Local woman named Nurse of the Year

Merry Grasska, a 16-year Newport-Mesa School District employee and

nurse at Hope Healthy Start Clinic in Costa Mesa, has been named

National School Nurse of the Year.

She was notified on Feb. 14 by the president of the National Assn.

of School Nurses.

Grasska plans to attend the association’s June 30 through July 3

annual conference in Washington, D.C., where she will accept the

award. She received the California School Nurse of the Year award at

a Feb. 3 banquet in Hollywood.

Grasska’s supervisor, Martha BMarthaler, nominated Grasska for the

Orange County Nurse of the Year award during the 2003-04 school year.

At the Hope Healthy Start Clinic, where young Newport-Mesa

students can receive free health screening services and vaccinations,

Grasska assists in staff development by planning health-related

meetings. She conducts basic patient assessments and oversees

psycho-social development projects.

Grasska, a Dana Point resident and nurse practitioner who has

about 25 years of school-nursing experience, is known for her concern

for patients’ privacy.