2019-2020 OSHNA Board of Directors
President : Peggy Moore RN, CCRN, TNCC
I am excited to serve you as the President of OSHNA this 2019-2020 School Year. My focus is to help empower School Nurses as leaders in their schools and communities. By partnering with the community and School leadership, School Nurses can have a substantial impact on the physical, mental, and emotional health of our students. My goals are for OSHNA to communicate effectively and with impact to other School Nurses, School Leaders, and Community Leaders. My second goal will be to strengthen our media presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram and support conferences that advocate for school and community health and facilitate health education and awareness among families and community.
I have been a Nurse for almost twenty years. I have my CCRN (Critical Care Certification) as well as my TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Course Certifications). I am also a trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and belong to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
I have worked all over the United States, beginning my nursing career at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1999. I have also worked at many intercity Level 1 Trauma hospitals in Detroit, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, and Cincinnati. From 2009-2016 I was an ICU Nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl Germany taking care of our critical injured soldiers from the Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa.
I have been a Nurse for almost twenty years. I have my CCRN (Critical Care Certification) as well as my TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Course Certifications). I am also a trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and belong to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
I have worked all over the United States, beginning my nursing career at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1999. I have also worked at many intercity Level 1 Trauma hospitals in Detroit, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, and Cincinnati. From 2009-2016 I was an ICU Nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl Germany taking care of our critical injured soldiers from the Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa.
Past President : Julie Hudson, MSN, RN, NCSN
Julie is a nationally certified school nurse who has been employed by DoDEA since 2008. She enjoyed working with students from all three educational levels at Yokota Air Base until she received a transfer to Okinawa, Japan where she remains at Stearley Heights ES on Kadena Air Base.
Julie has also worked in a wide variety of medical environments in her thirty-three years as a nurse. She has taken on educational roles such as providing nursing Aspen Data Base training/ support and developing nursing continuing education courses for credit. She has been a key contributor in several of the OSHNA conferences in the last few years. This past year she teamed with another international school nurse to write and publish an article on school nursing overseas in the Online Journal in Nursing.
Julie considers continuing education vital to her school nurse position by attending not only the Overseas School Health Nurses Association (OSHNA) conferences but the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) summer conferences as well. This practice provides the much-needed information and research required for school nurses to keep their training not only current but medically and educationally sound. The connections made at the conferences both professionally and socially nurture a sense of professionalism while maintaining the spirit of what it means to be a nurse and a healthy individual as well.
Being active in the OSHNA organization is one way that Julie gives back to fellow nurses that have aided her along the way. Julie remains president for the school year 2018-2019 but has been an active OSHNA board member for the past six years as treasurer for four years, president for one year and president-elect for one year. She strongly encourages other nurses to take on leadership roles and share their vast knowledge and experience with peers and the community alike.
Julie has also worked in a wide variety of medical environments in her thirty-three years as a nurse. She has taken on educational roles such as providing nursing Aspen Data Base training/ support and developing nursing continuing education courses for credit. She has been a key contributor in several of the OSHNA conferences in the last few years. This past year she teamed with another international school nurse to write and publish an article on school nursing overseas in the Online Journal in Nursing.
Julie considers continuing education vital to her school nurse position by attending not only the Overseas School Health Nurses Association (OSHNA) conferences but the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) summer conferences as well. This practice provides the much-needed information and research required for school nurses to keep their training not only current but medically and educationally sound. The connections made at the conferences both professionally and socially nurture a sense of professionalism while maintaining the spirit of what it means to be a nurse and a healthy individual as well.
Being active in the OSHNA organization is one way that Julie gives back to fellow nurses that have aided her along the way. Julie remains president for the school year 2018-2019 but has been an active OSHNA board member for the past six years as treasurer for four years, president for one year and president-elect for one year. She strongly encourages other nurses to take on leadership roles and share their vast knowledge and experience with peers and the community alike.
President Elect : Dana Raye, MSN, RN
I am celebrating 20 years in the field of nursing and my 8th school year with DoDEA this year. I worked one school year at Pordenone Elementary School, Italy before its closure, three school years at Maxwell E/MS, AL, and currently work at Spangdahlem Middle School, Germany. Before school nursing, I spent many years as an Emergency/Trauma Nurse and Nurse Educator, achieved the Board Certification in Emergency Nursing (BCEN), and was a Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC) instructor. I am currently an instructor for AHA Heartsaver, BLS, and a Safe Crisis Management Instructor through JKM Training, Inc. I was recently honored to receive the 2018 Overseas School Health Nurses Association (OSHNA) School Nurse of the Year.
I earned my BSN at Auburn University Montgomery in 1998 and MSN (Community and Public Health focus) from the University of South Alabama in 2004. My husband Bryan and I always knew we wanted to work with military families and specifically for DoDEA. He left the active military duty to pursue an education degree and currently teaches 5th grade at Spangdahlem Elementary School. We have three children who keep us busy and actively involved in our community.
I am excited to help in the role of Professional Development for OSHNA. I believe as school nurses, we hold power to inspire and create healthy schools, communities, and families as our world rapidly changes. We are a vital link between home and school, as well as health liaisons and leaders in our communities. I believe we are challenged with growing in our professional knowledge across many domains to meet the needs of all. We can be influential leaders as school nurses if we effectively communicate within our interdisciplinary teams and lead the way in modeling best practices, policy development, and education. We have an opportunity to make a significant positive impact through our nursing practice!
I earned my BSN at Auburn University Montgomery in 1998 and MSN (Community and Public Health focus) from the University of South Alabama in 2004. My husband Bryan and I always knew we wanted to work with military families and specifically for DoDEA. He left the active military duty to pursue an education degree and currently teaches 5th grade at Spangdahlem Elementary School. We have three children who keep us busy and actively involved in our community.
I am excited to help in the role of Professional Development for OSHNA. I believe as school nurses, we hold power to inspire and create healthy schools, communities, and families as our world rapidly changes. We are a vital link between home and school, as well as health liaisons and leaders in our communities. I believe we are challenged with growing in our professional knowledge across many domains to meet the needs of all. We can be influential leaders as school nurses if we effectively communicate within our interdisciplinary teams and lead the way in modeling best practices, policy development, and education. We have an opportunity to make a significant positive impact through our nursing practice!
Secretary : Danielle Boyette BSN, RN
Danielle is originally from the small state of Rhode Island and moved to Florida as a teen. It is there that she met her husband of 19 years and has traveled the world as a military spouse. She obtained her BSN from Valdosta State University while stationed at Moody AFB. Becoming a nurse was a lifelong dream, so when the opportunity to return to school presented itself, Danielle left the financial sector and jumped head first into nursing school.
Danielle attended her first OSHNA conference in the fall of 2018 as a brand new school nurse. She fell in love with the organization and is excited to join the board as secretary for the 2019-2020 school year.
Danielle is currently the nurse at Alconbury Elementary School in Alconbury, UK. She moved there with her active duty Air Force spouse and two daughters in July of 2017. After leaving a fulfilling position on an oncology unit in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, she hit the ground running at Alconbury. She volunteered for the Red Cross as the Health Promotions Coordinator for the local MTF, substituted for the school nurses at both the MHS and Elementary school, and served as the Volunteer Coordinator for two school years at the MHS, where her two daughters attend.
Being involved in the schools and community is a large part of who Danielle is a military spouse and school nurse. She finds joy and fulfillment while serving others.
One of Danielle’s professional goals is to become a Nationally Certified School Nurse. She is just beginning what she hopes will be a long and fulfilling career with DoDEA as the school nurse.
Danielle attended her first OSHNA conference in the fall of 2018 as a brand new school nurse. She fell in love with the organization and is excited to join the board as secretary for the 2019-2020 school year.
Danielle is currently the nurse at Alconbury Elementary School in Alconbury, UK. She moved there with her active duty Air Force spouse and two daughters in July of 2017. After leaving a fulfilling position on an oncology unit in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, she hit the ground running at Alconbury. She volunteered for the Red Cross as the Health Promotions Coordinator for the local MTF, substituted for the school nurses at both the MHS and Elementary school, and served as the Volunteer Coordinator for two school years at the MHS, where her two daughters attend.
Being involved in the schools and community is a large part of who Danielle is a military spouse and school nurse. She finds joy and fulfillment while serving others.
One of Danielle’s professional goals is to become a Nationally Certified School Nurse. She is just beginning what she hopes will be a long and fulfilling career with DoDEA as the school nurse.
Treasure : Michelle Ewing BSN, RN
Michelle has been a school nurse for DoDEA since 2013. She began as a long-term substitute and fell in love with school nursing. Her nursing experience includes assisted living facilities in Gig Harbor, Washington, and working in medical-surgical nursing just before coming to Japan. She is a mother of 3 girls, ages 18, 15 and 12.
She is a relatively new nurse with only seven years of experience with 6 of them in school nursing, working at Ikego Elementary School, part of the Yokosuka Complex Schools. She graduated from Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington in 2013, and completed her BSN with a certificate in Forensic Nursing at Pennsylvania State University in 2015. She is an active member of the American Red Cross Yokosuka Chapter where she teaches several classes and volunteers as a nurse at band camp for the Yo-Hi marching band. She also mentors nurses in the Yokosuka area who are seeking to complete their BSN while overseas. One of her students recently went on to pursue school nursing as their career choice.
Michelle loves this profession and the never-ending opportunities it presents. She is so grateful for the educational opportunities that OSHNA and NASN provide. Her goal is to complete her NCSN this year and to pursue her MSN shortly after. She is excited to work with OSHNA to bring more of these fantastic opportunities to grow in our profession.
She is a relatively new nurse with only seven years of experience with 6 of them in school nursing, working at Ikego Elementary School, part of the Yokosuka Complex Schools. She graduated from Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington in 2013, and completed her BSN with a certificate in Forensic Nursing at Pennsylvania State University in 2015. She is an active member of the American Red Cross Yokosuka Chapter where she teaches several classes and volunteers as a nurse at band camp for the Yo-Hi marching band. She also mentors nurses in the Yokosuka area who are seeking to complete their BSN while overseas. One of her students recently went on to pursue school nursing as their career choice.
Michelle loves this profession and the never-ending opportunities it presents. She is so grateful for the educational opportunities that OSHNA and NASN provide. Her goal is to complete her NCSN this year and to pursue her MSN shortly after. She is excited to work with OSHNA to bring more of these fantastic opportunities to grow in our profession.
Technology Coordinator : Jenny Conejo BSN, RN
Jenny started in the medical field in 1995 as an Emergency Medical Technician for the United States Air force. She worked in areas ranging from the Emergency Room, Critical Care ICU, Operating room all before she became a Registered nurse in 2009, where she started as an ICU nurse in a Neuro Trauma ICU. She then moved on to work back with soldier for Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany caring for the Men and Women injured in combat and non-combat related injuries from all over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Jenny has of love for keeping current and maintaining her medical certifications such as TNCC, ABLS, ACLS, PALS, BLS, ATCN, AND FFCS. She is planning on working toward getting her Master of Nursing in Education.
Jenny has completed her first year as a school nurse and loves it! She will be in Ankara, Turkey for the upcoming school year. She encourages all overseas school nurses to get involved in OSHNA! She has started the new Instagram account (oshna2019) and is learning how to tweet! Look for upcoming and exciting new things this school year!
Jenny has of love for keeping current and maintaining her medical certifications such as TNCC, ABLS, ACLS, PALS, BLS, ATCN, AND FFCS. She is planning on working toward getting her Master of Nursing in Education.
Jenny has completed her first year as a school nurse and loves it! She will be in Ankara, Turkey for the upcoming school year. She encourages all overseas school nurses to get involved in OSHNA! She has started the new Instagram account (oshna2019) and is learning how to tweet! Look for upcoming and exciting new things this school year!
Membership : Debbie Tomas, BSN, RN, NCSN
I have been a nurse for over 30 years and am currently finishing up my 8th year with DoDEA as a School Nurse and member of OSHNA. My experience in nursing has been in pediatrics, level 2 nursery, pain management, WIC overseas, and substitute nurse in DoDEA before being hired full-time. I worked at EC Killin Elementary and Ryukyu Middle School in Okinawa, and I am now at Sollars Elementary in Misawa, Japan. I became a National Certified School Nurse (NCSN) in 2017.
I have lived in many military communities as an Air Force daughter and AF spouse. I have a daughter in the USAF pilot training program, a son who is a sophomore at SDSU and a son who will be a freshman at Edgren HS 2019-20. I love continuing to be a part of the military community after my husband retired in 2011 and advocating for military children.
I am looking forward to serving as the Membership board member for OSHNA.
I have lived in many military communities as an Air Force daughter and AF spouse. I have a daughter in the USAF pilot training program, a son who is a sophomore at SDSU and a son who will be a freshman at Edgren HS 2019-20. I love continuing to be a part of the military community after my husband retired in 2011 and advocating for military children.
I am looking forward to serving as the Membership board member for OSHNA.
Professional Development :
AVAILABLE Contact the Board of Directors for more Information. oshnaboardofdirectors@gmail.com
Parliamentary : Jennifer Green BSN, RNC-OB
I am excited to join the OSHNA board of directors as Parliamentarian for the school year 2018-2019 now 2019-2020. This is my 4th year as a school nurse in DoDEA at Edgren Middle/High School in Misawa, Japan and as a member of OSHNA.
I am originally from Shreveport, LA, and obtained a BS in Kinesiology from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. After serving as a health education volunteer with the UN, the International Red Cross, and the US Peace Corps in Turkmenistan, I decided to pursue Nursing. Following graduation from Johns Hopkins University, I spent 11 years working as a labor & delivery and post-partum nurse in Seattle, WA.
My family of five moved to Northern Japan in 2015, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of switching nursing fields and working with our military population. OSHNA has been an incredible resource during this process, and I look forward to being able to assist others while continuing to learn more about the fascinating world of school nursing.
I am originally from Shreveport, LA, and obtained a BS in Kinesiology from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. After serving as a health education volunteer with the UN, the International Red Cross, and the US Peace Corps in Turkmenistan, I decided to pursue Nursing. Following graduation from Johns Hopkins University, I spent 11 years working as a labor & delivery and post-partum nurse in Seattle, WA.
My family of five moved to Northern Japan in 2015, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of switching nursing fields and working with our military population. OSHNA has been an incredible resource during this process, and I look forward to being able to assist others while continuing to learn more about the fascinating world of school nursing.
NASN Director/NBCSN Liason : Cindy Less, MSN, RN, NCSN
I have been a nurse for 32 years and know that this is the only profession for me. I graduated from Kent State University, where I was also an ROTC cadet. My husband and I married right out of college, where we both entered active duty. After leaving the Air Force after nine years, I followed my husband around the world raising a family and taking whatever nursing jobs I could - from Red Cross volunteer, to nurse educator, to school nurse. We stayed in one place long enough for me to complete a master’s degree and receive certification as a family nurse practitioner but immediately moved overseas one last time.
For me, to “grow where you’re planted” really holds water. Being a nurse means that you join your professional organization and hold the responsibility to improve yourself through education and specialty certification. Through my positions with OSHNA, NASN, and NBCSN, I have met many of the giants of school nursing and have had the honor to work with progressive school nurse leaders who fuel what our profession means and what it will look like in the future. Challenge yourself and do something to elevate your practice, whether it be to volunteer to take a position on the OSHNA board, take the test to become a nationally certified school nurse, volunteer for NASN, or be a speaker at one of our conferences. We would love to help you on your professional journey!
For me, to “grow where you’re planted” really holds water. Being a nurse means that you join your professional organization and hold the responsibility to improve yourself through education and specialty certification. Through my positions with OSHNA, NASN, and NBCSN, I have met many of the giants of school nursing and have had the honor to work with progressive school nurse leaders who fuel what our profession means and what it will look like in the future. Challenge yourself and do something to elevate your practice, whether it be to volunteer to take a position on the OSHNA board, take the test to become a nationally certified school nurse, volunteer for NASN, or be a speaker at one of our conferences. We would love to help you on your professional journey!