Hawaii Keiki kicks off back to school at UH Manoa
The Hawaii Keiki: Healthy & Ready to Learn Program kicked off the 2025 – 2026 school year with its annual back to school event held at UH Manoa. This year, all Hawaii Keiki staff from all islands attended this important event including health technicians and Charter Program staff. More than 120 clinical and administrative staff participated in two days of training, development and team building.
The first day was specifically geared towards simulated skills training which included simulations on communication/de-escalation, anaphylaxis with respiratory distress and skills stations focused on medication administration, asthma protocols, vital signs, neuro examination/concussion management and EPIC (medical record software) training.
The second day focused on delivering program updates that included various speakers and topics. The team was welcomed back with a meaningful Hawaiian Oli present by Nalani Minton, faculty with the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (SONDH) and director of the IKE AO PONO program. Following this blessing, we filled the day with introductions of new staff and complex area leads, updates on data collection and charting, HIPAA and incident reporting, organizational culture, guest presenters from We Are Oceania, and small group activities to facilitate better team collaboration and communication.
Additionally, 5 staff were recognized for 5 years of service and 4 staff who passed their National Association of School Nurse Examination. Noting the importance of mentoring our future health professions, we proudly acknowledge 7 nurses who precepted UH Manoa students in Fall 2024, 11 nurses who precepted students in Spring 2025 and 3 HK nurses who served as content experts for DNP nursing students.
Hawaii Keiki would like to thank SONDH for their ongoing support and a special mahalo to the staff of the UH Translational Health Science Simulation Center and actors from the HealthCAST program for their outstanding support during our training sessions, James Callahan for his photography skills and Desiree Uyeda for her help with messaging, marketing and communications.