National Association of School Nurses Delegation
to the United Arab Emirates, May 26-June 2, 2023
Delegation Leader: Dr. Linda L. Mendonça
PROFESSIONAL PURPOSE STATEMENT
A delegation US School Nurses have been selected to exchange ideas and address common issues with their professional counterparts in the United Arab Emirates, under the auspices of the Citizen Ambassador program of Cultural Vistas, a US non-profit NGO, with extensive experience in developing counterpart professional exchanges. Ambassador Programs. This delegation has been developed in consultation with the National Association of School Nurses.
Our primary objective for this delegation is to gain an understanding and appreciation for the role of School Nurses in the United Arab Emirates and the standards, education, and certification within the field. We will accomplish this objective through dialog with colleagues, and through professional and cultural visits.
The following subjects are of particular interest to the delegation. These topics may be further refined to incorporate the specialized interest and expertise of the individual delegates.
- School Nursing Practice – model, data collection, chronic health conditions, immunizations
- Health Education Curriculum
- Children’s Health Care – collaboration between school and medical provider/hospital
- Health and Education Agencies – regulations
It is intended that these exchanges will facilitate increased learning for both the host professional and for the U.S. delegation and will offer contributions of international understanding at the career and personal levels for all.
The Association has selected Dr. Linda L. Mendonça, President National Association of School Nurses as leader of the delegation. Dr. Mendonça has provided guidance in the development of the topics of discussion listed above. Below is a brief biography for Dr. Linda L. Mendonça.
Dr. Linda L. Mendonça, Delegation Leader
Linda Mendonça has been a registered nurse for 42 years practicing school nursing for 25 years, 1 overseas and in five states as a military spouse. Her school nursing career includes experience with pre-K to high school students in many states. She has vast experience with current best practice and new initiatives in school health, including the need for data collection in school nursing practice to best meet the needs of students and facilitate their academic success. With the practice of school nursing in the arena of public health, Linda pursued education and certification in public health nursing. Linda earned her Master of Science in advanced public health nursing and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Transformative Systems Leadership from Rush University in Chicago. She has served on school nursing organization boards on the state and national levels. Dr. Mendonça is President of the National Association of School Nurses (2021-2023) and a Fellow in the National Academy of School Nursing. Her current professional roles include being an Assistant Professor teaching community/public health nursing at Rhode Island College Onanian School of Nursing and providing consultation in school nursing for the Rhode Island Department of Health. One of her passions is environmental health and she was selected to participate in a yearlong fellowship with the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment 2019-2020. Throughout her career, Dr. Mendonça made time to volunteer with the American Red Cross and disaster medical assistance teams with medical reserve corps.