A state school nurses association has selected Greeley-Evans School District 6 Health Services Coordinator Lori McCarty as its school nurse administrator of the year.
The Colorado Association of School Nurses honored McCarty, who has 30 years of experience in pediatric and school nursing, after receiving a nomination and recommendations from McCarty’s District 6 colleagues, according to a news release from the school system.
District 6 school nurse consultants Lynette Decker, Elizabeth Eberhard, Rachel Thomas, Lori Kingsley, Caryn Ishmael, Beth Lee and Jennifer Berg-Ramsey nominated McCarty. The nurses cited McCarty’s ability to analyze and prioritize, and “her deep commitment to children and their families” as some of the reasons she deserves this honor, the school district release said.
“Lori is widely known as a caring and pragmatic nurse who is dedicated to her role and those she oversees,” according to the nomination letter. “Lori excels at building trusted relationships with internal and external teams to meet the health needs of students in the educational setting.”
McCarty began working as a school nurse in District 6 in 2014. She was promoted to health services coordinator. McCarty has lead the medical response and contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as coordinated other health services for students in District 6.
McCarty has led the district’s response to the virus, including writing a “curriculum” to help students and staff in their safe return to school in mid-August.
She has a nursing degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and a master’s degree in Pediatric Nurse Leadership from the University of Colorado.
District 6 Superintendent Deirdre Pilch and Director of Special Education and Health Services Tom Gribble jointly submitted a letter of recommendation in support of McCarty’s nomination.
“Lori is providing unparalleled support for our health services staff and works tirelessly to ensure they have what they need to support students,” the Pilch and Gribble letter reads. “Lori is so deserving of this award. Lori’s leadership has had a long term impact on our system, prior to this pandemic, resulting in a high functioning, highly responsive and extremely effective health services team that meets the day-to-day needs of students, families and staff.”
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