Contact Information
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
Global Health
Advocacy
Health Equity
Legislation
Managing Chronic Conditions
Adolescents / Young Adults
Intervention Development / Evaluation
Mental Health
Quality of Life
Self-management
Symptom Science
Managing Symptoms
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
Description of the video:
My name is Andrea Tanner. I am an assistant professor at IU School of Nursing in Bloomington, and I am also a school nurse researcher. I became interested in research when I was practicing as a school nurse. I had been a school nurse for almost two decades, and I encountered a lot of issues that I didn't have answers for. When I would dive into the literature, the evidence, I didn't find answers there, and it made me realize that someone needed to produce this evidence. We needed new knowledge that related specifically to school nursing and to the work we do in school settings with children. One of the biggest challenges that school nurses are facing right now is the mental health crisis of our children and adolescents in schools. So I've been working with school nurses across the nation in figuring out what do school nurses do related to screening or assessing for student mental health issues? What are we doing in the moment when they're right there with us in the school nurse office to address mental health concerns, and what are we doing to connect them to additional mental health resources that they need to meet their needs? There are amazing research resources available to anyone who chooses to make IU their home for their research or for their study. We have researchers here with excellence areas across the board. We have the technology. We've got access to data. We've got access to community partners and the reputation of excellence so that when IU says we want to research something, there are people that say we want to help you make that happen. I am excited to be a product of Indiana University. I have completed my PhD program here. I did a T32 post-doctoral fellowship here, and now I'm an assistant professor here. Every step of the way, there have been amazing giants in research who have walked beside me to help shape my research trajectory, and I'm so excited to be living that research out now.