Nurse Manager Jen West
This month’s Guest Blogger is Mary Cariola Center’s School Nurse Manager Jenifer West. Jen received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Keuka College and received her Pediatric Nursing Certification through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.
Jen says, “I am honored to lead an incredibly talented, compassionate group of men and women. Every day is different and exciting, and no matter the challenge, we face it head on. Our nurses are critical thinkers and problem solvers, as well as strong advocates for our students and families. The best part of working at Mary Cariola Center is having the privilege to work with our incredible students! They bring light, laughter and joy to my world and embody the true meaning of resiliency.”
Jane Goodall once said: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” This thought rings true when I reflect on the past year.
It’s no surprise that many nurses go into the profession with the burning desire to help someone and ultimately make a difference in someone’s life. I would say this likely holds true for all of the Mary Cariola Center employees, in one way or another. Ultimately, making one student’s day brighter or one family’s day easier is a reasonable goal. I encourage you to take it further – how can we help more students, more families?
As the Nurse Manager for the school program, a big part of that goal for me is ensuring that I have nurses who are scholarly and experientially prepared for the role and are ready to take on the challenges our students and families face. When I was in college, my pediatric rotation involved a few weeks of clinical observation and hands-on learning in a pediatric unit at URMC. There is so much more to pediatric nursing than just what you experience in a hospital setting! I am happy to say that Mary Cariola Center welcomes nursing students for clinical rotations from 3 area colleges currently, exposing nursing students to our population and the unique challenges they face. Through this immersive learning experience, nurses gain the confidence and wisdom that really unleashes their potential. Some of these college partnerships have been in place for several years, others for only a few months. When students from these partnering colleges graduate and apply to work in our school buildings, I know they have prior experience in our field of expertise. I very much believe in and look at this as a way to pay it forward, to build the next generation of skillful nurses. Continuing education is so important too once established in the school nurse role and we also encourage our nurses to seek out a specialty certification – pediatric nursing certification, developmental disability nursing certification, or school nurse certification.
Community connections are powerful, not only in securing a solid foundation of nursing professionals, but also in being able to offer expanded services to our students and their families. The simple act of taking a child to an appointment at a doctor’s office is something that is often taken for granted. Nurses are strong advocates for the student and family both in and out of the school setting and being able to provide support in this area is crucial to not only the student’s health but to his/her education. Mary Cariola Center already has established connections with Flaum Eye Institute, Eastman Dental, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and URMC orthotics professionals by offering clinic appointments as school.
Jen has seen considerable change in Mary Cariola’s nursing department since she started in 2011. Staffing levels have doubled in size, nurses are present across all campuses (in part due to the increased acuity and number of nursing services, along with three nurse embedded classrooms,) and Nurse Supervisors on all three campuses.
We are always looking to expand access to specialty services for our students, and in July 2024, we began offering URMC Pediatric Gastroenterology services through the PANS (Pediatric Advanced Nutrition Support) clinic providers at our Elmwood avenue location. Students are seen for their scheduled appointments right at school and parents take part in person or remotely. For this clinic as well as the other clinics, students with behavioral challenges are supported with their in-school behavior supports and students do not have to miss school. They can remain in school, within the schedule and structure that is so crucial for their success. They go right back to class once the appointment is completed. It is a seamless process. Clinic appointments will also be available at our East Avenue and East Henrietta locations as well in the coming weeks. In January 2025, we were able to add URMC Child Neurology services as well at our Elmwood location with clinic appointments being scheduled twice monthly moving forward. The addition of these two clinics in the last year has extended our ability to support our students and families even more.
The connection we build with our students and families is something that I treasure. Through our growing connections with the community, the ability to make a difference to more and more students is possible.
To answer Jane Goodall’s question, the kind of difference I want to make is one that will positively impact students and families for years, lifetimes and generations to come.
A rare opportunity to take a photo of some of Mary Cariola’s Nursing Team before the school day begins!
Mary Cariola Center is currently hiring Registered Nurses (RN’s) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN’s)
