At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) allowed many of its soon-to-be graduates to exit early to help on the front lines, an action it has taken three times since. Behind the scenes, Laura Hager, editorial and public/media relations specialist, Office of Communications, UMSON, has worked to ensure that the school’s and students’ efforts to bolster Maryland’s nursing workforce gained attention from the media.

She wrote news releases, pitched the story to the media, and prepared students and faculty for the interviews she coordinated. The story informing the public about the early-exit option has appeared in multiple news outlets including The Baltimore Sun, WJZ-TV, and the Associated Press.

“It was so important because obviously the pandemic has affected all of us in one way or another. And especially nurses, the impact it has had on them and the care they’re giving and what’s expected of them just has been such a shift,” Hager said. “It was a story that needed to be told locally, because it impacts everybody in Maryland so much. But also nationally, the School of Nursing deserves the recognition for the work that we’re doing to prepare our students to enter the nursing workforce.”

During a videoconference Nov. 19 with University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, and Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of UMSON, Hager learned that she has been named the November UMB Employee of the Month.

“The nomination talks about what a great cheerleader you are for the team,” Jarrell said in congratulating Hager, who has worked at the University for three years. “And your excellence really comes out.”

Kirschling echoed his praise, saying, “We have an amazing communications team. Laura is our primary contact with the media, and she does it with such grace and kindness. And we’re just darn lucky.”

In the nomination form, Hager’s supervisor, Giordana Segneri, MA, director of marketing and public relations, Office of Communications, UMSON, said Hager has transformed the school’s approach to internal and external public and media relations.

“While her role is to contribute to telling the school’s story, during the past year this has taken on additional and critical importance as she has worked to raise the profile of nurses everywhere and their incredible efforts during the pandemic,” she said.

She said Hager implemented public relations software at no cost that allows the office to not only target media contacts but also obtain extensive metrics.

“She is regularly able to provide reports that indicate media impressions and publicity value,” Segneri said. “For example, our combined media coverage of the four early exits and the early start of spring clinicals in mid-December 2020 resulted in more than 13.4 million media impressions and a publicity value worth more than $305,000. This is an immense win.”

In addition, she said, Hager’s creativity in telling the school’s stories benefits UMSON.

“The reputational value of her work is priceless. She has been able to reach outlets nationwide to promote the school’s work, proactively positioning faculty, staff, and students as subject matter experts,” Segneri said. “Her innovation has resulted in initiatives that have changed the landscape of UMSON communications for the better and well into the future.”

In addition to her work with the media, Hager has led UMSON’s efforts to use the internal Elm Weekly newsletter to keep faculty, staff, and students informed of the school’s news and events. She moderates and edits dozens of submissions each week.

“It’s one of those processes where it looks like a simple email that you just get in your inbox,” Hager said. “But a lot goes on behind the scenes that makes it happen.”

Her efforts with UMSON’s Elm Weekly newsletter were recognized by the Council to Advance and Support Education, earning the school a silver in the 2020 District II Accolades Awards.

“This nearly yearlong project resulted in us replacing the long, dense, very manually produced weekly newsletter with a contemporary and user-friendly digest publication, and its automated process saves our small team hours of manual work each week,” Segneri said. “She also led the launch of the student-specific version of The Elm: Nursing, helping us to fill a void in our ability to communicate regularly with students.”

Hager, who will receive a plaque, a letter of commendation, and an extra $250 in her next paycheck for being named Employee of the Month, thanked Kirschling, Segneri, and the rest of the communications team for their support.

“I feel like we have the best team. I just have so much support,” said Hager, who is pursuing her master’s in communications at Towson University. “Winning this award, it feels so good to be appreciated and to know that my work is valued.”

She also writes and edits for the school’s alumni magazine, Nursing For/UM, and said the team collaborated to overcome challenges of publishing during the pandemic when in-person events were canceled and photographs could not be taken.

“As a team, we had to collectively think, ‘How are we going to put out a magazine?’ We put out a fully illustrated edition and totally focused on COVID-19 and how nurses were responding,” Hager said. “I think that was a good pivot and really impactful way of continuing to do our jobs and not letting the ball drop on anything while dealing with what the world was going through.”

Segneri said the University is fortunate to have Hager.

“Laura is always the person who volunteers to help,” she said. “She is the one who steps right up and says, ‘I can handle that.’ Knowing that you have someone on your team who is accountable and dependable and wants to help is just an incredible boon.”

— Jen Badie