Pittston Area School District Head Nurse MaryBeth Yakobitis, right, overlooks a student’s file inputted by health room technician Rosie McDade at the high school.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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MaryBeth Yakobitis recently received the highest acknowledgement in her industry by receiving the School Nurse Excellence Award for the Northeast Region of Pennsylvania of 2024
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE – After 33 years as a school nurse at Pittston Area, MaryBeth Yakobitis is ready to call it a career and is going out in style.
Yakobitis, RN, BSN, CSN, MEQ, recently received the highest acknowledgement in her industry by receiving the School Nurse Excellence Award for the Northeast Region of Pennsylvania of 2024. Her peers nominated her for her service in excellence to students and staff.
She was recognized at an awards banquet at the Hershey Lodge Conference Center at Hershey on Saturday, March 23. Yakobitis, along with her family, were present to receive her award.
Anne-Marie Crawford, MSN RN NCSN, PA Assoc. of School Nurses and Practitioners president said, “MaryBeth is a role model, demonstrating her passion for her profession for all certified school nurses in Pennsylvania.”
After Yakobitis graduated with her degree in nursing, she started out in pediatrics 38 years ago at the former Nesbitt Memorial Hospital followed by a stint in obstetrics in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit.
As she was working at Nesbitt Memorial, a part-time school nurse opened up at Pittston Area. It was then she realized school nursing was where she needed to be.
“I really fell in love with school nursing and felt this is my passion,” Yakobitis recalled. “I could use my clinical experience to help service the students at the school.”
Over her 33-year career, Yakobitis has seen a lot of changes in school nursing going from being able to dispense medicine to being prohibited from doing so to being inundated in mandatory paperwork by the state.
Yakobitis said it is mandated by the state a nurse be present at all times and they must review every student medical file on their health needs called an individual health plan as well as a treatment plan and plan from a physician.
“Years ago we would give a teacher an envelope with pills for a student to take while on a field trip,” Yakobitis said. “Now we can’t do that, the staff has to be trained and we have to get an individual order for a student going on a field trip.”
Yakobitis said the nursing department is licensed by the State of Pennsylvania and cannot administer medication without a doctor’s order.
“Parents don’t understand when they tell us it is okay to give their child a Tylenol or an Advil that it goes against the State of Pennsylvania,” Yakobitis added.
According to Yakobitis, there is a form to fill out for just about every student while working closely with guidance counselors with students having medical conditions that may interfere with schooling.
She works with doctor’s orders, individual health plans allowing students to enter school.
Yakobitis said over the years she’s seen an increase in diabetes among the students as well as emotional issues such as anxiety and depression.
“In 1991 when I started, we had maybe one diabetic throughout the district, it was like wow,” Yakobitis said. “Now you’re seeing a trend and it’s not uncommon to have over 10 students in the high school alone with diabetes. Last year we had 13.”
Yakobitis oversees three certified nurses and four health room technicians.
The 2023-2024 school year will be Yakobitis’ last year at Pittston Area as she set her goal on retiring at the end of the current school year.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said on retiring. “I definitely want to keep up because I’m involved in NASA, I’m involved with PASNAP (PA Assoc. of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals), PSEA unions (PA State Education Assoc.), even though we are with EFT (Educators for Tomorrow).”
Even though Yakobitis will be retiring at 60 years old, she will be very busy. Her and her husband Ken, who have three daughters all in the medical field, are looking forward to two of their daughter’s upcoming weddings.