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North Pocono High School nurse up for national award

A nurse at a high school in Lackawanna County has already been recognized as "Nurse of the Year" in Pennsylvania, and now she's up for national recognition.

DALEVILLE, Pa. — For high school students, a school nurse is like a superhero. They have the power to make you feel better, to advocate for your health, and even the power to send you home from school.

"School nurses are always thought of as just giving out Band-Aids, but there's so much more to it," said Lynn Heard, a nurse at North Pocono High School.

Heard is in the running for the National Association of School Nurses "Nurse of the Year" award.

We asked her why she thinks she was nominated.

"I have no idea! I don't think I'm that special," said Heard.

But the students she cares for every day feel differently.

"She's definitely number one," said junior Rachel Dietz.

"She knows everybody by their first and last name even if you're never here," said senior Zachary Chludzinski.

Nurse Heard takes care of about 50 to 60 students a day, but her colleagues say if she's ever stressed, she doesn't show it.

Heard went into the field of nursing for one simple reason: she loves to take care of people. At North Pocono, many students consider her their second mom.

"When I first started, I felt like I was a mother to a thousand kids," Heard said.

"I feel like she definitely puts in the same amount of work for every single person, even if your issue isn't that serious. Like if you just had a headache, she still cares about you as much as somebody who has something more serious," said junior Olivia Scutt.

In the minds of her students, Nurse Heard has already earned the title "Nurse of the year" for the past 23 years, but to see their superhero recognized nationally would be even more special.

"I'll be ecstatic. When I heard the announcement yesterday, I was like, 'Yes! Miss Heard!' I actually was, I was in the hallway, and my friends were like 'why are you yelling like that?' and I was like 'I love Miss Heard, she's the best!'" Chludzinski said.

If Heard does win the national competition, she'll be headed to Las Vegas in June.

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