It took about 2 hours for my heart rate to return to normal after my interview with Lisa Ling. When I am preparing to do something high stakes, I listen to Sara Bareilles sing Brave over and over and over again. As I was getting ready to be interviewed live by Lisa Ling, I must have listened to Brave at least 10 times. It helps, the lyrics give me the confidence to find the right words. I always cry as I get ready, sometimes really ugly tears. It is a cleansing, and I also felt a tremendous responsibility to speak clearly, succinctly, and powerfully about the role of school nurses. As I got ready, listening to Sara Bareilles, shedding some tears, and clearing my head, I thought about you, my colleagues, and friends across the country and all that we have faced over the past 6 months.
Here is the result of my morning ritual, ugly crying, and finally reaching a place of calm where I was able to find the words to move the discussion of this pandemic forward. My segment begins at 32:00 minutes, but the full show is well worth watching.
Here is the video to Brave! It may resonate with you to find your brave too:
Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN), currently in her 21st year as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. Robin is the Legislative Co-chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association. 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, FAAN
4 thoughts on “The Relentless School Nurse: My Preparation Ritual Includes Sara Bareilles, Tears & Tissues”
Robin, you must have cried ugly because you were clear, succinct, and powerful. Lisa wants you on the National Pandemic team! I second that! So proud of you friend and you forgot to tell me about this interview this morning. You are just so relentless and so humble!!
Robin, you must have cried ugly because you were clear, succinct, and powerful. Lisa wants you on the National Pandemic team! I second that! So proud of you friend and you forgot to tell me about this interview this morning. You are just so relentless and so humble!!
Aww…my new GG friend! Thank you for your message, it was quite an experience.
I’ve seen that music video before. 🙂
Yes you have!