Blogs - News

It's National SISP Week 2022!

By Sheila Caldwell, BSN, RN, CSN, FNASN posted 04-24-2022
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The National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel 20 organization members , allies, partners and the public will be celebrating this week - April 25th - April 29th! As you may recall the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provided the definition of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP), of which school nurses are included. Read this from the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (NASISP) website : Defined in the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), the term ‘specialized instructional support personnel’ means— ‘‘(i) school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists; and ...

Back to School...Again!!!

By Melissa Sherman, CSN-NJ posted 05-22-2020
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I am a married, forty one year old mother of two boys that are fourteen and eleven years old. I have been home caring for my family for the past four years and just realized recently it’s time to make a change. I decided to listen to that little voice inside me and apply to an online graduate program to obtain my school nurse certification. I have always known deep down that I want to be a school nurse. I just hadn’t realized, that the time is NOW. So, I did it. I applied! But really, what am I getting myself into? What am I thinking going back to school at this point in my life and after a four year hiatus in my nursing career? Despite these persistent, ...

The Relentless School Nurse: The Future of Nursing 2030 Includes the Voice of School Nursing

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 06-04-2019
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The Future of Nursing 2030 is tasked with envisioning what nursing will become over the next decade. To be exact: "This committee will extend the vision for the nursing profession into 2030 and it will chart a path for the nursing profession to help our nation create a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the health and wellbeing of the U.S. population in the 21st century." - retrieved from National Academies SEM : The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 The most exciting part is that the committee is seeking input from nurses across the country. Our voices are needed, requested and welcomed to design our collective future. What is even more ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Meet the Student & the Art Teacher Creating #NoMoreEmptyDesks

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 11-08-2018
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Meet Christian and his teacher Lisa Several months ago, Todt, a nurse educator from Tennessee, responded to a post that I wrote on Twitter. It was about an article documenting the 26,000 school-aged children who have died by gun violence since 1999. had a vision for a public awareness campaign that would use art as a form of social activism to represent the forced absences left from gun violence. Her vision included brightly colored children’s desks to represent those lost to gun violence. Here is original message: Hi Robin, I enjoy your Twitter presence highlighting school health. I like Rutgers University’s placement of empty purple chairs around ...

Resolve to Educate your High School Students on Vaccinations in the New Year!

By Susan Hoffmann, MSN, RN, NCSN posted 01-22-2018
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The New Year stirs a change in all of us, to seize new opportunities and make new resolutions. For school nurses, when we talk about making resolutions, it is often in reference to our students, and making such resolutions are an important but sometimes daunting task. Our latest program, Stats4Vax: Improving teen vaccination rates one school nurse at a time offers wonderful content to help us give back in our own “school nurse way” – by educating teens and their parents/guardians about the importance of vaccination. Too many teens remain under-vaccinated, 1, 2 and this New Year I encourage all of you to help see that more of our students are up-to-date ...

The Relentless School Nurse:  First Times

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 12-04-2017
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First times are always memorable. I remember the first time I gave an injection in nursing school. My patient was an insulin dependent diabetic, I was a novice nursing student. My nerves got the best of me and just as I was about to give the injection, I dropped the syringe and it rolled under the hospital bed. There I was in my white stockings, white uniform, nursing cap and blue apron scrambling under the bed to retrieve the syringe that wound up in the most unreachable place. The first time I taught a class at Rutgers-Camden in the School Nurse Certificate Program, I remember feeling light-headed and had to remind myself to breathe as class was about ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Calm in the Chaos

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 11-19-2017
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Calm in the chaos has been my mantra for the last 17 life in the School Health Office has become more and more challenging. The mantra reminds me to breathe through the unpredictable moments that can wreak havoc on my sense of inner peace. All school nurses know that jolt of adrenaline mixed with rising cortisol levels that washes over us when the office door flies open and emergencies pile in seemingly on top of each other. The scenario is still seared into my mind because it was one of those, “you can’t make this up” moments that generally happen at the end of any given day. I was relishing the quiet moments, getting ready to shut it down for the day when ...

The Relentless School Nurse: The Power of Social Media and a Broken-Down Train

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 11-12-2017
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It was the LinkedIn profile picture of a woman flanked by two Muppets that drew me to read an article about Sesame Street in Communities , a relatively new educational arm of Sesame Workshop. I had never heard of Sesame Street in Communities and was eager to read about this new initiative. The article, written by Jeanette Betancourt, was entitled: How can Elmo and his Sesame Street Friends Help Improve your Community’s Health? I was compelled to reach out to the author to share my appreciation for the abundance of resources Sesame Workshop was providing through Sesame Street in Communities. My message included my work as a preschool nurse in an urban ...

The Relentless School Nurse:  Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellows are Now 900 Strong

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 11-06-2017
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The history of the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program (JJSHLP) began the summer of 1988 when the very first group of school nurses and administrators attended a week-long professional development program in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Since 1988, the program has admitted 900 school nurses and community partners from all over the globe. J&J Fellows are a proud group of school health leaders whose enthusiasm is contagious and allegiance to the program notable. When I first learned about the program in 2000, I knew that I wanted to participate in this powerful experience. I was hungry for the high-level professional development that would ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Why School Nurses Never Get Lunch & Peanut M&Ms

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 10-29-2017
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No matter how much planning we do, it seems like having an “uninterrupted” lunch is not in the cards for school nurses. On one hand, that speaks to the necessity for having full nursing coverage in every school during every period. On the other hand, sometimes we need a brain and body break from the chaotic ballet that traipses through our offices from morning until afternoon. One example, that I remember as clearly as though it happened yesterday, was during my “uninterrupted” lunch. I usually stay in my building because sometimes it is the path of least resistance. But, I do leave my health office and find a quiet space to clear my mind for at least 30 ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Sesame Street in Communities and the Circle of Care

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 10-22-2017
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Two years ago, Sesame Workshop, the educational arm of Sesame Street, launched Sesame Street in Communities to offer support, guidance, and tools to those working with our most vulnerable population, our children. In the “About Us” description on their website Sesame Street in Communities they share their intention: “ Every day, you make a difference by helping kids and families grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Organizations like yours unite communities, foster families’ and kids’ resilience, nurture their physical and mental health and provide critical early learning opportunities. You’re an important part of the “circle of care” that surrounds the families ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Guest Blog by My Husband, Ed: Child Abuse and Neglect - Whose Duty Is It To Report?

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 10-15-2017
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There is not one school nurse about to read this short piece that has not, at least once in his or her lifetime, considered whether to report suspected child abuse. [1] And, from close personal experience, I know that doing so is one of the most difficult yet necessary things a school nurse gets to do. Mandatory Reporters : Unfortunately, there is little uniformity among the states as to who is required to make such a report – in other words, who is the “Mandatory Reporter?” One thing is for certain though, in a school setting, the nurse that reasonably suspects a child is a victim of abuse, is a “Mandatory Reporter.” For example, in New Jersey, ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Meet Aunt Bertha

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 10-08-2017
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Meet Aunt Bertha! One of the 5 principles of NASN’s Framework for 21 st Century School Nursing Practice is Community/Public Health. Relentless School Nursing calls for knowing our community resources and providing helpful, accurate and effective referrals. How embarrassing is it to refer a family to a resource only to find out that it has shut down, changed their phone number or moved to a different location? Meet AuntBertha.com , this is a game changer. I use this website frequently in my health office. Aunt Bertha is one of my go-to tools in The Relentless School Nurse’s toolkit! http://www.auntbertha.com/ “helps people in need and those that help ...

The Relentless School Nurse:  The Magic of Puppetry Animates School Nursing

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 10-01-2017
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Full disclosure, I was one of the 25 School Nurses interviewed for the new video that NASN recently shared. While my voice was left on the cutting room floor, the school nurses and students chosen for the piece speak volumes! The video has raised passionate discussion about who we are and how we should be portrayed. There has been resounding support for the unique format of using puppetry to share our story. And, at the same time, there is discussion that the video is demeaning to school nursing and diminishes decades of work to elevate our national profile. All points of view are valid and school nurses speak from our lived experiences. The beauty ...

The Relentless School Nurse: The Tale of a Caged Bird

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 09-04-2017
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Stretching our wings as School Nurses is challenging. Truthfully, unless your school district is decidedly progressive and forward-thinking, there is limited upward mobility in our career paths. I have come to understand that in order to grow I have to stretch out instead of up. I was recently fortunate enough and honored, to be interviewed by an exceptional School Nurse scholar who was conducting research for her Ph.D. She asked about “job satisfaction”, and that is where I first spoke about feeling like a “ caged bird .” We were both taken back by the phrase, which led us into an unexpected path in our discussion. The impact of speaking my truth about ...

Hurricane Harvey: Creating Hope in the Midst of Challenges

By Laurie Combe, MN, NCSN, RN posted 09-01-2017
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Laurie G. Combe, MN, RN, NCSN President Elect National Association of School Nurses Hurricane Harvey has given the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast quite a week! After worrying that I had cancelled NASN travel without true cause, I learned differently very quickly. The rain that started slowly became incessant, causing the Houston airport to close for several days. We kept watch over our streets, the TV, the river and creek gauges, our front door, hoping we would not succumb to flood waters. We checked with our friends to be sure they were safe. We responded to safety inquiries from friends around the United States. Thankfully, our home is dry and ...

The Relentless School Nurse:  Apples are Not Just Red

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 08-30-2017
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I love fresh fruits and vegetables and my students often comment on what I bring to school each day. My school district is urban, challenging, complex and has limited supermarkets. Corner stores and liquor stores outnumber food stores in every neighborhood. It is often called a food desert, void of fresh produce. Green apples are my favorite, along with Pink Ladies and Red Delicious, to name a few. One day, a student came rushing through my door as I was munching on a juicy, green apple. He stopped, forgetting what it was that brought him to the health office, and said: “what are you eating?” I was a bit surprised at his response when I told him I was eating ...

The Relentless School Nurse: Making Time When There is NO Time

By Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN posted 08-04-2017
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As we all know, there is never enough time in our professional life to do all of the things we want or need to complete. Just when we have all of our charting done, our screenings done and our school nurse tasks completed, the school year is over! But our work is far beyond completing all of the thousands of tasks that await us each school year. Sometimes we get caught up in the tasks and assignments but lose sight of the bigger picture, the wide-angle view of our real purpose. That is where our real work begins, in our purposeful choosing of where we will spend our efforts outside of completing tasks. Somehow reframing our focus frees up time when we thought ...

Speaking Up!

By Dana Holladay-Hollifield, NCSN, RN, BSN posted 01-03-2016
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As an active duty military spouse for over 14 years, I have learned to speak up. We have moved 9 times and experienced 2 deployments. I have enjoyed getting to live in many different parts of the country and meeting many wonderful new people. However, the life of a military spouse can be challenging to say the least, and the source of much resentment and strife for many military couples. I have had my frustrating moments, for example discovering your luggage, which contained the one and only swimsuit you felt pretty wearing, fell off the top of your minivan somewhere in no-where Ohio never to be seen again, but “miraculously” the cat’s litter box somehow ...