Annually, the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program plays an important role at the National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference. From holding a full day of professional development for alumni to supporting fellows, who submit poster presentation to sponsoring the Awards Celebration and more.

This special edition highlights our Pre-Conference and the JJSHLP Fellows, who received NASN & JJSHLP Awards at #NASN2017.

The professional development was provided by our faculty. There were shared activities for alumni to learn about the initiatives and leadership roles that alumni currently have with the highlight of the day being our recognition of Alumni.

Lorraine M. Chewey, EdD, RN, NJ-CSN, as faculty member of the JJSHLP Team since 2015, Assistant Professor of New Jersey City University as well as a school nursing leader in the NJ has provided school nurses with knowledge and skills to move them forward in the profession. She humbly accepted the award from Jeanne.

Now, Nationally Certified, ROBIN COGAN, M.ED,RN,NCSN was truly deserving of the two awards at #NASN2017. At NASN Conference in San Diego, attendees could not go without hearing about Robin spearheading some groundbreaking work in both her community and academic worlds. NASN’s newly inducted president Nina Fekaris’ even gave high praise during her acceptance speech to Robin’s Community Cafes project and her work through New Jersey Nursing Initiative Grant that has infused population health into Rutgers University, Camden School Nurse Education curriculum. Through social media, particularly Twitter, Robin has gained notoriety and networked to gain partnerships and spark interest about her work. Many coalitions have recognized the significance of her efforts and requested collaborative projects and presentations of her Community Cafes, including Camden Coalition of Healthcare Provider Health Information Exchange, Lown Institute National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, and New Jersey Department of Health.

As for being recognized as our “School Nurse of the Year”, Robin had attended the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Institute in 2015, and returned the following year as a mentor, liaison and currently serves as a community coach. Just this past year, Robin has been honored to receive Camden County School Nurse Association, School Nurses Who Make a Difference Award and is the recipient of New Jersey Department of Health Population Health Hero Award. Additional, after all of Robin’s academic success as an adjunct professor at Rutgers’s University, she remains needs to be commended as a lifelong learner who is pursuing a personal educational goal by being awarded NASN’s RN to BSN Education Advancement Scholarship.

One of Robin’s most influential ability is motivate leadership through storytelling. If you been fortunate enough to have a conversation with or see Robin present, she creates a comfortable, engaging, shared experience among equals where Robin allows audience to be the storyteller, even thouGh she guiding the discussion. Robin is inspirational to school nurses with her social media and most recently through her blogging as the Relentless School Nurse https://schoolnursenet.nasn.org/blogs/robin-cogan. She may describe herself as relentless; however, many would say Robin is passionate. The timing is perfect as Nina Fekaris calls for school nurses to find their voice; Robin has amplified her voice as the Relentless School Nurse. School nurses are looking forward to what our School Nurse of the Year, Robin the inspirational storyteller holds for us in the future!

As a Fellow, who had completed the 18 month Fellowship Program in November 2015, Stefani Lailari, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN has been an extremely active leader. Stefani co-presented a poster NASN2017, titled: Evaluating Documentation of IHPs Using an Electronic Health Record and has presented in past years. Stefani was one of our esteemed mentors during 2016 and is always willing to share her leadership knowledge. Stefani currently is on the Virginia Association of School Nurses (VASN) board and holds the position of Region 4 Co-coordinator. With Stefani’s leadership, Region 4 has been increasing in membership and attendance at their annual events. Stefani also serves as Virginia’s Liaison to the National Board of Certified School Nurses and on the planning committee for the Virginia Summer Institute for School Nurses.

And we cannot forget to mention that her JJSHLP team’s project continues to progress! They held the 2nd annual employee wellness challenge, that spans over the entire school year and serves as a model for students to see that the staff promotes wellness. New partnerships with organizations and corporations have been created to help sustain this great school nurse lead health initiative.

2016 JJSHLP Fellow, Estelle Watts, DNP, RN, NCSN has continued to lead the Team Mississippi through their selected project. The team presented at the NASN2017 Poster Presentation focusing on components of a School Nurse cost benefit project. The project revolved around collecting school nurse, teacher and parent data. The data documented the average time spent by teachers and parents dealing with a student’s health needs. The school nurse data consisted of reporting potentially reimbursable nursing services and then applying it to the NASN cost benefit tools. The time surveys have generated interest by local school nurses, administrators, and elected officials. This project can inform decision makers as they consider the school nurse workforce and increasing school health services for students.

As for Estelle, she has worked as the Mississippi State School Nurse Consultant for nine years and now hold the position of President of the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants. In May 2017 she accepted a position in the Office of Career and Technical Education at the Mississippi Department of Education. With this job change Estelle will be able to lead another group of nurses to impact the health and education of Mississippi students. Estelle is also a part of a statewide Suicide Prevention Task Force, and is a board member of the Mississippi Nursing Foundation.

Estelle is a true school nurse leader, who we look forward to hearing how she is not only impacting the children, families and communities of Mississippi, but beyond in her new national role.

Jonaé Saxon, MPH, BS (2015) Camden, NJ. Jonaé knew at an early age that she would want to impact her community by educating, implementing and promoting public health. While collaborating with the Camden New Jersey School Nursing Department, Jonaé was presented the opportunity to join the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program. As a result of this fellowship Jonaé joined a team of Camden County school nurses and one NJ state health department member with a goal to strengthen family and healthcare provider relationships. The Camden County team conducted community cafés, an evidenced based tool, to gather families to share their experiences and relationships with their primary care providers. As a result of this initiative, the Camden County team was afforded the opportunity to collaborate with the Camden Coalition of HealthCare Providers to create its first School Nurse-Pediatrics Roundtable. This now monthly roundtable gathering has provided the Camden County J&J Team with opportunities to share data received from the local community directly with their area’s primary care providers, with hopes to increase families’ access to healthcare. This ongoing endeavor has afforded the Camden County team with an opportunity to present at the National Association of School Nurses conference (2015) as well to receive the Population Health Private Sector Hero Award (2016).

Sue Nokleby receive a Recognition Award along with other members of the working group on the 3rd Edition of the ANA/NASN Scopes and Standards book. Major revisions of the book were required due to the revisions in the American Nurse Association Scope and Standards, the adoption 21st Century Model of School Nursing and the development of the CDC Whole Schools, Whole Communities, Whole Child Model.

Currently, Sue is the President of the School Nurse Organization of Minnesota (SNOM), Sue has been very active on various committees on state and national levels, in addition to receiving a number of awards throughout her nursing career. She is still working as a school nurse in the Minneapolis area.

Along with the work on the ANA/NASN Scopes and Standards book, Sue also authored a chapter on homeless youth in the 2017 2nd edition of the Individualized Healthcare Plans for the School Nurse, Sunrise River Press. As a member of a collaboration between school nurses and pharmacists to form partnerships to benefit students, she has supported the project with which the results have been accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association titled "Medication management in Minnesota schools: The potential for School Nurse-Pharmacist partnership." Sue has advocated for school nursing to be included on the Minnesota road map for health informatics in order for healthcare providers and school nurses to be able to share student health information electronically for seamless care.

The JJSHLP team from Sue's school district chose to focus on the Healthcare Home model for their students. A survey was done to assess students' access to health insurance and use of a healthcare home. Although the majority of students had insurance, many lacked a healthcare home using emergency rooms and urgent care facilities for most of their healthcare needs. Stakeholders were identified and invited to a meeting to share the team's results and brainstorm for solutions to encourage use of healthcare homes.

Barbara Parker, EdD, MPA, BSN, PHN, Coordinator of Health Services in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) was doubly recognized for her administrative leadership! Dr. Parker has lead her JJSHLP Team and over 32 credentialed school nurses, program managers and support staff to improve school health services in Oakland, California.

Dr. Parker’s proudest professional accomplishments include her partnership with a software system to co-develop the innovative and user-friendly Web504 ®, an electronic data system to monitor and support students who require special accommodations at school. Another accomplishment is her partnership with OUSD research department to electronically map students’ chronic health conditions, school nurses’ case management work and school nurses’ work performance to improve students’ health outcomes.

Barbara as we know her as, is also a project coach for the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program. She sits on a number of board in her state and nationally.

Recently, she was a featured speaker in a J&J Nurses Notes podcast along with 2016 Fellow & now, NASN President, Nina Fekaris. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. Kudos and continue the great leadership work!

Doreen Crowe, MEd, BSN, RN has been extremely busy since attending the JJSHLP Fellowship in 2012 that lead up to her being recognized by JJSHLP as well as NASN this year. Doreen has held a number of leadership positions within her home state of Massachusetts as well being a member of some national organizations.

When on “Team Wilmington”, Doreen and teammates focused on health and wellness for staff and students. This team implemented initiatives in all of the Wilmington, MA schools. Many of the activities are still ongoing today and others have morphed and were updated based on feedback received. One of the newest initiatives that Doreen has really seen the need for and she has a passion for, is SBIRT, Screening Brief Intervention & Referral for Treatment. This screening is given to assessment for risk of substance/drug usage.

With Massachusetts leading the country with SBIRT implementation throughout the state, it is only fitting that Doreen along with other school personnel, Children’s Hospital Boston and community partners, felt it important to implement this assessment tool in middle and high schools of Wilmington.

If you attended NASN2017, you may have sat in on Doreen’s podium session, “SBIRT in Schools: A Proactive Approach to Substance Abuse Prevention”. Doreen has been involved with getting schools and more specifically, school nurses to understand the importance of SBIRT screenings since 2013 when she started planning her first SBIRT presentation.

As a School Nurse Administrator, who has really taken a lead in her state, Doreen is quite deserving of the two awards that she received. Congratulations!

Rebecca King or “Becky” as everyone knows her, is a 2012 JJSHLP Fellow who was honored in San Diego with NASN’s prestigious President’s Recognition Award. This honor stemmed her JJSHLP team’s original health initiative which aimed at informing all the school nurses in Delaware about the NASN endorsed Smart Moves/Smart Choices educational program and encouraging its use in schools to Becky championing and being recognized as a national expert in the opioid epidemic.

Since her JJSHLP institute days, Becky’s professionally path has been paved alongside the unfolding national opioid epidemic. In the past 5 years, Becky has been an active member on NASN’s board and the co-author of Naloxone Use in the School Setting: The Role of the School Nurse(Adopted June 2015). Later, through a grant from AdaptPharma, Becky was a member of NASN naloxone workgroup who created the NASN Naloxone Toolkit for School Nurses (2016), including the most recently released presentation for Naloxone in Schools Training for School Staff(2017). She is a published author of NASN School Nurse’ March 2016 edition’s focus article, Science Over Stigma: Saving Lives- Implementation of Naloxone Use in the School Setting. Added to that, Becky recently authored a chapter on naloxone in the soon to be released textbook, Legal Resource Book for School Health Services (Sage Publishing).

JJSHLP acknowledges, and confirms what our past NASN President & 2016 Fellow, Beth Mattey said about Becky being “never one to shy away from a public health issue or a crisis that must be addressed…Due in large part to Becky’s advocacy, she brought awareness to our members and the public by the adoption of a NASN position statement as stakeholders across the country were just beginning to recognize the public health crisis. NASN was at the forefront.” We are proud to claim Becky as one of our Fellows for her progressive leadership and passion while she continues to address the opioid crisis. Congratulations Becky!

This year, three teams were recognized. Two teams from 2015 & one from the 2016 cadre. These teams have been very active in their communities and looking to enlist stakeholders from various factions. Great job!

Tracy Perron, PhD, RN, CNE, CSN and Tami Jakubowski, DNP, CPNP-PC, CSN (2015) JJSHLP “Team Trenton” accessed that Columbus Elementary School in Trenton, NJ only provided physical education classes one day a week and that was no play area to go to outside. Therefore, the student stayed indoors, played on iPads and had limited movement at "recess/lunch" time. Team Trenton also found that he childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes rates in Trenton was the highest in the state at the time of the start of our project. So, it was only fitting that their project focused on providing true recess for the children and have since received 2 grants to continue the project at four elementary schools in Trenton. They have collaborated with a few organizations and now the children are up and moving! In addition, a healthy eating and meal preparation program has been implemented and is geared for the parents and families of the schools. Team Trenton is now performing a longitudinal study to look at their interventions over 3-5 years.

This team also presented their project poster titled, "“RECESS: A Culturally Competent Approach to Healthy Lifestyles in Urban Children” at #NASN2017. Then, went onto the 28th International Nursing Research Congress in Dublin, Ireland to present about a component of their JJSHLP project, the SNACK (Smart Nutrition and Collaborating for Kids) program that is an interdisciplinary approach to healthy living by utilizing the health professional and community team approach.

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2015 Team Laramie (Wyoming) has really made headway with their project. Janet Farmer, MSN, RN, NCSN; Teresa Wright, MPH, BSN, RN, NCSN, R-CHES; Mysha A. Mattimoe, RN, BSN, BS; Marguerite Herman, BA, MA; and Bruce Hayes, MS, Ed.S. make up the team that had collaborated with Project ECHO, University of Wyoming; WIND: Wyoming Institute for Disabilities; Wyoming Department of Education; Fay Whitney School of Nursing, Univ of Wyoming, and the Wyoming School Nurse Association to enhance “The ECHO Model” in schools of Wyoming. This initiative has 4 main components:

• Technology to leverage scarce resources (free bi-weekly video conferencing with remote connectivity throughout state and nation; approx. 12 sessions which are later archived for easy viewing)
  
• Didactic training on core topics
  
• Case presentations and interdisciplinary team approach to problem solving (FERPA/HIPAA compliant, student-centered and co-managed)
• Evaluation, outcomes measurement and data collection

ECHO in Student Health is moving ahead swiftly and the increase of professional development activities for school professionals is a welcomed educational asset. The overall goal of the project is to improve student health outcomes by coordinating services that focus on chronic illness management, prevention and whole school-whole community-whole student-centered care.

This team has been looking at the sustainability of the project since they first had this idea and are already looking have further discussions with state and community partners about the next steps. The eventual goal that they have is for Wyoming to have a state school nurse consultant. Great work!

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Team Fort Wayne (2016), whose members are Gina Dundon, SN, BSN, RN, Mary Hess, BSN, Natalie McLaughlin, BSN, RN and Darlene Yarnelle, RN, project focuses on supporting pregnant and parenting teens in their schools. Teen pregnancy is a significant risk factor for poor birth outcomes and high infant mortality rates.

The team collaborated with the district School Health Advisory Committee and found that there are many community partners, who support school health initiatives.

This team took into account a number of variables in their approach to addressing this concern. The school nurses realized that they first had to learn more about their own biases and about the community by having training in cultural humility/sensitivity, Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) and trauma-informed care.

The pilot project was held in one of the high schools and all of the known students, who were pregnant, were connected to community agencies to help support and guide them through their pregnancies. 100% of the pregnant students participated and have had better prenatal care and lower birth complications. Another community partner provided an afterschool support group for these students. The agency arranged food and transportation for the participants. Classes were held monthly and attendees received incentives including fresh fruit and veggies, diaper bag and diapers with matching PJs for mom and a pack and play. They all met with a lactation consultant.

Last, but not least, a percentage of the JJSHLP grant funds were used to purchase breast pumps and other supplies in the creation of a ‘Moms’ Room’ for the teen moms upon return to school and want to continue breastfeeding.

The team’s community partner, Parkview Health, that attended the institute with the school nurses, has committed to helping to replicate a “Moms’ Room’ in all 5 district high schools. Additional support groups and services are planned to start this school year. The team continues to seek funding opportunities and partnerships to ensure the health of these young mothers and their children. In addition, these school nurses will continue their own learning and understanding about the community and how to effectively provide assistance for health improvement.

This team also presented their project poster titled, “Decreasing Infant Mortality Rates by Supporting Pregnant Teens in School” at #NASN2017.

Michelle Bell, RN BSN MA Ed., Katherine Greenway, BA, RN and Corinne McCarthy, RN, MSN have been working hard since attending JJSHLP Fellowship in 2015. Their project vision and focus has not waivered and is to develop Wellness Centers at the 16 comprehensive high schools of the San Diego Unified School District by 2020 school year. They are well on their way to the creation of the centers. By collaborating with various school district departments, agencies and community partners, they are planning to open 6 Wellness Centers in early October. You heard it right…. Six will open in less than 2 years since the project start and will have a full complement of staff to support the centers – Healthy Start Coordinator in the Nursing & Wellness department who will work directly with the Manager-Nursing & Wellness, the Wellness Supervisor, the Wellness Coordinators and other contracted service personnel!

Taking a look back, this group held meetings with the various collaborators and stakeholders during the 2015-2016 school year. Then, during the 2016-2017 school year, additional support staff was hired, in addition to 1 Wellness Supervisor and 3 Wellness Center Coordinators. The physical location for the centers was discussed and the ‘6’ now have nicely furnished homes. The delivery of services plan was created.

These Fellows are forwardly thinking about the goals they intend to attain as we start the 2017-2018 school year and centers are planned to open. Congratulations on such an Innovative approach to school health care!

These JJSHLP Fellows have demonstrated excellence in school nursing practice and leadership in school health in their individual states.

• Stefani Lailari, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN (2014) Virginia - acknowledged above
  
• Christine Zimmerman, MS, RN, NCSN (2012), Delaware

• Mary Hess, BSN, RN, NCSN (2016), Indiana
  
• Doreen Crowe, MEd, RN, NASN President-Elect (2012), Massachusetts - acknowledged above
• Kathleen Johnson, DNP, RN-BC, NCSN, FNASN (2013), Washington
• Barbara Parker, EdD, MPA, PHN (2014), California - acknowledged above
  

Our 2016 Fellow, Erin D. Maughan, PhD, MS, RN, APHN-BC, FNASN, FAAN was noted as a co-author in the NASN Endowment Research Grant that was given to an NASN member.

2009 JJSHLP Fellow, Linda Mendonca, MSN, MEd, RN, NCSN, PHNA-BC and now, FNASN was rightfully inducted by NASN. Linda's accomplishments have spanned from her receiving numerous awards and honors on a state as well as national level; published in journals; a five-time over grant recipient; member of numerous boards in Rhode Island and nationally; is Rhode Island's State School Nurse Consultant; and is the Assistant Professor of Public/Community Health Nursing at Rhode Island College.

Her team's 2009 project was to create a Parent Resource Center in the Jenks Jr. High School in Pawtucket, RI. The resource center provided a place for parents to gather and offered many resources from medical connections, community agencies to home repair, cooking and more! As Linda has now moved from that school, she notes it still exists today.

NASN had challenged school nurses in the 2nd Annual Innovation Relay at NASN2017 to come up with an idea to increase school nursing credibility and visibility. A team comprised of three JJSHLP 2016 Fellows from Ventura County, CA: Dawn Anderson, Alice Garcia and Carmen Rosenberg along with a school nurse from Lousiana won the challenge. They came up with the idea to have a social media platform that would be a video production toolkit for school nurses to learn how to show case their health education and leadership efforts within their own school districts and communities. They rightfully have named it, “SCHLtalks” and you can learn more about it, in the September 2017 issue of NASN School Nurse in an article titled “School Nursing: Becoming Credible and Visible”. We’ll be keeping watch for the platform. Congratulations!

Photos above are courtesy of NASN, JJSHLP Fellows or our team. To view all photos from NASN2017 please visit:

• https://www.facebook.com/JJSHLProgram/photos
  
• https://www.facebook.com/SchoolNurses/photos
  

To check out all the happenings from #NASN2017 on the Twitterfeed- click here

To view all award recipients at #NASN2017 - click here

Are you or do you know an Alumni of the JJSHLP? Do you have an account in Sakai, our online portal that enables you to stay up to date with Alumni activities as well as volunteer and mentor opportunities?

If not, please send an email to jjshlp@rutgers.edu with the following information:

• Your name and credentials
• Current place of employment
• Year you participated in the program

Please encourage fellow alumni from your teams to sign up on Sakai as well.

• Have you or your team given a recent presentation?
• Have you been published or recognized in some way?
• What projects are you working on based on what you learned at the Institute?
• Share your Alumni Success stories and you may be featured in a future newsletter.
• Send an email to jjshlp@rutgers.edu with all the details.

Email: jjshlp@rutgers.edu
Website: http://education.alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu/jjshlp
Location: Rutgers–New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
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