When CU Anschutz Nursing faculty member Jennifer Rosen taught nutrition in Philadelphia Public Schools early in her career, she noticed something troubling: pregnant and parenting teens often lacked access to the reproductive healthcare and support they needed to stay in school and thrive. Years later, as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children's Hospital Colorado's Young Mothers and Families Clinic, she saw the difference comprehensive care could make, but she also recognized a gap.
"From my work at Children's, I've seen young mothers who have better outcomes because they get the resources and care they need to finish high school," says Rosen, CPNP-PC, MPH. "Some students transition to non-traditional schools, or others will drop out of school. I noticed that there was a significant portion of students who wanted to continue attending the school where they were at, with their teachers, coaches, and friends. But in most public schools, the nurses do not have standardized reproductive and perinatal care training.
That realization became the foundation of her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project—and a chance to return to her public health roots.
Educating Nurses & Supporting Young Mothers
Rosen, a senior instructor at the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing and specialty director of the college's pediatric primary care nurse practitioner program, has spent her career working with children and adolescents. It's a population she's passionate about.
“You have an opportunity to make an impression on someone and help them develop healthy habits as a child, and hopefully they can take that into adulthood,” she says. “You’re part of a team that supports them to grow, develop, and thrive.”
At the Young Mothers and Families Clinic, Rosen treats teen parents and their children together during visits, providing postpartum and mental health care to mothers and primary care to their children in an integrated setting.
“We have so much support to guide these young mothers as they develop into parents and support the growth and well-being of their children,” she says.
But Rosen knew that not every pregnant or parenting teen had access to that level of specialized care. She says DPS has a school for students who become pregnant or are parenting, but acknowledges some students don't attend that school because they want to attend school in their community.
For her DNP evidence-based project—a requirement designed to improve patient-centered outcomes—Rosen knew precisely what she wanted to do: focus on the public school system and educating nurses in Denver about reproductive and perinatal care.
“This was something I was really passionate about,” she says.
Rosen, who has worked as an NP since 2013, taught a four-part training course focusing on contraception, options counseling, prenatal care, and positive parenting skills to 15 nurses within DPS.
“I wanted to improve these nurses’ confidence and give them the knowledge they need when they’re caring for pregnant or parenting youth in their schools,” she says.
Rosen will graduate in May. Her goal is to have this training offered as professional development within DPS and, if possible, expand it to nearby school districts, like Aurora, or even nationally.
“I want a school nurse to make a school environment more inclusive of pregnant and parenting youth so that these students can get the care they need in school so they can graduate on time,” she says.
