Standout Spartan: Rebecca Heck, RN, NCSN, CPN

Most people use spring break as a time to escape from tests. For school nurse Rebecca Heck, RN, it's an opportunity to catch up on professional development. She recently completed the National Board Certification for School Nursing (NCSN), a credential for school nurses that requires, among other things, a minimum of 1000 hours of practice and the successful completion of a rigorous four-hour competency exam. The exam covers a variety of nursing topics including health appraisal, disease prevention, nursing management, and more.

"It was hands down one of the hardest exams I've taken in my life," Ms. Heck said, who pursued the NCSN credential in order to better serve the school's students. "The certification will help me in my role as school nurse by making me more aware of the unique needs of our specific population."

Currently, there are only 129 school nurses in the entire state of Virginia with the NCSN credential. We're so fortunate to have Ms. Heck patching us up!