Margaret Fortman
May 2016
Margaret
Fortman
,
MS, RN
Community Services-School Nursing
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Milwaukee
,
WI
United States

 

 

 

Margaret is passionate about the work she does as a school nurse. Her care goes beyond attending to a scraped knee or a stomachache. She takes time to get to know each child that comes through her door and recognizes when a student's concern runs deeper than the headache they are complaining about.
Margaret continually looks for ways to collaborate with other disciplines to provide the best care possible. A five-year-old girl at Margaret's school suffered significant trauma and was connected with a case worker through the Bureau. Her teacher complained that "she could not get her" to do anything in classroom. As part of the Project Protect /Resilient Kids Grant at the school, a psychologist was available. Margaret reached out to the community support manager via email to get her opinion. Through her extra efforts, Margaret was able to connect with the child's case worker, the mother and the school to get an individualized education program evaluation started. Both this child and her brother needed counseling at school.
Margaret never turns down a chance to mentor nursing students, new school nurses or her peers. She frequently looks for new approaches to working with students and their families and continually shares her ideas forward. She is always cognizant of the difficulties and trauma our children and families may have faced. Margaret's school was part of a Project Prevent Grant and she not only actively participated in the trauma informed care training but she helped facilitate implementing it as well. Margaret continually goes beyond routine expectations of her role.