As much as Laurie loved her work, it was her own child’s needs that brought her into the world of school nursing.  At a very young age, her son Anthony was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which made her aware of the lack of appropriate health care in the Braintree public school systems.  At the time, Braintree elementary schools only required a part-time nursing staff which left hours of the day with students needs unmet.  This was a very scary time for Laurie, as she knew how much attention was needed to manage this disease.  Laurie immediately knew things needed to change so all parents could feel safe sending their children to school regardless of their medical needs.  In 1997, Laurie became the part-time school nurse for the Mary E. Flaherty Elementary school, splitting her time between Boston Children’s Hospital and school nursing.  During her first two years as school nurse, she collected data on the hours of medical attention given to students throughout the school day as compared to the hours worked by the part-time staff.  Together, with the Braintree public school committee, she brought light to these inadequacies, consequentially advocating for all part-time positions to become full time staff.  This was just the beginning of Laurie’s efforts to make changes in her community.  She extended these efforts into the afterschool programs advocating to require a nursing staff for Braintree youth summer camps and extracurricular activities.

While working full time and raising her three school aged children, Laurie pursued higher education to further her knowledge in the field.  She received her Master’s Degree in Education with a specialty in School Nursing from Cambridge College.  Despite everything Laurie had achieved, her children were still her proudest accomplishments.  She shared her passion for community, education and health with her children.  The organization and structure of athletics was something she felt was invaluable for her kids.  She always encouraged them to further their education and strive to be well-rounded students.  Laurie never missed an opportunity to encourage her children, rooting them on in sports, etc, all while balancing her commitment to her nursing career.  All three of her children graduated from Thayer Academy in Braintree and went on to compete in athletics at the collegiate level. Her son Robert went to Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he graduated with a Master’s of Science in Facilities Management, also played on the baseball team. Anthony attended Boston College on a baseball scholarship. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. Her daughter Juliana received a scholarship to Clemson University for diving, where she majored in Nursing. She is now an RN at Massachusetts General Hospital and has recently been nominated to fill Laurie’s seat on the Board of Health for the town of Braintree.

In 2015, Laurie switched roles from school nurse to become Director of School Nursing services in Braintree and had an open-door policy for all students and staff. She advocated for children of all abilities and would make sure each student knew she was available to them at any time. Laurie was known to walk students to class to be sure they felt safe in the hallways, or for lending a listening ear to any student who just needed to vent.  She fostered a community within her schools that made children feel cared for.  While being in a Director position allowed for Laurie to advocate for best practices, it was the day to day interactions with her students that she began to miss most. In 2018, Laurie was offered her dream job as Nursing Director in the Weston, MA school system where she was able to take on the responsibilities as Nursing Director while also providing direct care to children at the Field Elementary School. This was a role Laurie so proudly accepted, as she felt most fulfilled by the opportunity to work with students again. 

In 2020 when COVID-19 caused a global pandemic Laurie’s focus shifted and she began educating herself on how to best keep her community safe.  She spent countless hours researching the everchanging CDC guidelines, kept contact tracing records, and made herself available to students and their families to calm any uncertainties they were facing.  She met monthly with the entire nursing staff and district administrators during regular school business through March. During the pandemic, Laurie transitioned into a Public Health Nursing Leadership role for the Weston Board of Health and became a member of the Weston Emergency Management Team to combat the virus through epidemiology contract tracing needs.  Together with the Weston Board of Health and school district Laurie continued to update her staff on best practices to help slow the spread of this virus and to keep her students healthy. 

As you can see, Laurie devoted her life to promoting community, education and health and wellness. She was not just a ripple in the lake, she was a wave in the ocean.  We would like to proudly highlight Laurie’s career of accomplishments:

• Registered Nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital for 35 years, in the Orthopedic Unit, Intensive Care Unit, and Radiology Department, retired in 2018

• Transport team member with “Medflight” and “Lifeflight”

• Prepared and delivered hospital wide education in-service, educating colleagues to “Roles and Responsibility of the Radiology Nurse”

• Prepared written radiology nursing orientation guidelines and competencies

• Member of the contract negotiation team where she advocated to elevate nurses to the same pay scale as educators

• Member of Massachusetts School Nurse Research Committee

• Launched the “Apples in the Nurses Office” program for students to ensure no child went hungry

• Co-chair of Braintree Alliance for Safe and Healthy Youth

• Co-chair of Braintree Wellness Committee

• Volunteer at Superstar’s athletic program for children with disabilities

• Anti-bully trainer

• Hidden in Plain Sight trainer

• CPR trainer

• Basic Life Support American Heart instructor

• Advocate for closing Lakeside Drive as an entry way to the South Shore Plaza to ensure safety for the children and the surrounding neighborhood

• Advocated for the shut-down of Motel-6 in Braintree

• Advocated to keep the marijuana dispensary out of Braintree

• Flu clinic administrator in the Braintree community

• Developed policy and procedure for school nurse management of a potential life-threatening opioid overdose program

• Member of Braintree Board of Health

• Member of the Braintree Community Partnership on Substance Abuse

• Member of Weston Board of Health

• Applied and received grant funding to implement SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) for patients whose patterns of alcohol and/or drug use put their health at risk

• Applied and received grant funding Metro West Regional School Nurse Consultant

• Applied and received grant funding to have nasal spray Narcan on each school campus starting in Braintree, and carried through to Weston, where she then drove to each school to make sure each emergency naloxone kit was hand delivered and properly supplied

• Prepared policies and procedures for medication delivery and Epi-Pen administration

• Prepared written policy for Management of Diabetes for Children in the Braintree Public Schools

• Prepared and presented the workshop “Diabetes Management in the School Setting” for many public schools in Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk County

• Developed training curriculum for yearly nurse Naloxone training

• Her latest accomplishment while working to combat the COVID-19 virus was applying for and receiving CSHS Grant Funds for 3 backpack foggers, 3 handheld foggers for the busses and PPE for health officers

As a family, we appreciate all of the support that we have felt from our friends and extended communities. This has been by far the worst of times but working on the foundation has been a constant reminder of how lucky we were to have had Laurie in our lives. We thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your continued support.