Ferguson named 2022 Louisiana Health Service Provider of the Year

Posted Date: 06/21/2022

Andrea Ferguson, the Nursing Coordinator for the Beauregard Parish School Board, has been selected as the 2022 Louisiana School Health Service Provider of the Year by the Louisiana Department of Education. She was recognized at the June 15, 2022, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) board meeting. 

The School Health Service Provider of the Year award spotlights the vital role that student health plays in education. The DOE announced the inaugural year of this award to recognize and celebrate the state’s most exceptional school health providers.

Nominations were accepted and finalists were chosen in four categories: Occupational/ Physical Therapy, Speech/Audiology, Nursing, and Behavioral Health. Ferguson was named among the four finalists for the Health Service Provider of the Year.

Ferguson, BSN, RN, CSN, has been a school nurse for more than 20 years and currently serves as the BPSB Coordinator of Health Services and as the school nurse for DeRidder High School and the Beauregard Alternative Program. Ferguson has been a Registered Nurse for over 30 years.

In her role as Health Services Coordinator, she collaborates with the nine Registered Nurses who provide health services to the thirteen schools in the parish. She is a resource to school system administrators, providing leadership in health care policies, infection control, and health programs. As a school nurse, she focuses her skills on the well-being of the students in her care.

In addition to her duties in the parish schools, she also serves as the Director of the National Association of School Nurses, the co-chair of the Education and Nurse Practice Strategic Committee, and is a member of the Bylaws Committee, Nominating Committee, and the Professional Practice Document Advisory Committee. Ferguson serves on the Louisiana School Nurse Advisory Council with LDOE, and on the Louisiana School Health Advisory Council with Louisiana Department of Education and Department of Health.

Ferguson was nominated for the award by DHS principal Harry Hooker and stated that she was surprised and humbled upon receiving news of the award. Andrea Ferguson (center) was honored as the Louisiana Health Service Provider of the Year at the June BESE Board Meeting. Louisiana Department of Education officials presented her with the award. They include, from left: Michael Comeaux and Elizabeth Duncan (Office of Health Communities) and Dr. Ernise Singleton and Erica Spencer (Office of Career and College Readiness).

“I am blessed to work for the Beauregard Parish school system because our administrators recognize the importance and impact that school nurses have in supporting education,” she said. “Our school system has a school nurse assigned to every campus, and we use a holistic approach, looking at the whole child, in order to meet his or her needs.”

“It is a privilege to work with students, staff, and administrators to keep children safe and ready to learn,” she concluded.