CC Alum Barbara Pamboukes Receives Prestigious School Nurse of the Year Award

Barbara Pamboukes, nurse leader for the Portsmouth School District and school nurse at New Franklin Elementary School, recently received the prestigious 2014-2015 School Nurse of the Year award from the N.H. School Association.

Pamboukes was nominated by Sheila Spinney, a second-grade teacher at the school.

"Barbara has shown expertise in school nursing practice," Spinney wrote on her nomination form. "She is very efficient in her busy health office, handling illnesses, injuries and medication with an organized and caring approach."

Pamboukes lives in Portsmouth with her husband, Vassilios. She has two adult sons, Chris and Steve, who live in the city and a stepdaughter, Joan, in New York City. She worked at Portsmouth Regional Hospital as an emergency room nurse for 20 years before becoming a school nurse.

Pamboukes' accomplishments in the school district are numerous, ranging from overseeing the District Wellness Committee to being a 2014 health and safety coordinator with Cynthia Hart, the nurse at Dondero Elementary School. She belongs to many school nursing organizations and committees and is a preceptor for Great Bay Community College's nursing students.

"Barbara's outreach and leadership skills make her unique among school nurses," New Franklin Principal George Shea wrote in his nomination letter. "She does an amazing job accessing community resources to support students in our schoolwide Title I school."

Shea mentioned a recent optometry screening program Pamboukes brought to the school to conduct vision testing and provide glasses for students in need.

Pamboukes takes her knowledge out into the community teaching CPR and AED classes. She recently organized an American Red Cross Blood Drive for the Greater Seacoast community at her church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

Portsmouth Deputy Fire Chief James Heinz said in his nomination letter, "I have known Barbara professionally for 24 years and I can't think of a single time when called upon that she hasn't come through for me or the city of Portsmouth."

"Most recently Barbara helped to develop a school shooting Incident Action Plan and assembled a training program for all Portsmouth school teachers to know how to control bleeding, provide airway management and triage patients," Heinz wrote.

Pamboukes was formally published in November 2103 in the Encyclopedia of School Health, edited by David Wiley and Amy Cory.

She will be honored at the "ED"ies (New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards) dinner on June 7 at the Radisson Hotel at the Center of New Hampshire in Manchester.