, and wounds, but to help by sending a child out for possible appendicitis (yes, he had surgery) and helping the family by handling a doctor’s visit in the school nursing office, so they can just take their sick child home….that is where we learn and grow. School nurses work together and lift each other up becoming a positive impact for each other. Even though we are at different work sites, we always feel like a team.
I am always interested in helping wherever I can. Years ago, I was a Girl Scout troop leader for 6 years when my daughters were younger which also gave me quality time with them and some of their friends. For many years I have been involved in congregation care at my church which provides meals to needy parishioners recovering from illness, surgery, or having lost a loved one. More recently, I am also a Chaplin with St. Marks. As chaplains, we assist the pastor with caring for the congregation. We may help with home or hospital visits and more recently phone calls to check in on members that are lonely due to COVID-19. I provide assistance to the nurse manager for RotaCare El Paso, a free medical clinic; TSNO-19 members also gave Flu vaccines at RotaCare El Paso in November of 2020. Lastly, I have been active in volunteering to give COVID vaccinations for UMC at the coliseum.
I also served 6 years (3 terms) as Secretary for TSNO-19 and am ready to serve the organization in a new capacity.
TSNO-Region 19 CO-school nurse of the year 2021-22
Michelle Cummings
I have always been drawn to public service, as a teacher, a home day-care provider, a nurse. It is through public service that I connect with the world, embracing the fact that we all have our own journey in life. School nursing allows me to help ease health struggles for so many of our community members on the border.
In 2011, when the opportunity to attend the newly opened Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, in El Paso, Texas, I applied. Immediately I knew I wanted to become a school nurse and verbalized my love for children to my professors. I remember my fear and shock when I learned my internship would be, for the year, in the PICU. It was with the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) team at the Hospitals of Providence, I truly learned about the importance of community. It took teamwork, from the hospital to the home, to help these children and their families.
After the passing of my father in 2015, I realized, more than ever, the importance of family, and was ready for school nursing. I needed to immerse myself into my community, starting with teaching kids healthy life habits and moving outward through health fairs and beyond to offer resources to support the health education and advocacy I was teaching
When the pandemic hit New York in March 2020, I was filled with an overwhelming desire to go and help. Because I am a registered nurse in the State of New York from spending summers as a camp nurse, and was previously a PICU nurse, the governor’s office sent a letter describing the dire need for nurses and asked if I would join their efforts to confront the crisis.
I didn’t go. “It will hit El Paso”, my husband predicted, “and you will be needed in your community”. He was right. At a time when schools across the nation closed, school nurses, including myself, were contact tracing families who had contracted CoVid-19 and offering resources to help obtain food, medical supplies, and childcare. We became community nurses as cities and states were overwhelmed with high hospitalization rates. El Paso became one of the worst-hit communities in the nation. Hearing the stories of my students’ families were devastating, and many were sent home from the hospital to recover on their own, not knowing where to look for resources.
I was still restless and wanted to do more to help. I heard of a group of retired nurses who started feverishly sewing masks to deliver to New York hospitals during the PPE shortage. Because I don’t sew, I cut fabric and joined a team that operated a well-oiled assembly line, moving mask materials from house to house. Finished masks were ultimately shipped to New York at the end of the “assembly line”.
When local schools considered re-opening, PPE allocations for school nurses, teachers and staff were completely unavailable. How can we confidently perform our nursing and education duties without proper equipment? I found a generous doctor who could help me ensure every school nurse in our district have enough N95 masks to successfully assess the children of our community; nearly 3,000 masks in all.
As CoVid-19 vaccination allotments arrived in El Paso County, I was able to help register dozens of the most vulnerable members of our community, including many with immunocompromised conditions. This has become a priority for me, as those who are most in need have expressed their frustration with the chaotic registration process and, sadly, many of the most vulnerable have lost their lives simply for lack of support and resources.
Outside of my school nurse volunteerism, I have held officer positions within my neighborhood association for 12 years, worked with FEMAP International, served on several community boards and recently added my name to EP MedCorps to assist with disaster relief.
For similar reasons, I have been an active member of SHAC (School Health Advisory Council), Wellness Chair and VP for PTA, and currently serve on the EPISD Nurse Leadership Team because it offers me an opportunity to be a part of the team that provides solutions to emerging community-wide health issues. School nursing has afforded me amazing resources and support, as an active member of the National Association of School Nurses and the Texas School Nurse Organization, as well as from EPISD’s cohesive school nurse community. I have been humbled by the role of school nurses have played in my community during these unprecedented times, and I am honored to have been nominated to represent Region 19 in 2021.
TSNO-Region 19 school nurse of the year 2020-21
Terrie Bolt
I graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in ’91. After graduation I joined an amazing team of Nurses at Providence Hospital working in Pediatric Intensive Care and later in Interventional Radiology. When our third son turned a year old (1999), I made the move to School Nursing and never looked back.
As a school nurse with 21 years’ experience, I have learned a great deal from my peers and continue education opportunities through memberships in organizations such as Texas School Nurses Organization (TSNO) & National Association of School Nurses (NASN). These organizations inspired a desire within me to seek National Certification as a School Nurse in 2017.
I was nominated to attend a program at Rutgers in New Jersey (2009), as a result I am a Fellow of Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program. This networking opportunity has provided me access to Health Office teaching supplies and campus perimeter Safety Supplies through several grants over the years. The amazing Parent Teachers Association presented me with the Lifetime Membership Award in 2012.
The 2019-2020 school year presented new challenges for school nursing. For example, a more stringent immunization review became the norm, due to a significant outbreak of measles. Telemedicine was a new initiative in El Paso ISD. On August 3, 2019, a historic tragic event occurred in El Paso. A young man assassinated over 20 citizens in a local Walmart. MacArthur MS become the Reunification site and I spent over ten hours assisting families to reconnect with each other. It was humbling to see the number of School Nurses (active and retired) that responded to this catastrophic experience. They brought their expertise, supplies, and positive attitudes to the scene in support for their community.
I am proud of my profession and embrace the way we contribute to the support of our communities. What I saw once as challenges, I now see as opportunities to help those in need. It is an honor to be nominated as a prospect for the 2019 Texas School Nurse of the year. I appreciate the consideration.
