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07/20/2022 08:30 AM“I’m not going to ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do. That’s collaborative. That’s part of nursing.”
That’s the type of transformative leadership style Pam Neleber, Guilford Public Schools (GPS) Health Services Coordinator, has modeled for the district’s school nursing and health aide staff.
Among her nursing background roles, Pam is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN) of many years, in addition to BSN and RN. She’s currently studying for her Masters in Nursing and is on track to complete it in the spring of 2023.
This month, after a career in school nursing that started 13 years ago as a substitute nurse with GPS, Pam’s bidding a fond farewell to district staff, friends, and professional peers to start a new role with Branford Public Schools as its Director of Health Services.
“I want to collaborate and see if I can bring something to the table for them,” says Pam. “I love school nursing and the prevention piece of it, so I’m happy to make my impact in Branford. But it’s so hard to leave! Guilford shaped me.”
Pam and her husband, Scott, married in 1986 and moved to Guilford from North Haven in 1999. They’ve raised their son and daughter, Joey and Jaime, here. Scott is also the assistant coach of Guilford High School (GHS) Girls Ice Hockey. Pam got involved as a “hockey mom” while both Joey (GHS ’18) and Jaime (GHS ’20) undertook youth and high school ice hockey careers, including serving as GHS captains for their teams.
Pam worked with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield for 11 years before entering nursing. She attended night school at Quinnipiac University to become a nurse.
“I always wanted to be a nurse,” says Pam, remembering that, as a little girl, she used to tell her grandmother that’s what she wanted to do.
After earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Pam’s first nursing job was in an Intensive Care Unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital. When her kids were little, she worked as nurse at a doctor’s office.
“And then I just started substituting as a school nurse in 2009,” says Pam.
She substituted at Baldwin Middle School for GPS and instantly recognized she loved filling that role in the district.
“Everybody was so happy! It was an amazing environment.”
Pam went on to become Baldwin’s next school nurse.
“It took me three years before a position opened up at Baldwin. It was just fantastic – the kids, the staff, the families.”
She served as the grade 5 to 6 building’s school nurse for the next six years, including two years while Jaime was in the Baldwin student community.
Then, another position opened up with GPS that Pam felt she couldn’t pass up.
“My previous supervisor, Carol Ott, was retiring after 18 years. That’s a job opening that doesn’t come up often.”
Pam applied and was promoted to the role of nurse supervisor in 2018. She brought high expectations to the job and to the nursing and health aide staff she would oversee and build through the years. She also brought her insight as a former union president for the school nurses.
To this day, Pam continues to be an advocate for increasing pay for GPS school nurses to be more on par with surrounding districts; while also recognizing the hurdles created by previous pay scales. The pay difference stems from the district’s earlier practice of employing Visiting Nurse Association LPNs as school nurses, who were paid at a lower rate.
“So that’s where the pay rate started. They make progress with every contract [but] the pay is not equal to surrounding towns,” say Pam.
She says the value school nurses bring to their building, and the district, is measurable.
“I always say, ‘If students are not healthy, they can’t learn.’ That’s a huge piece of school nursing. We’re there to support children’s education and their family and the teachers.”
Walking the fine line of supervising her staff and elevating their efforts to excellence, while understanding their needs and advocating for better compensation, has been a course Pam’s learned to navigate.
“You have to work with each other,” says Pam, who was based at GHS in her supervisory role. “Even though we’re in different buildings, I’m part of your team. I’m going to advocate for you. I was the president of the union before I took the supervisor job – so I get what they’re doing.”
As the school nurse, “...you’re the only health care professional in the school,” Pam emphasizes. “You really need to have a sound skill set in your assessments to be able to be everything to those kids walking in.”
Pam credits GPS Medical Director Dr. Robert Nolfo, MD (Guilford Pediatrics) for his incredible support.
“He writes the orders for the nurses and he collaborates with us if we have new cases we’re not familiar with or what’s the best practice. He’s also been fantastic for me to just run ideas through,” says Pam.
She also thanks Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman Ed.D, for his support through the years, as well as that of her immediate GPS supervisor, Assistant Superintendent for Operations Jason Beaudin.
Additionally, Guilford’s municipal Director of Health, Sonia Marino, “...has been exponential in leading us through safe times,” says Pam.
She’s worked closely with all of them, as well as with each of the district’s seven schools’ administrators, together with her nursing staff, to organize a response to the pandemic and help manage COVID as it pertains to GPS.
“She worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic — including long hours, weekends, vacations and summers — to ensure the safety of our school children, families and community,” notes GHS school nurse Sarah C. Kellogg, MSN, RN. “She has brought information from the regional, state and federal level to the local level to make sure that we are in keeping with current protocols and best practices.”
Pam says Sarah is an example of the exceptional nursing staff she’s worked with during her time at GPS.
“Sarah used to be in private practice, and she’s an amazing practitioner,” says Pam, who will also miss working in the same building with colleague and GHS health aide Gisele Zergerbiel.
“She was my health aide at Baldwin. So I’ve been with Gisele since day one, and she’s become a lifelong friend,” says Pam.
Pam is equally sad to be leaving all of her GPS staff, which consists of seven school nurses and three health aides.
“I want to name all of them!” says Pam, adding it was difficult to say goodbye.
“It took a couple of weeks to find the words to tell them.”
She’s also confident she’s leaving GPS with a “a great nursing staff” and also “great substitutes” (all hired and trained by Pam). She’s also ensured her former nursing staff they’ll be set up for success by securing their supplies and standing orders to be there for them when the new school year begins.
Additionally, Pam says she has to thank two GPS nursing professionals who came before her, Gayle Golia and Colleen Wall. Both shared a wealth of experience with Pam before their retirements within the past two years.
“They took me under their wing,” says Pam. “Their role was to take the next person and teach them.”
While she may be moving on to a different district, Pam says she will always do her utmost to be advocate for the important work of all school nurses in the state. After she earns her masters’, Pam’s goal is to further her school nurse expertise by assisting in government affairs with the Connecticut School Nurse Association (CNA).
“Our job description for school nurses in Connecticut has not been updated since 1982. So it’s really important to advocate at the state level, because that’s how the procedures are changed,” says Pam. “[CNA] is also looking to get school nurses certified, as a future possibility on the docket. That’s also something I’m pushing for; because you’re only as strong as your nursing staff. We owe it to the children.”