Burrell School District nurse wins regional award from colleagues

Angela Dastolfo has been a Burrell School District nurse for 25 years and seems to know almost all of the students by name.

For more than two decades, Dastofolo has been keeping a list of names, ages and medical needs.

For her efforts, Dastolfo, of Lower Burrell, is poised to receive a professional award from her peers this weekend.

The petite, effusively friendly school nurse is one of seven statewide who will receive regional excellence award by the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners. It will be presented in

State College where Dastolfo and some of the 1,400 members are attending the association’s conference.

Dastolfo is one of four nurses who work in the school system. She is responsible for grades 6-12 in the middle and high schools.

One of the recommendation letters said she “is the professional who truly needs roller skates to accomplish all of her tasks and assignments.”

Burrell High School Principal John Boylan is one of the people who recommended Dastolfo for the award. Association president Kathy Verbel made Boyland’s letter public.

He wrote that Dastolfo is “kind, thoughtful, empathic and passionate in every task that she takes on.”

Boyland went on to say, “Angie has the unique ability to form safe, nurturing relationships with our students while being a firm presence in the office. Her knowledge of school nursing is exceptional. … She always places the needs of our students at the forefront and she is very wise in her interactions with parents.”

He said she informs staff about relevant health issues. “In times of duress, be it a student or a staff member, Angie is the person one seeks out because she always makes herself available to give one the time needed.

”I am honored and proud to have the opportunity to work with Angie Dastolfo, and I firmly believe that I have learned more from her than she has from me.”

The profession has evolved, said Dastolfo, who has a master’s degree from Carlow University and national nursing certification.

Student health needs are “much more complex,” she said.

Some students and staff attend regular classes even though they have illness that 25 years ago would have made that impossible.

Medicines, like emergency injections for life-threatening allergies, and special medical equipment is readily available. But the nurses, teachers and administrators need to know what to do if such a student has a sudden need.

There may be a field trip where someone needs to use a rescue inhaler or automatic injector, she said.

Epinephrine injectors, known as epi-pens, are one example of a simple, but essential medicine to have in schools.

“It’s a team effort,” she said.