Rutgers Clinical Program Sends Students into Field to Relieve Overburdened School Nurses

Rutgers Clinical Program Sends Students into Field to Relieve Overburdened School Nurses

In a mutually beneficial collaboration that allows nursing students to receive experiential instruction, Rutgers University‒Camden is partnering with overburdened school nurses in the Vineland School District, who often function as the main COVID-19 officers in their schools.

New Jersey’s 2,500 school nurses play a vital role in keeping students safe and healthy and have faced increased burdens during the pandemic as they fight to keep communities safe. In addition to caring for students, school nurses have been a source of health and safety updates, informing students and families of the latest coronavirus updates and protocols

Robin Cogan, the clinical coordinator of the Rutgers‒Camden school nurse program, says school nurses are acting as the de facto health department during the pandemic. Cogan hosts a virtual support group for school nurses throughout the United States who are overwhelmed with additional responsibilities.

Beginning Jan. 25, under the supervision of Rutgers‒Camden nursing faculty, 152 nursing students will work alongside Vineland School District nurses while participating in a pediatric clinical rotation during the spring semester.

“Front-line direct care experiences are novel and a unique way to introduce students to population-based public health nursing,” said Donna Nickitas, dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing‒Camden.

The nursing students will assist 14 Vineland public schools with COVID-19 contact tracing, health screenings, and educating young students on health promotion topics.

“Contact tracing is a time-consuming task and a huge burden on school nurses, who are also trying to juggle their daily demands, so our students will be available to help,” said Margo Wallace, the Rutgers School of Nursing‒Camden director of clinical placement.

Rutgers‒Camden students will assist in contact tracing by gathering crucial information, such as when a patient began showing symptoms, and identifying close contacts in the classroom, on the school bus, in sports and during social activities. Of the more than 29,000 Cumberland County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since March 2020, more than 12,000 are Vineland residents – the highest in the county, according to county records.

“Contact tracing and COVID management has consumed the entire workday of school nurses,” said Vineland School District Nursing Supervisor Josephine DeMareo. “Vineland students and families will benefit from the direct care and contact tracing that the nursing students provide.”

DeMareo said the school district welcomes the partnership with Rutgers‒Camden and the nursing students’ assistance with people who test positive for COVID-19. One of their key duties is determining how long COVID-positive individuals should isolate.

“School nurses are unsung heroes who play a vital role in the health and safety of children, especially during the pandemic,” said Rutgers‒Camden Chancellor Antonio D. Tillis. “I’m proud that Rutgers‒Camden nursing students are working directly with, and contributing to, the well-being of children in the community.”

The partnership with Vineland School District expands the School of Nursing–Camden’s hands-on educational opportunities in traditional and nontraditional clinical settings, such as places of worship, food pantries and homeless shelters.

When it Comes to Supporting School Nurses, Robin Cogan is Relentless

When it Comes to Supporting School Nurses, Robin Cogan is Relentless

School nurses have been on the front lines since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, administering COVID-19 testing, tracking the results and performing contact tracing, among other duties.

Underpaid, overworked and overextended, school nurses have been placed in an unsustainable position as “de facto” public health officials for the children under their care—and like actual, appointed public health officials, are frequently on the “frontlines” of community battles being waged over mask requirements, quarantining of infected children, and of course vaccination. However, if they start to feel overwhelmed and frustrated, they have a place to vent, share anecdotes, and support one another, thanks to the efforts of The Relentless School Nurse … aka Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FAAN, the clinical coordinator of the Rutgers University–Camden school nurse program.

Cogan, a vocal advocate for school nurses, hosts a virtual support group for these nurses throughout the United States, which focuses on keeping students safe, as well as a variety of critical issues related to COVID-19.

“Being responsible for the health and safety of students and staff has weighed heavily on school nurses,” says Cogan. “It is not in our nature to receive. We are usually the ones giving. That is not a healthy stance; we must also be able to receive…” Describing the group to the New York Times in November, she explained, “It’s a safe space for school nurses to share their experiences and to kind of download and say: ‘This is hard. I’ve written my resignation letter 10 times. I’m about to turn it in — can somebody help talk me out of it, help me get through another day?’”

Since October 2020, Cogan has held weekly peer-to-peer sessions on Zoom, where participants offer solutions and empathize with each other about the demands of handling their standard and expanded duties.

In the hour-long sessions, school nurses around the country talk freely about stress, an untenable workload, and trying to keep up with the latest COVID-19 protocols and testing.

Cogan has noted repeatedly how the challenges that school nurses are facing this fall are compounded by the rising political battle over masks and vaccination requirements in schools.

It is Cogan who says school nurses are acting as the de facto health department. Like public health officials, school nurses have also been under siege since the pandemic arrived on US soil. Cogan recognized the need for a support group early in the 2020 school year, and created the virtual sessions with the Mental Health Association in New Jersey and the state Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, along with a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to offer nurses an opportunity to care for their mental health.

While Cogan is a facilitator of the group, she is also benefitting from the sessions. “We are sharing a collective traumatic experience,” says Cogan. “It’s encouraging to have this group to review the week and determine next steps or ways to cope that do not take me down a negative rabbit hole. I have learned from them to set strong guardrails and ask for help.”

“Front-line workers during the pandemic are heroes who need support. I applaud Robin Cogan for her work in caring for the mental well-being of school nurses,” says Rutgers‒Camden Chancellor Antonio D. Tillis.

A school nurse for 21 years, Cogan is a leading voice for school nurses and an advocate for children. Her blog, “The Relentless School Nurse,” shares school nurses’ stories from across the country.

Cogan was recently selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), one of the highest honors that can be bestowed in the field.

Cogan is among 225 fellows of the class of 2021, joining a small group of school nurse leaders inducted into the academy. FAAN selection criteria include contributions to nursing and health care, reducing health disparities and inequalities and influencing health policies and health care delivery.

 

Nurse of the Week Sabrina Bertsch Powered Through All Obstacles in Pursuit of Her ABSN

Nurse of the Week Sabrina Bertsch Powered Through All Obstacles in Pursuit of Her ABSN

We have another indefatigable and seemingly unstoppable Nurse of the Week on the verge of earning a BSN! The Nurse of the Week this time is Sabrina Bertsch, whose path to a Rutgers University–Camden  nursing degree wound across the United States and included struggles with illness and financial insecurity.

As she receives her third college degree this spring – an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (ABSN) from the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden – the Hainesport resident says that her dream of a career in nursing was worth the life challenges she encountered along the way.ould

Bertsch became interested in health care in her early 20s after the birth of her first child. She worked as a professional skateboard photographer in Philadelphia, utilizing her first bachelor’s degree in photography.

While she always planned to pursue a career in midwifery, life circumstances forced her to put her plans on hold for nearly 20 years.

After moving to Albuquerque, where she worked as a bartender and was pregnant with her second child, Bertsch was motivated to work in emergency medicine after witnessing customers at the tavern become sick from high alcohol consumption. “It pushed me to do something immediate to help save lives,” says Bertsch.

Bertsch was an emergency medical technician in Albuquerque and then in New Jersey, until she was diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy during her third pregnancy. A subsequent divorce and another move back to her hometown in Tennessee required putting off a nursing education for another 10 years.

After earning a master of arts in teaching degree from Liberty University in 2015, she briefly worked as a substitute teacher. “My heart was truly in nursing, specifically nurse-midwifery, so I decided I had put it off long enough and began my earnest path toward that goal,” she says.

Financial issues and caring for a sick child at home made the journey difficult but did not deter her from pursuing her dream career.

While working full-time as a server at a restaurant, Bertsch began taking prerequisites for a nursing degree, paying cash for the classes.

In early 2020, Bertsch faced some of the most challenging times in her life. While raising her four children, Bertsch began the 15-month Rutgers–Camden ABSN program for students who hold a degree in a non-nursing major.

Just a few weeks into the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden program, Bertsch suffered a medical crisis that required hospitalization, nearly derailing her plans to pursue the degree.

Then the pandemic hit New Jersey.

Her partner’s acupuncture business shut down, and the family had no income for several weeks. Her children suffered anxiety from the lockdown and having to take classes online.

By drawing on her experience in conquering hurdles, Bertsch persevered with support from her partner and her children.

Bertsch’s 20-year-old son, a sophomore at Rutgers, was living at his grandparents’ home. Her 17-year-old son was taking virtual classes at home, and she was homeschooling her 15-year-old son, and caring for her four-year-old daughter.

“It wasn’t perfect,” says Bertsch. “Probably too much screen time and boxed mac-n-cheese, but we have all come together as a team and as a family.”

For Bertsch, a positive outcome of taking classes online during the pandemic has been a greater appreciation of opportunities to learn. “I think that being online has pushed me to not take a moment, an opportunity, or a lesson for granted,” says Bertsch. “I became a hyper-alert student, taking in everything I could; every question I had, I asked without hesitation.”

Bertsch will be working as a birth assistant for a homebirth practice in Pennington.

In August, she will begin a Georgetown University online dual-graduate program for certified nurse-midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner.