Beth Toner, MSN, RN is the Senior Communications Director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has found a career path that marries her writing skills with nursing. How lucky is she? Beth is also wearing a new cap, that of Guest Editor for “It Takes a Nurse”, an online community for nurses in all specialty areas and practice settings. It is a space for nurses to share how we impact our community’s health! This week’s question is:
I have been proud to be a nurse every single day since the day—10 years ago—I received my nursing pin, but never prouder than I am right now. My front-line colleagues in ICUs and ERs feel the fear of COVID-19, too, but their commitment to their patients is unwavering, despite sheer exhaustion and lack of adequate personal protective equipment.
We love to talk about our profession being the most trusted—and it is—but right now, nurses’ compassion drives them to find creative ways to connect with and care for patients with this disease that is so isolating.
One nurse said she used laptop Zoom sessions to allow patients to talk to the family. I bet many of you have engineered similar solutions. Tell me about them. – Beth Toner
Published by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN
Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN, is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN), currently in her 22nd year as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. Robin is the Director for New Jersey to the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Board. She is proud to be a Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellow and past Program Mentor. Robin is the honored recipient of multiple awards for her work in school nursing and population health. These awards include, 2019 and 2020 National Association of School Nurses President’s Award, 2018 NCSN School Nurse of the Year, 2017 Johnson & Johnson School Nurse of the Year, and the New Jersey Department of Health 2017 Population Health Hero Award. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing, where she teaches the next generation of school nurses. She was presented the 2018 Rutgers University – Camden Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for Part-time Faculty. Robin writes a weekly blog called The Relentless School Nurse. She also writes a monthly column in My American Nurse, the official journal of the American Nurses Association. Robin’s work is included as a case study in The Future of Nursing Report 2020-2030. You can follow Robin on Twitter at @RobinCogan.
View all posts by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN
