My gun violence prevention advocacy journey has taken me into spaces that I am not sure I could have ever imagined. The most recent is a collaboration with Mary Beth Miotto, MD, MPH, a pediatrician, and friend who graciously agreed to co-author a perspective piece with me for the New England Journal of Medicine. Our topic considers the question; Have we applied the rigor of evidence-informed decision-making to these armed-assailant preparedness drills that have profoundly changed the school...

(*Editor's note: News about Robin! Rutgers–Camden lecturer inducted into the National Academy of School Nursing ) Did I ever tell you that I LOVE snail mail, especially handwritten notes sent through the mail? The other day I sorted through the mail and found three cards! One was from Mom's Demand Action thanking me for speaking at a recent rally. One was from Jeanne Kiefner, a school nursing treasure who will be our forever "Head Nurse," thanking me for spending time together during our...

So much has happened in the two short weeks since this event on June 10, 2022! We now have a path forward with the first bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a breakthrough bill with strong support to move swiftly through the Senate and the House. I spent a day like no other with a group of gun violence survivors and victims' families gathered together to demand that the Senate take meaningful legislative action on gun violence...

It's been bad, really bad. We thought 2020-2021 was bad, that was a walk in the park on a windy day in comparison to this miserable year. So, goodbye and good riddance to a school year that most of us would like to forget. I know there are those who may feel differently, but for the majority of the school nurses that have crossed my path, this one will be in the top worst school years list. It may have made us more resilient, but at what cost? Why must we wear resilience as a badge of...

Jeanne Kiefner is a living legend in school nursing. She refers to herself as 'retired, but resourceful.' She is an example to us that we can all be lifelong learners and make meaningful contributions to society well into our retirement years. I am so proud to publish Jeanne's latest guest blog post below: I am an octogenarian retired school nurse who prior to the pandemic spent my free time volunteering in the community. Since my retirement more than 20 years ago, I have served as an...

The urban richness of Camden, New Jersey Whenever I am asked where I work, I describe my community as urban. Starting today, I will use the term urban rich, thanks to a conversation I had with Dwana Young, a new colleague from the New Jersey Office of Resilience . We were engaged in a lively conversation about the exciting work happening in New Jersey and envisioning possibilities for innovative collaborations. Once again, I described my Camden, New Jersey school community as an urban...

When I power up the Zoom room for my bi-weekly school nurse support groups, I am never sure who will join me and what we will discuss. The conversations are confidential, no names or school districts are collected. We come together to decompress from the impact of COVID. Through the months and months of conversations, I have learned that our colleagues, me included, are experiencing moments of extremes. One school nurse shared that she can feel simultaneously empowered and disempowered. That...

WHYY photo credit[/caption] My school district announced that four more schools will be closed at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. This devastating news prompted me to write this letter that will be combined with other school staff, families, and students to ask our state and national leaders to SAVE OUR SCHOOLS. This is my twentieth year as a school nurse serving the students, families, and staff of the Camden City School District. My first twelve years were spent at Cooper’s...

For almost thirty years, our family hosted Thanksgiving that included extended family and friends. My kids would laugh at me when I insisted on setting the Thanksgiving table a week before the holiday. It was a joyful time in our household and evokes the sweetest memories for me of our close-knit family that has now grown up. I began hosting Thanksgiving when I was in college. The tradition started one year when my parents and younger sister headed to Florida for a long Thanksgiving weekend,...

When the last school bell rings at the end of the day, the bubbles we have created at school burst. The effort to keep our students and staff safe in schools across the country is negated when the adults in our students’ lives continue to make unsafe choices after school. It is disheartening, to say the least, to see the surge of the coronavirus when we did not have to get here. We recognize it is complicated. We all want our kids to have some normalcy, but casual gatherings after school and...

I received this text message in the early morning hours during one of my many sleepless nights grappling with how to safely reopen school. Nelba, the mom who asked this question, is from Sandy Hook. The story behind the message is that she is a parent who has already had an unthinkable loss at school. Nelba reached out to me asking how she can make a safe decision to send her surviving son to school in the midst of a pandemic. We don’t have answers for communities like Nelba’s that were...

Films have been instrumental in helping us understand individual, generational, and historical trauma - and healing. Documentaries can inspire and inform public policy and system-level change as well and that is why ACEs Connection, CTIPP, and the Relentless School Nurse have come together to stream documentaries from this community site, quarterly, starting in September of 2020. We held our inaugural event to discuss the first documentary in our film festival, Portraits of Professional...

Elementary school nurse, Anne Young, created a series of videos for her students and parents to help reduce the stress and disruption of COVID-19. Nurse Young's Corner is a delightful collection of informative videos that translate the ever-evolving pandemic information families are grappling to understand. Look for Nurse Young's "magic box," something that all school nurses need in our health offices! Explaining COVID-19 to Children And Helping Them Overcome the Fear of Face Masks Photo by...

Planning for school reopening seems insurmountable, yet, those who are involved in the details continue efforts to keep our students and staff safe. It feels like we are writing plans in the sand, with constantly shifting information that changes with the tide. One of the many articles I read about school reopening describes the details for the Springfield, Missouri summer school. These guidelines could be coming to a school near you. Are we really ready? The following information is...

School nurses have been industrious during COVID-19, using innovative skills to do one of the things we do best, providing information for our families. Everyone's health literacy has been tested through the pandemic. The messaging from our most trusted institutions like the CDC has been confusing and ever-changing. As states have released vague return to school guidelines, it is clear that the details for keeping our students and staff safe will depend on each school district to create...

Thank you to the generous and talented Deana Sobel Lederman for sharing another story with my readers! 'Masks' gently introduces the concept of wearing masks to young children through a clever series of conversations between animal families. Deana creates a world where wearing masks, for a short time, is something we can do together. Physical distancing does not limit social connections. We learn this as our animal friends venture out into the neighborhood with their new masks. The...

'We're Going to Be O.K.' is a children's book written by Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton and Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb to encourage children and families to stay "safe, healthy, and optimistic during the COVID19 pandemic." The book is beautifully illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin Webb. I found this special book through an article celebrating Drs. Hilton and Webb's recognition for “We’re Going to Be O.K,” as one of the top five entries in Emory Global Health Institute’s COVID-19 Children’s eBook Competition .

I am excited to share this children's book that explains the coronavirus to children! Thank you to Donna Gaffney for sending this my way! Retrieved from: https://nosycrow.com/blog/released-today-free-information-book-explaining-coronavirus-children-illustrated-gruffalo-illustrator-axel-scheffler/ The book answers key questions in simple language appropriate for 5 to 9-year-olds: • What is the coronavirus? • How do you catch the coronavirus? • What happens if you catch the coronavirus? • Why...

I am continuously inspired by the generosity of spirit that is being shared during this complicated and unprecedented time. There are artists, musicians, storytellers, and teachers creating opportunities for families to bring some structure to our very unstructured day. You can find a variety of classes, concerts, and virtual gatherings through social media. One shining example that I wanted to share is the story of 'Kids Yoga with Nurse G'. I am continuously inspired by the generosity of...

I participated in an important discussion about the use of pronouns. The person who initiated the discussion wanted to understand the issue on a granular level. They were having a hard time wrapping their mind around the need to move beyond the binary categories of him and her. I listened intently as two colleagues worked diligently to understand each other's perspectives. It was an encouraging discussion because neither party was pushing an agenda. They were both listening to understand.

Once again the power of Twitter has expanded my circle of wonderful humans working across sectors to counter-balance the negativity in our world. Elizabeth Perry is a member of the #TwitterFamily that grows each day. Elizabeth lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia and brings an international flavor to the discussion of ACEs. She is also a fierce advocate that the trauma-informed movement must include the voice of trauma survivors. As our mutual friend Cissy White often says, "It is not...

Twitter once again connected me to another amazing person working to make this world a kinder, more gentler place for children and families. One of the most hidden, but vital aspects of family constellations are grandfamilies. Grandparents raising grandchildren (grandfamilies) at a time in their lives when they might be retired and slowing down a bit, can find themselves in the throes of crises picking up the pieces of a shattered family. Whether by illness, death, or unforeseen...

2020 is starting out in a most unexpected, but an exciting way for The Relentless School Nurse. American Nurse , the official journal of the ANA has a special feature called "My Nurse Influencers," and I have been chosen as one of the monthly contributors. To say I am honored, thrilled, humbled, and a bit stunned is a huge understatement. The fact that school nurses are being recognized as the specialty practice we all know that we have been for more than 110 years, fills me with a sense of...

Carolyn Corbi is a spitfire who is passionate about social justice, urban education, and the power of community to lead change. I have known Carolyn for more than twenty years in my family life, but I am now connected to her in my professional life too! How lucky that we reunited over a shared purpose to bring Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) education to schools. As a life-long learner, I am always seeking opportunities to expand my school nurse educator tool-kit. Carolyn is an expert...

Author, journalist, researcher, science detective are just a few of the descriptors I can use to depict Donna Jackson Nakazawa. You may recognize her name from prior books, notably, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology And How You Can Heal . Donna is a gifted science storyteller. She translates complex biological processes seamlessly and describes them in relatable terms that are memorable. The Angel and the Assassin is the story of how neuroscience has been turned on...

When a journalist contacts a nurse for an interview, we have to be ready to meet their tight deadlines. This is one of the media competency nuggets that I have learned through the guidance of Nurse Media Strategist, Barbara Glickstein . I was channeling Barbara when I found out that Mike DeNardo of KYW NewsRadio wanted to interview me about active shooter drills. I had a narrow window to meet his availability and I jumped into the conversation with the intention of sharing a specific...

December 14th marks the seventh anniversary of Sandy Hook. These anniversaries come fast and furious. Name the event and the date comes to mind. Sandy Hook – 12/14, Parkland – 2/14, Columbine 4/20 are just a few of the hundreds, yes, hundreds of mass school shootings that have happened in our country. To be specific, there have been more than 230 school shootings since Columbine. I connected with Nelba Marquez-Greene on Twitter. She is the mother of Ana Grace, who died at Sandy Hook...

Healing our Ghosts is a new podcast by Ana Joanes, filmmaker and creative spirit who brought us Wrestling Ghosts, a groundbreaking documentary about parenting with ACEs. This new podcast has a unique vision: The premiere episode of Healing Our Ghosts is with one of my all time favorite people, Cissy White. She is a brilliant writer, who speaks nationally about the impact of trauma and her healing journey. Cissy believes that trauma survivors must be leading this work and that it is not...

Kemba Noel-London MAT, ATC, CES is my guest blogger this week. This doctoral candidate is juggling multiple roles, including Athletic Trainer, lab assistant and university instructor, just to name a few. She also created an evidence-based trauma informed athletic coaching program! Understanding the role of ACEs in sports and the impact on athletes is what caught my attention. I had not connected those dots before and her specific focus of ACEs and sports fascinated me. I invited Kemba and...

One of the lessons learned from the Woodhull Study Revisited is that when a health reporter contacts a nurse, we need to be ready to respond in a timely manner. Just 10 days ago, I received this inquiry through the Relentless School Nurse Facebook page: I thank Barbara Glickstein for her expert guidance in nursing media competencies because I felt prepared to speak with Cathy and things certainly did move quickly! I was honored to contribute to this article along with Linda Mendonca, MSN,...

The collaboration between school counselors and school nurses creates safe spaces for students at school. Building a coalition between school counselors and school nurses creates a safety net for our most complex and challenging students while benefiting the whole school community. Promoting connections through intentional relationship building, and ensuring a school environment that is physically, emotionally and psychologically safe changes the culture and climate. Read about an amazing...

A post on Facebook literally stopped me in my tracks. Artist Annie Lightsey had turned target practice sheets into riveting works of art to counterbalance the impact of community gun violence. She is using art as her only weapon and it is powerful. I am honored that Annie is sharing her art, philosophy and vision with the readers of this blog. _________________________________________________________________________ Artist Annie Lightsey

For several years I was the Education Co-chair of New Jersey State School Nurses Association (NJSSNA), tasked with co-creating our annual spring conference. It was a formidable job, but one that I relished. Our overarching goal was to bring the quality of a national conference to our state. One of the many components was to have scholarly poster presentations in order for school nurses in NJ to share the excellent work they were doing with colleagues. Posters are tricky, not all school...

I am sharing my remarks from the press conference held by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood to bring attention to the impact of gun violence in schools. We are asking for the Senate to bring the Background Check Bill to the floor for a vote. Democracy is built on the voice of “The People” and yesterday, I had the ultimate privilege of being one of the voices. I spoke on behalf of school nurses across our country who are managing the aftermath of school shootings or the stress of active shooter...

Yelaika Lopez represents what is best about our future leaders. She is on a mission to break barriers and reduce the stigma of seeking treatment for mental health issues. Stigma prevents people from accessing treatment for up to a decade, according to The National Council of Behavioral Health . I was fortunate to meet Yelaika while she was still in high school, and I have watched her flourish as a college student. She is sharing this personal reflection to support The National Suicide...

Last June, I had the honor of speaking in a panel after the screening of the documentary Wrestling Ghosts at the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Conference in Denver. Wrestling Ghosts explores the impact of childhood trauma and provides a rare opportunity to witness the healing process. I sat among 1200 school nurses from the US and abroad, and the experience was memorable and deeply transformative. There is a trauma epidemic in our schools. There is a trauma epidemic in our...

Over the next week or so there will be articles about the murder of my father's family because unbelievably it will the 70th anniversary on 9/6/2019. We buried my father exactly 10 years ago, on the 60th anniversary 9/6/2009. I truly don't know where the last 10 years have gone, but here we are, another anniversary is upon us. For me, this means bracing myself for newspaper stories, ripe with horrific photos of the killer and scenes from the murders where 13 people were brutally slaughtered...

Spending time in nature is sorely lacking in our hyperconnected world, especially for our children. Nature heals and soothes the spirit as well as the body. This week's guest blog is about two amazing nurses who are using the healing qualities of nature to nurture those who join them. Meet Susan and Clif otherwise known as the Nature Nurse and the Nurse Farmer! They have joined forces to develop Healthy Green Thumbs, an innovative campaign designed to educate and inspire young people to...

July 24, 2019 marked a professional and personal highlight for me, one I will always cherish. I was a panelist for the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Town Hall in Philadelphia. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 is a consensus study through the National Academies of Medicine (NAM) and is tasked with "charting a path for the nursing profession to create a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the health and wellbeing of the U.S. population in the 21st century." - (NAM - 2019)...

Today marked a professional and personal highlight for me, one I will always cherish. I was a panelist for the Future of Nursing 2030 Town Hall in Philadelphia. I am sharing my statement to the committee in this blog post. For those who supported me, coached me, listened to me practice and helped me navigate this high stakes event, thank you, thank you, thank you. A special appreciation to Dr. Susan Hassmiller for her invitation to participate and for always championing the work of school...

Blooming Buddies Workshop has released a new episode called, Sonny Calms Down! Enjoy this clever message that addresses upset and frustration in a safe and thoughtful way. Annie has done it again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUPEka9Xp04&feature=youtu.be Annie and her bud Sonny happily enjoy their efforts after planting a new row of flowers in the Blooming Buddies Workshop garden. But sunny smiles turn upside down when their hard work is unexpectedly jumbled. Grab your sun hat and...

For the past 7 years, I have had the privilege of teaching in the Rutgers-Camden School Nurse Certificate Program. I am a full-time school nurse in the Camden City School District during the school year, but each summer and fall I wear my favorite hat, that of school nurse educator. I honor the efforts of my students and marvel at their courage, many having not been in the role of student for many years. My students are adult learners, professional nurses who want to enter the unknown world...

Teachable moments are those seconds of clarity when someone experiences an absolute understanding that previously eluded him or her. In my work as a School Nurse, I was accustomed to creating the “teachable moments” for my students. On this particular late afternoon, it was my turn to experience a “teachable moment” from a student. Who recognizes this scenario? It was another endless day of problem-solving, crisis management, sewing ripped pants, helping a staff member deal with a personal...

A few months ago, a school nurse who experienced a school shooting reached out to me to express her feeling of isolation and asked for support. She wanted to know if I knew of any other school nurses she could connect with who also lived through this nightmare. The nurse has asked to remain anonymous and I certainly respect her decision. Her email left me reeling, thinking of how I could support this very brave, but very wounded school nurse. Where is the support for school nurses who have...

Earlier in the year, I wrote a blog post about one of my newest students who was saving food that was served in school to bring home to her family. The 4-year-old girl, a recent immigrant from Guatemala, was storing food in her pants pockets instead of eating at school. Here is a link to the blog post: Pockets Filled With Chicken and Other Social Determinants of Health Yesterday, I was privileged to see this little girl welcome the guests for the end of year celebration as the students move...

I co-authored an Op-Ed with Dean Donna Nickitas from Rutgers-Camden Nursing School and Donna Mazyck, Executive Director of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN). MLK wrote about the "fierce urgency of now," a message that rings as true today as it was when he shared it more than 50 years ago. Addressing the public health crisis of gun violence requires that sense of fierce urgency and action. This Op-Ed, published today, the very weekend following the aftermath of yet another mass...

Aaron Schaidle, BSN, RN is a new school nurse working in Indiana. He contacted me via Twitter to share his view of why we need a school nurse in every school. Aaron provides a compelling perspective on safe staffing, through his lens as a new school nurse. I appreciate Aaron adding his voice to this important discussion. The health and safety of our students and staff are at risk, why is this even a question in 2019? But, as we know it is...there is no shortage of school nurses willing to...

My venture into the #Twittersphere has taken me across the ocean to the lovely country of Scotland. While I have not yet had the privilege of visiting, I have connected with a pioneering group of people who have a collective goal to make the entire country ACEs aware. And guess what...they are succeeding in ways that America should take note and follow in their able footsteps. Imagine an entire nation of 5 million people becoming aware of childhood adversity and the impact on our health and...