CHKD School Healthcare Conference 2025

Location: Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences, Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University, Waitzer Hall, 735 Fairfax Avenue, Norfolk, VA

Target Audience: All school personnel, to include nurses, teachers, clinicians, and community agency professionals serving youth.

Exhibitors are also welcome to register through this platform.

Conference Objectives: Participants will learn about self-care as a foundation of well-being, the complex features of autonomic dysregulation and how they impact student health, how to utilize the mental health toolkit to support students, safely manage asthma symptoms and briefed on the new food allergy management recommendations. Additionally, participants will learn how to work with families when diabetes medication compliance and education become challenging, understand acute adolescent reproductive health needs of youth, know how to support students who experience migraines, be aware of current sickle cell symptoms and treatments and identify triggers for escalating behaviors and strategies to de-escalate aggressive students.

Continuing Education: 5.25 contact hours/re-certification points will be provided for educational personnel, social workers, and nurses. Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters is an approved provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Virginia Nurses Association Continuing Education Approval Committee, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Contact hours will be awarded upon completion and submission of the electronic conference evaluation form. Presenters for the conference have disclosed no relevant financial relationships with agencies or individuals that impact or influence this educational activity. 

Conference fees are non-refundable unless you purchase the insurance. Each participant will receive a boxed lunch, conference snacks, and bottled water. Parking is free. 

*If you are unable to attend after you register you may substitute a person in your place. (Fees below do not include the credit card charges.) 

Participant Fee: $50 

Exhibitor Non-profit Fee: $25 

Exhibitor For-profit Fee: $100

Agenda - (click for presenter bios and printable agenda)

7:15 a.m. .................Registration

7:15–12:45 p.m. .......Informal Networking/ Exhibitor Showcase Activity

8:15 a.m. .................Opening Remarks

8:30 a.m. .................Keynote: Laying the Foundation for Well-Being                                              through Self-Awareness and Meaningful Self-Care

Did you know that self-care is so much more than going for a walk or taking a bath? We all understand that physical self-care is important, and we know how to engage in it (whether we do or not is another story), but what about the other dimensions of self-care? Professional. Spiritual. Emotional. Self-care is multi-dimensional, and at its root self-care is all about self-awareness and self-compassion. Bring a beverage, relax, and join Dr. Kristy for some humorous and thought-provoking discussion about what it means to truly understand, love, and care for yourself so that you can be relaxed and regulated at work and enjoy a life that is gratifying throughout the work week and not just on the weekends.  Presenter: Dr. Kristy Eaton, Community, Assistance and Resources for Engineering Students (CARES) Hub Purdue University College of Engineering

9:45 a.m. .................Breakout Sessions I

Autonomic Dysregulation (Room 300)

Learn about the complex features of this syndrome and how they impact student's mental and physical well-being and success in the school setting. Presenter: Katrina Lesher, MD, CHKD

School Nurse Mental Health Toolkit: Practical Strategies for Helping Students (Room 200)

Learn how to support children and families with practical evidence-based mental health strategies and tools. All school personnel and professionals are welcome to join this session. Presenters: Jackie Cotton, MD, VMAP and Leah Rowland, MD, CHKD 

11 a.m. ....................Breakout Sessions II

Airways and Allergies: School Nurses to the Rescue (Room 300)

Learn how to safely manage asthma symptoms in the school setting and understand the new recommendations for food allergy management for grades K-12. Presenter: Angela Hogan, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, FAAP, CHKD

Supporting the Child with Diabetes (Room 200)

Learn how to work with families when medication compliance and education becomes challenging. Resources and strategies will be discussed to help students understand the importance of medication compliance. Case studies of what medical neglect looks like and guidelines for when it would be appropriate to call CPS for non-compliance, will be discussed. Presenter: Patrick Alwine, MSW, CHKD

Noon .........................Lunch

12:45 p.m...................Breakout Sessions III

Addressing Acute Adolescent Reproductive Health Needs in the School Clinic (Room 300)

Dr. Caves will provide an overview of menstrual disorders and how to provide support in the school clinic. Dr. Fox will describe causes of acute scrotal pain and swelling in male children. Learn to diagnose and triage testicular torsion. Discuss factors that influence successful surgical treatment of testicular torsion (orchiopexy versus orchiectomy). Presenters: Kyzwana Caves, MD, MPH, FAAP and Janelle Fox, MD, CHKD 

Supporting the Student with Frequent Migraines (Room 200)

Learn the signs and symptoms of migraines, protocols for medication dispensing and returning to the classroom, trends in diagnosis and appropriate accommodations for the classroom setting. Presenter: Ryan P. Williams, MD, CHKD

2:00 p.m. ...................Breakout Session IV

Understanding the Student with Sickle Cell (Room 300)

This session will provide an overview of current symptoms, treatments, and how school nurses can help. Presenters: Nikkie Solorzano, RN and Netta Haynes, RN 

Mental Health- Classroom/ Clinic De-Escalation Strategies (Room 200)

Identify triggers for escalating behaviors and learn strategies to de-escalate aggressive students of all ages in the school classroom or clinic. Presenter: Christine Bethea, MA, BS, QMHP-T, CHKD

 3:00 p.m.  .................Conference Ends