This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/27/2022 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 modeled for her nursing and health aide staff as Health Services Coordinator with Guilford Public Schools (GPS), and plans to bring to her new role as Director of Health Services with Branford Public Schools (BPS).
Pam is looking forward to working with BPS in her new position with the start of district’s 2022-23 academic year.
“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.”
As described in the job summary posted during the district’s search for the director, “...the primary responsibility of the Director of Health Services is the administration and supervision of school nurses and School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) for Branford Public Schools. The Director provides leadership, direction, planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of the total school health program in collaboration with school administration, the district's Medical Director, and state and local health departments. The Director shall work within district health policies and state and federal statutes, regulations and policies.”
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.
Pam’s career in school nursing started 13 years ago as a substitute nurse with GPS. Pam and her husband, Scott, married in 1986 and moved to Guilford from North Haven in 1999. The couple raised their two children, son Joey and daughter Jaime, in Guilford.
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. She started substituting as a school nurse in 2009 at Guilford’s Baldwin Middle School.
Pam says she instantly recognized she loved the role.
“Everybody was so happy! It was an amazing environment.”
When a position opened up three years later, Pam went on to become the school nurse at Baldwin, overseeing the nursing needs of the town’s grade 5 – 6 students for the next six years. Then, another position opened up which Pam felt she couldn’t pass up.
“My previous supervisor 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 GPS 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.
Pam says the value school nurses bring to their buildings and a school district is an important contribution to the success of students and their education.
“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 them, has been a course Pam’s learned to navigate.
“You have to work with each other,” says Pam. “Even though we’re in different buildings, I’m part of your team. I’m going to advocate for you.”
As the school nurse, “...you really need to have a sound skill set in your assessments to be able to be everything to those kids walking in.”
Pam says she will always do her utmost to 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.”