E-Bikes and Kids: Permission Is Not Preparation

When a student returns to my middle school after an e-bike or e-scooter crash, the emergency may be over, but the injury is not. I see the cast and crutches, the concussion plan, the missed classes, the headaches that linger, and parents still trying to understand how an ordinary ride changed so much. That is why “Are you ready to ride?” must mean more than having permission to leave the driveway.

I have been a nurse for more than 30 years, the last 11 of them as a school nurse. I am not usually the nurse at the crash scene. I am the nurse who sees what comes next. I see the student navigating hallways on crutches. I see the child who insists the headache is gone because they are tired of missing gym or practice. I see the parent coordinating appointments, transportation, schoolwork, and recovery while wondering when life will feel normal again.

Outside our schools, the change arrived silently. Dismissal once meant the rumble of buses, parents calling through open car windows, and the rattle of bicycle chains. Now students glide away with a quiet electric hum, heading to practice, work, friends’ homes, and the growing independence every generation of teenagers has […]

2026-08-12T15:41:12-04:00August 12th, 2026|Nursing, Public health, school nurses|0 Comments
Read More

The Epidemic of Gun Violence: A ‘Problem to Be Solved, Not a Battle to Be Won’

The alarming surge in child gun deaths

For decades, gun violence in America has been framed “as a battle to be won rather than a problem to be solved,” in the words of a poignant New York Times op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, who argues that we should acknowledge the blunt reality that guns aren’t going away. Therefore, he writes, it’s time to “bypass the culture wars and try a harm-reduction model familiar from public health efforts to reduce deaths from other dangerous products such as cars and cigarettes.”

The current combative public debate has been accompanied by devastating increases in gun violence, particularly for the youngest members of our society. According to an October 2023 study published in Pediatrics, between 2011 and 2021, gun deaths among Americans under the age of 18 surged by 87%, making gun violence the leading cause of death for American children. In stark contrast, there has been an overall steady decline of child deaths from motor vehicle fatalities, with a 51% reduction from 1999 through 2020, showcasing the potential for effective interventions when society’s most confounding issues are treated through a public health lens.

The stark reality of gun violence

The reality of gun violence in America is stark and sobering. Gun […]

2024-08-08T09:48:27-04:00August 8th, 2024|gun violence, Nursing, pediatrics, Public health, school nurses|1 Comment
Read More

School Nurses Teaching Lifesaving Skills to Children

A scary moment in the home.

One weekend morning, my then-six-year-old son ran into the kitchen holding a half-eaten piece of fruit and looking panicked. He and his brothers had just finished eating breakfast before rushing off to play a game in the next room. Only a faint wheeze emerged when my son tried to breathe. He was choking.

Years earlier, my husband and I had taken a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid class for new parents taught by paramedics and nurses at our local community center. We immediately used techniques we’d practiced in that class to successfully dislodge the food, and our son recovered fully. That long-ago instruction had not only given us the knowledge needed to clear our son’s airway but also the confidence to do so calmly during a frightening moment.

A 4th-grader learns proper technique for chest compressions and how to use an AED. Photo by Dulce Rodriguez.

Collaborating with the community to empower students.

In our May issue In Our Community column, nurses in the Klein Independent School District in Harris County, Texas, describe how they have been instilling this combination of lifesaving knowledge […]

2022-09-01T08:29:18-04:00September 1st, 2022|Nursing, Public health, school nurses|0 Comments
Read More

Message from a Concerned School Nurse

Robin Cogan

In case you have not seen the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for schools, published on August 11, 2022, here they are: Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning.

Key changes in CDC guidance for schools.

The CDC has chosen the path of least resistance as schools are about to reopen or are in their first few weeks of the new school year. Although the word “prevention” is included in the CDC’s name, this central goal seems to have been removed from these guidelines, including crucial pieces of the mitigation strategies that in the past prevented the school-level spread of the virus:

2022-08-25T09:13:06-04:00August 25th, 2022|infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health, school nurses|2 Comments
Read More

School Nurses: A ‘Hidden Health Care System’ Finds a Voice

A blog is born.

Five years ago, I attended a blog writing workshop at the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) annual conference. 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. Five years, 818 blog posts, and almost 400,000 views later, I can say with confidence that school nursing is a vibrant and innovative specialty practice.

Amplifying the voice of school nursing.

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.

To tell our own stories—not to boast but to educate.

Recognition in school nursing, like in most nursing, has been hard-fought, both within our own walls and outside as well. So many school […]

2022-05-11T10:32:27-04:00May 11th, 2022|COVID-19, Nursing, school nurses|1 Comment
Read More

Comment ground rules

1. Please be respectful.
2. We moderate all comments.

Content disclaimer

Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Go to Top