Rhode Island School Nurse of the Year 2025

The Rhode Island Certified School Nurse Association is pleased to announce our School Nurse of the Year, Kathryn McKenna, Head Nurse at the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Kathy is the Head Nurse of the Wheeler School Health Center serving students from nursery through twelfth grade. She and the Head Counselor, established a collaborative care model over twenty years ago, working together to provide comprehensive care for the students and their families. She has also led the way in establishing the clinical standards of care. These standards include a student and family centered approach in regards to how the students are cared for and how health situations are navigated and managed. Through this work, she has set a tone and mentored others in the department so that they too maintain these standards and are consistently providing high quality care. Kathy is also an advocate of using resources such as those from NASN to inform school nursing practice. Kathy’s clinical expertise, as well as her ability to collaborate and coordinate care among different parties, plays a critical role in managing students’ health and ensuring their well-being while at school. 

Kathy was nominated by the Director of Health and Wellness at her school and her nomination was accompanied by glowing letters of support from two additional school head administrators. 

Congratulations, Kathy!