The Relentless School Nurse: How a Seemingly Simple Question Turned into an Op-Ed

It was a really simple (or so I thought) question from a school nurse colleague who reached out to me because she wanted to provide a health lesson to her third-grade students about gun safety.  At first, I thought I could answer her question, but when I failed to find a strong selection to share with the nurse, I turned to my school librarian friends, who are information specialists, and posed this challenge:

I have a school nurse who is interested in teaching safety lessons and wants to incorporate gun safety into her lesson. She likes to read books to the 3rd graders and asked if I had any recommendations. And, so I thought of you!

The response of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) including Mary Moyer Stubbs, the Legislative Consultant, and Beth Raff, President-elect of NJSASL was swift and actionable.  They were also concerned that there were few resources to recommend from reputable children’s publishers on the topic.  This spurred a joint op-ed and the search for a publisher for the op-ed.  To our surprise, there were few outlets that wanted to address the topic. Our deep appreciation goes to NJ.com Opinion for their courage to publish the op-ed.

As school nurses and librarians, we find ourselves grappling with the distressing reality that little is being done to prevent school shootings. As educators, we see the somber truth that students are living in fear and experiencing heightened stress due to this pervasive issue. It then falls on us to fulfill our role and obligation to help students cope with the associated stressors, and one tool we rely on is books and stories. However, when it comes to the topic of gun violence, there is an alarming absence of resources or inappropriate ones like the one using Winnie the Pooh, featured in our op-ed.  We need publishers and authors who understand the needs of children to address gun violence in an appropriate manner.

Here is our op-ed, there is a registration required to view the article for free for a limited number of days. 

NJ.com-Winnie-the-Pooh gun violence pamphlet exploits a cherished character Opinion

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.
View all posts by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN