The Relentless School Nurse: Do You Have a School Nurse Story to Share?

When I first started The Relentless School Nurse, my intention was to share stories from my health office to amplify the role of the school nurse. I was inspired by NASN leaders, Beth Mattey and Nina Fekaris, both past-presidents who made it their missions to lift up the work of school nurses across the country. A key message from both school nursing leaders that I heard loud and clear was that we needed to tell our own stories. Who better than a school nurse to define our roles and the scope of our practice. 

My blogging journey began after I attended a workshop at the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) annual conference in 2017. It was led by Margaret Cellucci, the former director of communications for NASN. The hands-on workshop was a primer on blogging and included an assignment that the participants needed to submit a blog post about their conference experience before the end of the event. That is how The Relentless School Nurse blog was born. 

My aim has been to amplify the voice of school nursing. At first, I focused on sharing stories from my health office. But soon I wanted to spotlight school nurses from around the country who were doing amazing things but did not have a national platform to share their experiences. As my readership grew, so did my reach and within a short time, I was highlighting school nurses from coast to coast. 

I am circling back to my original mission, of amplifying the voice of school nurses, through sharing stories from your health offices. Do you have a school nurse story to share? I would love to invite you to write a guest blog post. The key ingredients are:

1. A brief story from your health office, keep it short, no private health information (of course) 500 words seems to be the sweet spot. 
2. Pics – our brains process graphics much faster than words
3. A brief bio – tell us who you are and what is important to you

Here are some story ideas:

1. Have you spoken in front of your school board about an issue? Share your comments, they help others who may need some inspiration!
2. Are you working on a special initiative that you want to share? We love learning what our colleagues are doing across the country. Share your successes!
3. Do you have a concerning issue and want support or suggestions to help you navigate the tricky waters of school health? Share your stories, you don’t have to feel alone!
4. Share your triumphs and your struggles, we can all learn from each other!

Submit your stories to relentlessschoolnurse@gmail.com and we can create a blog post together! I look forward to reading and sharing your stories. Thank you to all the readers of my blog and those who have contributed over the past 6 years to more than 918 posts and 400,000 plus visitors.  I appreciate each and every one who has visited, commented and contributed to The Relentless School Nurse, your engagement fuels me to push forward.