A world-class city filled with art and culture and an incredible campus that offers cutting edge resources–that’s what students receive at Penn Nursing. And that’s just the start. Penn Nursing and the wider university offer something for everyone, as well as a lifelong community.

Penn Nursing is globally known for educating dynamic nurses—because our School values evidence-based science and health equity. That’s where our expertise lies, whether in research, practice, community health, or beyond. Everything we do upholds a through-line of innovation, encouraging our exceptional students, alumni, and faculty share their knowledge and skills to reshape health care.

Penn Nursing students are bold and unafraid, ready to embrace any challenge that comes their way. Whether you are exploring a career in nursing or interested in advancing your nursing career, a Penn Nursing education will help you meet your goals and become an innovative leader, prepared to change the face of health and wellness.

Penn Nursing is the #1-ranked nursing school in the world. Its highly-ranked programs help develop highly-skilled leaders in health care who are prepared to work alongside communities to tackle issues of health equity and social justice to improve health and wellness for everyone.

Penn Nursing’s rigorous academic curricula are taught by world renowned experts, ensuring that students at every level receive an exceptional Ivy League education. From augmented reality classrooms and clinical simulations to coursework that includes experiential global travel to clinical placements in top notch facilities, a Penn Nursing education prepares our graduates to lead.

PA School Nurses on the Frontlines of the Opioid Epidemic

As opioid overdoses continue to grab headlines, more states are providing their communities with easier access to naloxone, which can prevent death by reversing opioid overdoses. But while naloxone may be available at township buildings, libraries, or other community locations, little is known about how schools maintain a supply and use naloxone to prepare for treating overdose.

February 24, 2020

At the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), researchers conducted an online survey of 362 Pennsylvania school nurses (elementary, middle, and high school) to better understand how they have a supply, administer, and perceive storing naloxone in their schools. The results illustrate that though many nurses have a supply of naloxone in their school, important barriers to access and use of this life-saving medication still exist.

In the study, close to half of those who responded to the survey reported that they did not have a supply of naloxone in their school building. Reasons for not having a supply included lack of school board and/or administration support, belief that the medication was not needed in their school, and lack of funds, among other reasons. Of those who had naloxone in their school, 5% reported that the overdose reversal drug had been used at their school.

“Our survey results show that barriers, particularly those related to lack of support or beliefs that naloxone is not needed in a community, need to be addressed,” says Penn Nursing’s Catherine C. McDonald, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor and lead investigator of the study. “School nurses are in a position as both health educators and emergency responders regarding opioid overdose and may be an untapped resource to spread the adoption of community access to naloxone through normative behavior.”

The study’s findings have just been published in Public Health Nursing in an article titled “School Nurse Reported Supply and Administration of Naloxone in Schools.” Co-authors of the study include Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH; Peggy Compton, PhD, RN, FAAN; and Madeleine Parikh, BSN, all of Penn Nursing; and Zachary Meisel, MD, MPH, MSHP, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. This study was supported by a pilot award from the Penn Injury Science Center which is an Injury Control Research Center funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49 CE002474).

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