The power of a quote cannot be underestimated. The one that got the attention of The New York Times, CNN, Fox29 News, and CBS Evening News was my response to school reopening in the midst of a pandemic. This is the quote that has added to a national conversation about school safety.
“I’m just going to say it: It feels like we’re playing Russian roulette with our kids and our staff.”
Maybe my words sound alarming, and they are, but when I look at the state of or country, the virus is overtaking state after state from a lack of national public health response, I stand by my words. I absolutely want to return to school, so many of my colleagues do as well, but science has to lead the way.
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.
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1 thought on “The Relentless School Nurse: My Adventures in Media – First Stop CNN”
Yes, a good quote can get it jumpstarted. The Stat article where the nurse said she feared the management more than Covid is another example. Glad you are bringing attention to your concerns. The media is a hard nut to crack. Feeding frenzy mentality.
Yes, a good quote can get it jumpstarted. The Stat article where the nurse said she feared the management more than Covid is another example. Glad you are bringing attention to your concerns. The media is a hard nut to crack. Feeding frenzy mentality.