‘Health’s Up’ podcast is the dream of a wannabe school nurse
Health’s Up is a podcast that explores healthy choices through child voices. (more…)
my nurse influencers
(Mis)adventures in nursing documentation
Recently, I found myself in a lighthearted social gathering of like-minded strangers sipping colorful drinks (it was after 4 PM).…
#2 of 52 nurse profiles: Mary Breckinridge
In celebration of 2020 The Year of the Nurse and Midwife, author Maria Smilios is dedicating a weekly column about nurses…
#3 of 52 nurse profiles: Salaria Kea
In celebration of 2020 The Year of the Nurse and Midwife, author Maria Smilios is dedicating a weekly column about nurses…
#6 of 52 nurse profiles: Ann Bradford Stokes
In celebration of 2020 The Year of the Nurse and Midwife, author Maria Smilios is dedicating a weekly column about nurses…
#NoMoreEmptyDesks: Art + activism = artivism!
Many of the readers of this blog have followed the evolution of the #NoMoreEmptyDesks project that is currently underway in…
American Nurse Journal welcomes Dr. Mona Shattell, Associate Dean, Johns Hopkins University
America, Remember to #ThankATrucker #WhenCornavirusIsOver Dr. Karen Heaton is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and…
American Nurse Journal welcomes Dr. Patricia Davidson, Dean and Professor of Nursing, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife during COVID-19 We are in a time none of us could have…
American Nurse Journal welcomes Eric Keller as a Nurse Influencer!
American Nurse Journal is excited to welcome Eric Keller as a new Nurse Influencer! Eric is an RN in the Emergency…
American Nurse Journal welcomes Penn Nursing Director of Innovation, Marion Leary
Nurse Hackathons: Creating Solutions To Problems We See Everyday When you see a problem in the health or healthcare setting…
American Nurse Journal welcomes Rose O. Sherman as our latest Nurse Influencer!
American Nurse Journal is excited to welcome Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN as our newest Nurse Influencer! Dr.…
American Nurse welcomes “America’s Favorite Nurse,” Nurse Alice
What does year of the nurses mean for nurses? The World Health Organization (WHO) designation of 2020 as the International…
American Nurse welcomes “The Dauntless Nurse,” Kathleen Bartholomew
What is Nursing? If you asked 1,000 nurses, you would get 1,000 different answers. I know because that’s what I…
American Nurse welcomes “The Inspiration Nurse,” Donna Cardillo
The Power of Nursing It’s the dawn of a new decade and the beginning of the International Year of the…
American Nurse welcomes Cherissa Jackson, “America’s Combat Nurse”
Live at the Table interview with Navy Veteran, Denetra Hampton Often times women are omitted from board room discussions or…
American Nurse welcomes Sarah Gray, Founding Clinician of Trusted Health
Is Travel Nursing Right For You? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are well over 40,000 travel nurses…
10 things parents can do now to help prepare children for returning to school
School nurses have been industrious during COVID-19, using innovative skills to do one of the things we do best, providing…
2020: The Year of the Nurse lifts off
When the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that 2020 would be designated The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife,…
A late night message, “Robin, I have one child left. What should we do about school?”
I received this text message in the early morning hours during one of my many sleepless nights grappling with how…
A Nurse’s Guide to Social Media
Social media can be a tricky business, especially for a profession struggling with how and when to use our voices…
A nurse’s notes on New Year’s resolutions
It’s the most promising time of the year. A clean slate ahead and a chance for a fresh start. No…
A personal invitation to attend HealtheVoices for HCPs
As a nurse who is active in social media and has an interest in educating and empowering people through social…
A Pioneering Spirit: The SCARF Model
Healthcare professionals struggle to get their messages about mask-wearing and social distancing out to a skeptical public and even their…
A Pioneering Spirit: What new graduates need from nurse leaders
Many nursing students are graduating and will be transitioning into practice. The good news is that jobs for new graduates…
A Tale of Two Nurses
Nadine got the vaccine in April. She usually wears a mask whenever she is in public. Every Friday, she goes…
All I need to know in nursing I learned in fundamentals of nursing
During a recent early morning rush hour subway ride, I spotted a child of about 6 reading a book. Amid…
American Nurse Heroes: A Love Letter to Nursing
Late last month, the documentary film American Nurse Heroes, produced by HealthCom Media and Al Roker Entertainment, in collaboration with…
American Nurse welcomes the “Relentless School Nurse,” Robin Cogan
2020 – Yes, Nursing is Political Congresswoman Lauren Underwood spoke about the need for nurses to be political during her…
Amidst COVID-19, virtual reality makes “social distancing” simulation possible
Leadership of the simulation center at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing has been investigating how to bring virtual simulation…
An open letter to my school nursing students
Teaching school nursing during COVID-19 has created challenges that forced me to pivot my course and take a 5-day intensive…
Applying Storytelling to Health and Healthcare
Storytelling is a critical part of healthcare, as well as innovation and design. Stories can be used to communicate a…
Are school nurses OK?
We are certainly in extraordinary times, as exemplified by this “Public Advisory” issued from the Washington Education Association. The message…
Author Maria Smilios to celebrate the Year of the Nurse and Midwife with 52 nurse profiles
Maria Smilios is spending 2020 writing about nurses. She is featuring a nurse a week throughout this year celebrating the…
Bringing credible COVID-19 messages to the community because all health care is local
The messaging about COVID-19 was not reaching my school community and I was growing more and more concerned. There were…
By your patients you’ll be taught
When I was 20, I got my first job as a public health nurse for the Philippine National Cross. For…
Coronavirus House Calls: Back to School Edition
Big shout out of appreciation to CBS42 and their 200 affiliates who carried this special episode of Coronavirus House Calls: Back…
COVID and racism: Tipping points for change in 2020
We’re halfway through the year, and 2020 has become one that no one will forget. For months now, we’ve had…
COVID has come to school & our cupboards are bare
I recently spoke to Joel Rose of NPR about the on-going struggle for school nurses to get the necessary PPE. The article and the…
COVID-19 and The Year of the Nurse and Midwife
In 2019, with the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth pending in May of the following year, the World Health…
Creating a positive workplace
Countless research studies show that having a positive attitude leads to good health, happiness, and feelings of wellbeing and self-worth.…
Curating collective experiences of school nurses
Judy Doran, RN, is a school nurse who writes “Maine Points,” a collection of essays that reflect her experiences during…
Dangers of digital media addiction
The World Health Organization as well as several tech companies are encouraging on-line gaming with discounts and slogans such as,…
Dear parents, a health check-in from a school nurse
Dear Parents/Caregivers: These are certainly challenging times filled with uncertainty and concern that are impacting our entire community, and country.…
Define nurse (in three words or less)
Saying precisely what a frontline nurse does should be the easiest thing in the world: care coordinator, final check on…
Easy science and health communications strategies
Science and health communication is a big part of research, education, and innovation — being able to clearly communicate the problem and…
Facebook Live debunks the myths on COVID-19
The REACH Initiative set out to debunk the myths on COVID-19 through a Facebook Live, where Dr. Jason Farley, Dr. Michelle Patch…
Finding Your First Travel Nursing Assignment
So you’ve done the research and decided that you want to give travel nursing a try. Great! The next step…
Getting Nursing Students Involved in ‘Hackathons’
When nursing students are exposed to active learning, innovation events such as hackathons, they begin to understand how they can…
Heavy Reading: Inside Nursing
Diversity, equity, and inclusion can’t be authentically incorporated into curricula when faculty assign textbooks that harm those whose health they…
High physician suicide rates: Nursing interventions
How can physicians give patients the care and compassion they don’t receive themselves? (more…)
Hot off the press!
Have you ever jumped in the deep end of the pool? That’s how I felt when I was invited to…
How to manage COVID-19-related emotional distress
Today, there are over 15 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 624,000 deaths worldwide. In the U.S., the country with the…
I have an idea! Now what?
Nurses often reach out to me for advice — they have an innovation idea and don’t know what to do next. This…
I’m just going to say it: It feels like we’re playing Russian roulette with our kids and our staff
Apoorva Mandavilli, a journalist from the New York Times, graciously interviewed me about what reopening of schools looks like in the…
In Conversation with nurse coach, Eileen Gavin
Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Relentless School Nurse – In Conversation with Eileen Gavin, the Nurse Coach. My…
In the Trenches: Making decisions and accepting the consequences
My parents fostered my independence and allowed me to make my own decisions. Whether it was a new sport, a…
Inequity kills the dream of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Four decades after the CDC first used the term “AIDS” in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the New York…
Inside Nursing: Community barriers to achieving vaccine equity
The world is moving on, but there is still risk—unequal risk—of COVID-19 infection in the community because disparities persist in…
Inside Nursing: From awareness to… what?
Reflections from an ally in training. Similar to an acute exacerbation of a chronic disease, the racial injustices of the…
Inside Nursing: Investing in loan repayment for nurses
Community equity and loan repayment for nurses. Editor’s note: The featured podcast was produced by the Johns Hopkins School of…
Inside Nursing: Preparing providers to care for veterans and their families
It’s not uncommon for health care providers to feel that they lack the knowledge and training to provide adequate and…
Introducing the #HopeYouSoap Campaign
#COVID19 has been an innovation springboard for nurses, especially school nurses like Holly David! She has created a hand hygiene…
It has taken a pandemic to understand the importance of school nurses
After learning about The Woodhull Study Revisited, which revealed the alarming lack of nurses voices as primary sources for health related news…
It Should’ve Been a Nurse
Imagine that the messaging from the beginning surrounding the pandemic was delivered by a nurse. Where would we be now…
Join a national conversation on bereavement
The “silent storm” of grief could be the next epidemic that spreads throughout our country. How could it not be,…
Just Saying: Florence Nightingale’s Aphorisms
It is Nurses Week, and I can’t help but write about Florence Nightingale. A few years ago, I projected a…
Laughter is the best medicine: On the links and In the Trenches with Eric Keller
I am the luckiest guy alive. Throughout my life there has been trauma and comedy, along with a tremendous amount…
Let’s rehearse lunchtime at school during COVID-19
Partnering with parents will never be more consequential than this coming school year. The incredible team at FAACT: Food Allergy Anaphylaxis…
Make treatment accessible for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the current pandemic Americans are dealing with a complete or near complete disruption of everyday life. It is the…
Making things possible
From time to time, I receive messages from readers of The Relentless School Nurse blog. I am always touched and…
Mentor Podcast with Dr. Ali Tayyeb
What a treat to have a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Ali Tayyeb, a Twitter friend and nurse colleague! Thank you…
Mentoring in the age of new nursing
My first job in nursing was on a medical oncology floor where there was a lot of bullying. I was…
Midcareer nursing advancement
Reflect, be objective, and tap into your network. (more…)
My experience on American Nurse Heroes
In a clinical encounter, nurses get to interview a patient, asking them the most private of questions, and with the…
My preparation ritual includes Sara Bareilles, tears & tissues
It took about 2 hours for my heart rate to return to normal after my interview with Lisa Ling. When…
New Nursing needed for COVID-19: Making “Old Nursing” history
Many clinical nurses are struggling with very tough challenges as they work to treat patients with COVID-19: shortages of masks,…
No More “Just a Nurse”
In the time of COVID-19, nurses and nursing are getting much more media attention than is typical. I see this…
NPs on the ethics committee: What is your decision?
The Ethical Case to Consider: A mother reports that her youngest child is 18-years-old and she has two adult children…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: Doubling down on nursing
As the American nursing profession turns a corner into the next chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nurses may be…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: Nursing success and harvesting the fruits of your labors
When a garden is created, the labor involves tilling, planting, weeding, tending, and otherwise nurturing the process in the hopes…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: Overcoming 21st Century Angst
When the 21st century dawned several decades ago, the next one hundred years — and the new millennium — were seen as…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: Public health’s PR problem
Does public health need a George Clooney? Public health has always had a public relations problem. While innumerable nursing school…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: The nurse as Hermetic messenger
Nurses fulfill myriad roles in the course of their work: counselor, healer, priest, rabbi, psychopomp, advocate, protector, confessor, educator, coach,…
Nurse Keith’s Corner: The nurse’s lament
As a career coach who fields daily calls from nurses across the United States, I hear many stories about the…
Nurse-led Podcasting to Amplify Nursing
There has been an influx of nurse-led podcasts over the past couple of years, which is great! I love nothing…
Nurses and emotional Teflon
Nurses work hard, and the nature of their labor exposes them to many emotionally-charged situations, strong feelings, moral and ethical…
Nurses, NPs, and other APRNs on the front lines of COVID-19: How do we protect the nursing workforce?
Today, we cannot escape the turmoil of living every moment of every day immersed within the chaos of the novel…
Nurses, please don’t drop the ball
One of the most recognizable rituals in ringing in the new year, at least for New Yorkers, is the famous…
Nursing fiction?
Imagine the year is 2030… Casey, a Complex Labor and Delivery nurse, notices that her patient, a young mother, rarely…
Nursing Story Slams: Creating a Space for Nurses To Tell Their Stories
Storytelling is essential to increasing health literacy, empathy, curiosity, and engagement — and who has better stories than nurses? That is why…
On being human during crisis
When we show vulnerability it does not mean we lack resilience – it means we are human. Typically, leaders in…
Out-of-the-Box Nurses Setting the Pace
If you ask the average American on the street what a nurse does, the answer will most likely involve hospital-based…
Own your moment – Heal our nation
Every time you speak your truth and stay in your own power you help to create a society where others…
Paving the way for value-based care using human-centered design
This month’s guest article is written by Iswarya Srinivasan a doctor of nursing practice student at the University of Pennsylvania’s…
Purpose in Life During COVID-19
Dr. Martha Abshire is an assistant professor and Dr. Mona Shattell is an associate dean at Johns Hopkins University. The…
Remember the 5 W’s – For now, it’s all we have
We have to ask ourselves, is it safe for school buildings to open this fall? We don’t have a clear…
Remember this number: 1,154
Honoring by action. As of August, the pandemic has taken more than 1,154 nurses’ lives. It has also taken the…
Requiring design thinking in nursing curriculum
I am a firm believer that exposure to innovation methods and processes leads to innovation itself. I teach a course…
Safety, health, and back-to-school plans in a pandemic with Robin Cogan & A Better Normal
My heart is full, thank you to @CissyWhite and my friends at @ACEsConnection for inviting me to participate in this important conversation about…
School nurses adapting and innovating in response to COVID-19
Johnson & Johnson has supported school nursing for many years. From 1988 – 2016, they funded the J&J School Health Leadership…
See You Now Podcast explores re-entry
The See You Now Podcast is created in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and the American Nursing Association. It is…
Select all that apply: patient care beyond the test
Multiple choice tests are among nursing education’s most recognizable stressors (or stigmata), up there with nursing care plans, and incessant…
Should nurses receive hazard pay?
That was the question I posted online and in only two hours 3,900 nurses from all over the country responded.*…
Should we pray about it?
Many years ago, I read about an intriguing randomized controlled trial out of Harvard Medical School, looking into the therapeutic…
Simone Biles: what if nurses followed her lead?
On July 27th, Simone Biles withdrew from an Olympics all-around finals round because of mental health concerns. Sponsors and coaches…
Social Media as a Format for Nursing Activism
Nurses tell your stories! We have a unique perspective, an uncanny ability to simultaneously view the world through both a…
Summertime… and the patient is uneasy?
A nurse ponders the “July Effect.” American Nurse Journal values your feedback! Follow this link to answer a few short questions…
Take Care of Yourself
How many of you hear the phrase “self-care” and roll your eyes? I know. Because that’s my reaction, too. As…
Taking the lead from Florence Nightingale
The details of Florence Nightingale’s work are no secret to any nursing professional. It would be unnecessary to recount the…
Tattooed scars of war
The sounds of helicopters and alarms signaling that we were under attack haunt me to this day. I completed two…
The challenges of COVID-19 for retirees
Many school nurses who are privileged to know Jeanne Kiefner, lovingly refer to her as our “Head School Nurse.” We…
The COVID-19 pandemic: Rethinking your nursing career
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the world on every level imaginable, and nurses’ lives and careers are not immune. Nurses…
The Culture of Safety: Huddle and Muddle
The notion of culture of safety implies not merely the absence harm, injury or preventable death, but also the unmeasurable…
The Dauntless Nurse: A Beacon for Safety
“Why didn’t Nurse Vaught see that it was the wrong drug? I mean, come on, look at the facts.” While…
The Dauntless Nurse: A nurse’s perspective on the Derek Chauvin trial
National and world news covered hourly developments in the Derek Chauvin trial as the public prayed for justice. But as…
The Dauntless Nurse: Nurses Week and the march on D.C.
Nurses want to celebrate Nurses Week because they love their profession. They’re also marching on Washington, D.C. because they’re suffering.…
The Dauntless Nurse: On dysphoria and the travel nursing question
The American Hospital Association has called on the White House to investigate exorbitant salaries paid to travel nurses—as if this…
The Dauntless Nurse: RaDonda Vaught and the culture of secrecy and shame
How do you feel safe in a system that found a nurse guilty of negligent homicide for a mistake? The…
The Dauntless Nurse: The greatest innovation of all
Illustration by Xanthea Carlson. “What would health care look like if it was a car,” I asked nurses. It was…
The Future of Nursing — and Health Equity — is Innovation
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NAM) released their Future of Nursing 2020–2030 report recently with a sizable…
The Growing Narratives of Men in Nursing
Male nurses, at any given point in their interaction with patients, family, colleagues, and strangers, have most likely answered many…
The importance of student nursing and engineering collaborations
Nurses and engineers serve vital roles in health and healthcare, creating, designing, and implementing solutions to problems big and small.…
The innovation cycle and the nursing process— they go together!
The nursing process is tried and true; it is a systematic approach that has served the profession, our patients, and…
The nurse as their own worst critic
Even though nurses are the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and serve as the veritable backbone of the industry,…
The Radical Nurses Collective storytelling circle on nursing solidarity
What an honor, to join with nursing colleagues from across the country and contribute to the first Nursing Solidarity Story…
The Relentless School Nurse shares thoughts on COVID-19 with Johnson & Johnson
My goal when I started The Relentless School Nurse blog was to contribute to amplifying the voice of school nursing.…
The Relentless School Nurse: A new honor
At the very end of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is surrounded by family and friends who joined her on…
The Relentless School Nurse: A Reckoning with Racism in Nursing
The Relentless School Nurse blog is honored to share this space with the brilliant nursing minds of A Reckoning with…
The Relentless School Nurse: an unsettled feeling
I am feeling so unsettled that words are not flowing for me. Usually, my blog posts almost write themselves, but…
The Relentless School Nurse: Another school shooting in another American town
My heart is heavy, feeling the unbearable grief that families and communities are experiencing on this ‘morning after’ another school…
The Relentless School Nurse: Battered, But Still Standing
I came across this parking sign while visiting a Rutgers University school nursing student in her practicum. It was encouraging…
The Relentless School Nurse: Coming to terms with the era of COVID
It’s been a rough school year and it’s only November. I am not sure where to turn to feel a…
The Relentless School Nurse: Feeling simultaneously empowered and disempowered
When I power up the Zoom room for my bi-weekly school nurse support groups, I am never sure who will…
The Relentless School Nurse: If we don’t ask, the answer is always NO!
School nurses have an unprecedented opportunity to request funds from the American Rescue Plan be allocated for school health services. School districts…
The Relentless School Nurse: On the latest Future of Nursing report
Late one evening in the spring of 2019 Dr. Susan Hassmiller called to invite me to present to the Future…
The Relentless School Nurse: One good turn deserves another
I am sharing testimony that I gave about the state of pandemic school nursing in New Jersey. It was an…
The Relentless School Nurse: Please SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!
This week my school district announced that four more schools will be closed at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school…
The Relentless School Nurse: Reaching a tipping point
I am honored by the number of school nurses from across the country who reach out to me to share…
The Relentless School Nurse: The ‘Wild West’ of School Years is Ending
Being a school nurse during COVID has often felt like being in “The Wild West.” This illustration, created by artist…
The Relentless School Nurse: This is not sustainable
The early weeks of the new school year have seen an escalation of COVID positive cases in students and staff.…
The Relentless School Nurse: Wishing another year away
I feel like we are caught in a cycle of wishing these pandemic years away because they represent so much…
The Stories That Never Get Told – Compassion
Compassion and caring at the heart of nursing. It was too late. I could never speak to him again. By…
The stories that never get told: Belonging
Ruth was admitted to our orthopedic unit with a hip fracture which was repaired uneventfully within a few days. What…
The stories that never get told: Connection
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, I froze but my mind raced… “Maybe he has a gun?…
The stories that never get told: Presence
“He isn’t dead yet?” the neuro doctor mumbled as he opened the chart. His 82-year-old patient had been put on…
The stories that never get told: Relationships
“I can lend you a dress for the Christmas party,” Judy offered. “I don’t fit into them anyway right now.”…
The Virtual Health Offices of NJ Certified School Nurses are Open
New Jersey certified school nurses are working throughout the state to keep our students safe, healthy and ready to learn…
Transform trauma with ACEs Sciences Film Festival & follow-up discussions
ACES Connection, The Relentless School Nurse, and the Center For Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) has joined forces to create a trauma-informed virtual…
Trending jobs | School nurse
School nursing is an independent specialty practice that combines the best of public health and pediatric nursing. School nurses are…
Turning your nurse-led innovation into a viable & scalable venture
When nursing students are exposed to the innovation process and the methodologies to create human-centered solutions to health and healthcare…
Understanding taxes as a travel nurse
It’s April, which means that tax season is upon us. If you’re like me, filing for taxes has been the…
Using COVID-19 stimulus funds to invest in a skilled nursing workforce
The United States (US) currently faces a multitude of unknowns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Who are essential workers to handle…
Video: A closer look at patient refusal
In the August issue of American Nurse Journal, Fidel Lim, DNP, CCRN, the author of our Can You Imagine? Nurse…
View the new documentary ‘In Case of Emergency’
Join filmmaker Carolyn Jones for the Virtual Premiere of ‘In Case of Emergency’ on October 14th at 8pm ET followed by…
Visitor restrictions during COVID-19: ethical considerations
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the nation established strict visitor restrictions for all inpatient units, which…
Walking in Uncertainty: The future of American healthcare
Existential angst has been our constant companion over the last two years as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shaken our healthcare…
We Are Nurses!
School nurse Jenna Palmisano posted this YouTube video to comfort her students and other children who may be confused or…
We’re distracted. You can Google it.
Within the Tate Galleries in London hangs one of history’s most evocative paintings depicting patient care—the 1887 painting by Sir…
What it’s like to be a school nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic
Nurse Holly Giovi of Deer Park, NY takes Good Morning America into her office to see what it’s like to work on…
What you may not know about primary care nursing practice
Nursing is a great career option. There are so many places that nurses can practice. My career has taken me…
When nurses see unsafe practices, we speak out and sometimes we resign
I give credit to GA school nurse Amy Westmoreland, who was so concerned over the lack of public health mitigation…
When the Teacher Becomes the Lesson
Whether they are aware of it or not, I think health professions educators like myself teach with the notion that…
Who will care for society’s forgotten?
Editor’s note: Theresa is a frequent contributor to the New York Times (NYT), and recently authored an Op-Ed on an issue…
Why wear face masks? Explaining COVID-19 to children
Elementary school nurse, Anne Young, created a series of videos for her students and parents to help reduce the stress…
You are witnessing the death of expertise
Planning for school reopening seems insurmountable, yet, those who are involved in the details continue efforts to keep our students…
