Vicki Taliaferro, Maryland

The National Association of School Nurses, Inc. (NASN) has named Vicki Taliaferro of Maryland recipient of the Association's School Nurse Consultant of the Year Award.

Vicki Taliaferro represents excellence in her role as a state school nurse consultant. She has made numerous substantial contributions in this field. After a short time as a member of the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants (NASSNC), Ms. Taliaferro was elected secretary of the organization. She subsequently served NASSNC as President-elect and President, representing the organization's concerns and interests with professionalism and leadership.

Ms. Taliaferro is the senior consultant at the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). In this capacity, she serves as the chair of the Guidelines Committee of the Maryland State Health Council, whose responsibility it is to develop, revise and review school health services guidelines. Topics of the guidelines include management of anaphylaxis, emergency preparedness for school nurses and private duty nurses. Ms. Taliaferro has compiled a resource manual titled "Laws That Impact Maryland's School Health Services Programs."

Collaborating with many agencies, she partnered with the State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to disseminate children's health insurance program information to school systems. Ms. Taliaferro was appointed commissioner on the Governor's Commission to study the nursing shortage. In that role she had educated other commissioners regarding the specialty of school nursing and the availability of school nurses as ambassadors for the profession.

As part of her commitment to leadership development, Ms. Taliaferro pioneered an orientation program for new school health services supervisors. She also scheduled facilitative leadership training at the annual School Health Interdisciplinary Program (SHIP). In response to increasing terror threats in the Washington, DC area, Ms. Taliaferro developed a workshop for school nurses on bioterrorism. She has lectured on school nursing at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and provides updates to private school nurses on current trends in school health.

Vicki Taliaferro leads with vision, excellence and innovation. She unselfishly offers her expertise to state and national colleagues. She tirelessly and collaboratively seeks solutions to concerns related to student services. She is described by her staff as "the epitome of an outstanding state school nurse consultant."