The Role of School Nurses During the 1918 Pandemic: Lessons That Apply to COVID-19

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been compared with the Spanish Flu of 1918 that devastated the United States. With so many parallels being drawn, what could be learned from 1918 regarding the role of school nurses? Many of the activities from 1918 are still being done today. School nurses have worked tirelessly to assure the health and safety of students and school. The purpose of this article is to compare the role of school nurses in two pandemics, as well as provide suggestions on how school nurses’ important contributions to history are not lost. The recommendations have an added benefit of providing school nurses with healing and building their resilience.