Education

T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University (June 2021-May 2023)
PhD, Indiana University (May 2021)
MSN, University of Missouri (May 2009)
BSN, Murray State University (December 2002)

Research Areas

Prevention & Health Promotion

Awards and Honors

Adolescent Health Early Investigator Award, Midwest Nursing Research Society, 2023

Biography

Dr. Tanner has two decades of school nursing experience and an independent program of research focused on advancing the state of the science in school nursing and youth mental health. As a nationally certified school nurse, Dr. Tanner investigates interventions to address youth stress, coping, mental health, quality of life, and school connectedness. Dr. Tanner’s program of research includes a focus on interventions that support health equity and address social determinants of health. To do this work, Dr. Tanner collaborates with an interdisciplinary team, including researchers from nursing, public health, education, social work, and psychology. This team’s goal is to conduct research that can inform legislation and influence positive school health policy changes at the local, state, federal, and global levels. Dr. Tanner employs a student-centered approach by conducting qualitative research with youth and incorporating their voices into the design of quantitative descriptive and intervention research. She has been recognized for her research efforts by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (as a Future of Nursing Scholar) and Midwest Nursing Research Society (as an Adolescent Health Early Career Investigator).

Media Features

Child Neurology Foundation. (September 9, 2023). Keeping our children supported at school: A conversation with a school nurse and a parent. Conversation recorded for Access Child Neurology, an initiative of Child Neurology Foundation. https://youtu.be/jlxZ3FWyxYA?si=ZTfH8EvdOTkDZEhf

Child Neurology Foundation. (August 28, 2023). Navigating seizure rescue medications in schools: A conversation with a school nurse and a parent. Conversation recorded for Access Child Neurology, an initiative of Child Neurology Foundation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Ws0g8AScA&t=1425s

American Academy of Pediatrics. (August 28, 2023). Successful examples of care coordination in schools. https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/school-health/management-of-chronic-conditions-in-schools/improving-care-coordination-in-schools/conversations-about-care-coordination/

Fox59 News. (April 19, 2023). Parents worried as several IPS schools set to lose nurses supplied through IU Health. Tanner interviewed for television news story regarding school nurse funding and presence in schools. Fox59 News. https://fox59.com/indiana-news/parents-worried-as-several-ips-schools-set-to-lose-nurses-supplied-through-iu-health/

CBS6 Albany News. (2022, October 11, 2022). Staffing shortage leaves schools without nurses. Tanner interviewed for television news story regarding national school nurse shortage. https://cbs6albany.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/staffing-shortage-leaves-schools-without-nurses

Fox59 News. (2022, August 22). Indiana needs more school nurses, commission says. Tanner interviewed for television news story regarding Governor’s Public Health Commission recommendations for more school nurses. https://fox59.com/indianapolitics/indiana-needs-more-school-nurses-commission-says/

Cahan, E. (2021, June 24). School nurses say they are being left out of reopening conversations. Tanner interviewed for perspective piece regarding school nurses’ role in COVID-19 response. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/24/covid-school-nurses-understaffed-students/

Anderson, P. (2021, December 7). New insight into psychogenic seizures in teens. Tanner interviewed and research regarding adolescent psychogenic nonepileptic seizures featured on medical news website. Medscape Medical News. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/964308

Indiana Public Broadcasting System. (2020, July 3). Here’s what one school nurse says families can do to prepare kids for school reopening. Tanner interviewed for radio news piece regarding school nursing during COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/heres-what-one-school-nurse-says-families-can-do-to-prepare-kids-for-school-reopening

Fittes, E. K. (2020, June 26). Some Indiana schools will reopen without a full-time nurse, raising concerns. Tanner interviewed regarding school nursing during COVID-19 pandemic. Chalkbeat Indiana. https://in.chalkbeat.org/2020/6/26/21304804/some-indiana-schools-will-reopen-without-a-full-time-nurse-raising-concerns

WSBT22 News. (2019, October 23). Operation education: Shortage of school nurses in the US could spell trouble for students. Tanner interviewed for television news story regarding school nurse shortage. https://wsbt.com/news/local/operation-education-shortage-of-school-nurses-in-the-us-could-spell-trouble-for-students

External Funding

May 2022-April 2024. "Managing Adolescent Seizures Survey (MASS)" (PI). Funded by Sigma Theta Tau International Alpha Chapter, $5,000.

Publications

ResearchGate