Jeanne Kiefner is a School Nurse treasure who, more than 17 years after her retirement, continues to come to NASN conferences and still provides practicum supervision for School Nurse Certificate students at Rowan University in NJ. I was privileged to attend the last two NASN conferences with Jeanne and could barely keep up with her energy and enthusiasm for learning. She is as brilliant as she is hilarious and knows how to have FUN.
Walking through the NASN conference with Jeanne is like being with a school nurse celebrity. She is recognized wherever she goes because she has been a fixture in the world of school nursing since the 1970’s. She would be so upset if I shared her age, in fact, I think it is classified, but suffice it to say she has life experience! I admire her tenacity, her directness, and her preparedness. Jeanne keeps her knowledge base strong because she is always reading, researching and learning. Jeanne is a Relentless School Nurse!
Jeanne has embraced social media. She has a Twitter handle and a Facebook page! Jeanne has her own personal listserv where she updates hundreds of school nurses through email blasts that include links to articles, news items and cutting-edge information about school nursing policy. She is active in her retirement Union and serves on countless committees and boards in her never-ending pursuit of knowledge.
As NASN moves towards celebrating our 50th anniversary, we should look to our School Nurse treasures, like Jeanne to remember and honor our past. Do you know a School Nurse that fits this category? Will you reach out to them to share their stories and maybe even attend NASN 2018 in Baltimore? Let’s honor our #LegacySchoolNurses by including their voices in our stories. By the way, if Jeanne can learn to tweet, and yes, she has a twitter handle, so can we!
