More wonderful stories from the field are filling my mailbox! Remember if you want to share your school nursing story, please email me at relentlessschoolnurse@gmail.com. I have a new one to share, this one is from Wendy Lamparelli, the lead nurse in her New Jersey school district. She has a unique signature line that includes the message pictured below: Don’t Be Silent About Things That Matter. I think that sums up Wendy’s school nursing philosophy. She is a dedicated colleague with decades of experience that she continues to share with her students, staff and families. Here is Wendy’s ..read more

Nurse Holly is educating herself and her students as she grows her display featuring Black healthcare leaders during Black History Month. She shares her story of how the project has expanded in this edition of “School Nursing Stories from the Field.” You might know Nurse Holly from the School Nursing Facebook page!  If you want to add your story to our growing collection, please email me at: relentlessschoolnurse@gmail.com 13 Leaders in Nursing & Medicine to Honor This      Black History Month One of the inspirations that came from sharing on social media is being abl ..read more

Sharing stories from school nurses across the country is one of the goals I had for starting The Relentless School Nurse almost seven years ago!  Please keep sending in your stories, they can be brief, typically 500 words or less work well. Write a short bio and include a picture and I will do the rest! Email your story to: relentlessschoolnurse@gmail.com Here is another story from the field, this one is from Peggy Bassrawi, an Illinois school nurse who retired at 72 with 50 years of practice!   I graduated from U of M in 1972 and began my career working in a hospital-as most of us ..read more

When I first started The Relentless School Nurse, my intention was to share stories from my health office to amplify the role of the school nurse. I was inspired by NASN leaders, Beth Mattey and Nina Fekaris, both past-presidents who made it their missions to lift up the work of school nurses across the country. A key message from both school nursing leaders that I heard loud and clear was that we needed to tell our own stories. Who better than a school nurse to define our roles and the scope of our practice.  My blogging journey began after I attended a workshop at the National Associat ..read more

Reading through the many headlines of what is happening in schools across the country this Monday morning is jarring. I have included examples from the past few weeks of articles that involve school nurses and school health. They are a cross-section of the challenges that schools are grappling with, and all impact school safety. From gun violence to edibles and everything in between, these news stories give a birds-eye view of the social issues that are playing out in the classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, and health offices of schools across the country. It is no wonder that those who devote ..read more

Kudos to the Maine Department of Education (DOE) for recognizing the impact of COVID-19 on their school nursing workforce.  They are implementing innovative programs to INVEST in school nurses, including supporting national certification and providing funds to not only sit for the exam but to prepare as well. I am inspired by this program and believe it is a roadmap for all other DOEs across the country who are looking to support their school nurse workforce. The foundation of the program was first to expand the school nursing leadership across the state. We need more school nurses in le ..read more

“I’m sorry I let you down. I’m sorry I let you die.” This is the message 10-year-old Daniel Ruiz wrote to his cousin, who was killed at the Uvalde school shooting, along with classmates and teachers. Our children are suffering from our inaction as a society to keep them safe. The weight of survivor’s guilt is already crushing this young boy. This message is a clarion call for all who care about children. Young Daniel Ruiz is holding himself responsible for his cousin’s death as well as the death of his friends and teachers when the blame belongs to all of us. I want Daniel to know that we are ..read more

I read the news that Gallup released their annual poll of the most trusted and respected professions. Nurses have come in first for twenty-one years straight. The one year we came in second to firefighters was after 9/11.  I did not feel the same sense of pride and enthusiasm as I have felt in the past when the poll was published. I actually felt numb. Reading the news on the heels of years of pandemic school nursing and the resulting mistreatment brought a sense of cognitive dissonance front and center.  Retrieved from Healthline: 5 Everyday Examples of Cognitive Dissonance Nursing ..read more

The headline has haunted me all weekend. I cannot stop thinking about this unimaginable scenario. A six-year-old child is angry and dysregulated, has access to an unlocked and loaded firearm, and brings it to school. This is not a far-flung script for a crime show, this is real life and it happened this past Friday at an elementary school in Newport News, Virginia.  The details are as murky as the path forward in terms of how to adjudicate a young child who engaged in a violent crime.  The only information released is that the child and teacher were involved in an “altercation” and ..read more

Today is our first day back to school after a much-needed holiday break. My Camden, New Jersey school district is one of two in NJ that is instituting a temporary return to universal masking following our break. I am so thankful to the team at Project N95  for providing more than 7,000 adult and 5,000 preschool-size masks for my district. The power of social media once again offers connections that would have not been possible without relationships built, albeit virtual. I “met” Marilyn Levi-Baumgarten on Twitter and learned about the mission of Project N95. The organization has del ..read more