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School Nurse Fired After Refusing Assignment; Investigation Questions Staffing and Scope

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A small-town newspaper headline blamed a school nurse for delaying classes. The real story is much bigger. In this investigative episode of Nurse Converse, nurse journalist Jana Price sits down with Moriah Benjamin, a Pennsylvania LPN who was fired after refusing to work as a school nurse without proper supervision — a violation of her scope of practice under state law. Moriah shares what happened the night she called off, the 95-page school board hearing where she represented herself, the charges that changed between letters, and the closing statement that's now rallying nurses everywhere: "I'd rather lose my job today than my license tomorrow." A must-listen conversation about scope of practice, license protection, school nurse staffing, and what it costs to stand up for what's right.

Jump ahead:

  • 00:36 – Jana introduces the investigation and guest Moriah Benjamin, an LPN and former school nurse in Millville, Pennsylvania
  • 02:15 – How a local newspaper headline sparked a months-long investigation — and why the paper never got Moriah's side
  • 05:27 – Moriah walks through April 16th and 17th: the coverage gap, her repeated concerns, and the proper call-off
  • 09:05 – Jana reads the original news article and breaks down Pennsylvania's LPN supervision laws and PDE guidance for school nurses
  • 13:16 – The "backup" nurse in the neighboring district turns out to be another LPN
  • 14:29 – Life as a single mom on $28,000 a year with no benefits — and where her ten absences really came from
  • 18:41 – The 95-page school board hearing: Moriah represents herself after a $250 consult was all she could afford
  • 23:22 – Approved to work the summer program on April 20th — then served with charges on May 4th
  • 25:59 – Testimony changes three times on whether a CSN was ever made available
  • 30:58 – The safety math: one CSN, two LPNs, two districts, and up to 1,500 students per nurse
  • 38:09 – The charges that changed between May 4th and May 9th — and the objection that got shut down
  • 44:03 – "This was retaliatory": why Moriah believes the hearing was never about attendance
  • 50:25 – The closing statement: "I would rather lose my job today than my license tomorrow"
  • 52:57 – Life after termination, Studio 143 Designs, and the call for accountability in Millville and beyond
  • 59:06 – Moriah's message to nurses: stand firm, protect your license, protect your patients

The investigation this analysis grew out of

School Nurse Rules

More on school nursing

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Speaker

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Speaker 2

Hey guys, I'm Jana Price. Thanks for joining us again on an episode of Nurse Converse. And today do I have a story for you guys. I have been following this story for quite some time, months actually. And what turned out is just a simple headline and a very small newspaper in Pennsylvania has now turned into one of the biggest investigative cases that I have done in my journalism career. So before we get started, I want to introduce you to the subject of this entire investigation. Her name is Moriah Benjamin. She's a nurse out of Pennsylvania. Thanks for coming on and being willing to tell this story that really could change the face of nursing.

Speaker 1

Well, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2

I appreciate it. Absolutely. So I want to start this one out a little different, guys. We're we're gonna we're gonna deep dive because in this situation, this turned into something that uh, like I said, it was very, very simple. Very uh just saw a headline in a newspaper and thought, okay. And then Moriah reached out to me. And as you guys know, as a journalist, I will not take stories if there's nobody on the record or if there's not credible evidence. And when I tell you there is beyond credible evidence, I couldn't explain that anymore. And we're gonna deep dive into that a little bit today, but let's get a little background on this. And Moriah, tell us you were a school nurse in Millville, Pennsylvania, and you were working as an LPN. And from what I understand, you loved it. Tell us a little bit more about

How a local newspaper headline sparked a months-long investigation — and why the paper never got Moriah's side

Speaker 2

that.

Speaker 1

I did. Um, so I started working um as an LPN in Millville in January, and since January February. And um, I don't it was a brand new field of nursing, but it was, I don't know, it was so awesome. It's like I love kids, it was really nice. Um, you know, I learned a lot about a lot.

Speaker 2

As you do in school nursing, I can imagine. And where this gets interesting is um Raya reached out to me and gave me a headline for a news newspaper. And the headline of this was in their their local newspaper, uh, the Press Enterprise in Millville, and the headline read, Absence of School Nurse Delayed Millville classes. And I kind of dove into that and thought, wow, put a school nurse on the in the newspaper that makes the headline news in this town when school has to be closed for a nurse. And as I dug deeper into it, um, the headlines got more interesting because Moriah actually reached out to this newspaper and told them her side of the story. Because what's interesting is the newspaper ran a story on a school nurse that delayed these classes. However, they never reached out to Moriah. They never got her side of the story, they only got the school side of the story. And that really left some interesting things to say open when it concerned Moriah because what turned out is her um being the reason that they say that school was delayed, the bigger case became her getting fired from her job for speaking out against practicing against her scope as an LPN working in a school district. So we're gonna hop into that. And because this is so intense, we're gonna skip all the niceties to say and we're gonna dive right in because guys, I have 95 pages. For those of you who can't see and you're listening, I'm holding up a court transcript from a school board hearing that is 95 pages of Moriah defending herself against the Millville District School Board on why she felt it was unsafe for her to practice. So let's let's get a little deeper into that and let's start out with what happened that day, which was on April 17th this year in 2026. Uh, Moriah, from the newspaper article and from you know just the basis of facts, you called in previously the night before, let them know that you would not be coming to work that day because they did not have adequate supervision according to the Pennsylvania Standards for Nursing and the Department of Education that say that you could safely practice as an LPN that day under your scope of practice. And school was delayed, and then some other things happened. But what tell me in your words, what happened that the day before on April 16th, and then the day up on April 17th?

Moriah walks through April 16th and 17th: the coverage gap, her repeated concerns, and the proper call-off

Speaker 1

Well, um April 16th, I had um our director of student services, uh Danielle Fritz, come to my office, you know, and she was talking to me about this summer program that I you have to like get approved to work, asking if it was still okay, you know, that I did that. I said yes. Um, and then she went on to tell me that they found coverage. Um, the RN that I worked with was taking a vacation. Um, she went on to tell me that they found coverage for the following week, um, but not for the that that Friday, so the next day. Um, and I was really nervous because I was like, oh, like I can't work by myself, you know. Um, so I told her I was a little uncomfortable and I was having some issues with my son's daycare too. So I had voiced that, like, I just don't know what's going on. Um, and she just said, okay, you know, and she said let her know, and she left. Um, so I called the RN that I worked with, and I just told her like how uncomfortable I was because like is there a supervising person? And um, and I think at that point, I think um they may have told me that there was a nurse that could, you know, cover me. So when I had called over to address my concerns with my supervising RN, um, you know, I had learned that it was another LPN in uh a neighboring school district and that just wasn't adequate coverage for me. Um, so I had gone on to tell the RN that I was really uncomfortable and I felt like you know, really kind of weren't listening. Um, and I asked her if she would be able to talk to them for me and explain, you know, that this is not okay, like I can't do this. Um, she agreed and she did reach out. Um, and uh I continued to get some text messages like, hey, call me from Danielle. So I did. Um, I called and I explained what my concerns were. Um, and she, you know, had just followed up with me through some text messages saying, like, you know, everybody else does this, it's normal. Um, you know, uh, and I just kept saying I wasn't comfortable. And uh anyway, about 10 o'clock at night, 1020 at night, on the 16th, I decided it just just I just can't do this. It's not okay. So I used the proper call-off procedure and I, you know, I called off and I wrote in my it asks you why you're, you know, and I wrote in there why because there was no coverage and um and also this was like a pre-planned vacation, so it had been planned for months, so there was time to find coverage of and I I just couldn't do it. So uh anyway, fast forward to April 17th, around 5 40, 5 45 in the morning, I got a text message from the superintendent of the school district, um, you know, just saying pretty much, hey, we're kind of confused on whether or not you're coming in, you know. Um, and I went on to again say the same thing, you know, I I can't work by myself. Um, and it was followed up by messages just saying that, you know, although I'm not comfortable, um, I'm abandoning my position and just uh, you know, that they'd have to delay school and um, you know, and then the director of student services, I sent her the same message, um, you know, and I also sent her a courtesy message, you know, that the 16th that night telling her, you know, that I I definitely wasn't gonna be in. Um so I uh, you know, the whole thing was is I was not saying I wouldn't go into work. I was just saying that I had to have proper coverage. Um, I did tell them that if they I wanted to be part of a solution, so if they found coverage, I would definitely go in. Um instead, they delayed school by two hours. Um they called an agency, got two nurses, um, never asked me to come in, never told me they found coverage, and went on with their day.

Jana reads the original news article and breaks down Pennsylvania's LPN supervision laws and PDE guidance for school nurses

Speaker 2

And in there's a news article. I'm gonna I'm gonna read you part of what the news article said. Um it says that the uh lack of school nurse availability continues to trouble the school district here, resulting in a two-hour delay. Millville's regular school nurse, Kara, had taken a personal day to attend a family event, leaving only a newly hired nurse to attend to any medical incidents in the district's uh medical in the two buildings of the schools, because you were responsible for covering two buildings on your own, which normally you would be covering uh one building and maybe the other nurse, CSN, certified school nurse covering the other. And uh leaving a newly hired nurse to attend any medical incidents in the district's two buildings, Superintendent Joseph Rasmus explained Monday. Uh, she did not feel comfortable operating as only one nurse, and she had misgivings about making decisions in Kara's absence, Rasmus said. That new nurse, licensed practical nurse, Moriah Benjamin, has worked in the district for only about two months, he said. Early Friday morning, he said she expressed doubts about running the office on her own. And like you said, he said it's been early Friday morning, but there are frontline records, that's the system that you use to check in that I am in possession of, um, that show that you called off the night before, and the school's policy is what for call out? Uh one hour. One hour prior to start? Yeah. So uh it says, goes on to say in this article, Millville signed an agreement with Benton School District to provide a backup in case of absences, but that district had one of its nurses on a field trip Friday, Rasmus discovered. Only phone advice would be available as he told. As he was told. Rasmus said he called nursing agencies looking for a substitute nurse as well, but could not confirm that any would be available before he had to make a decision to delay school for two hours at 6 30 a.m. Out of an abundance of caution, I made the decision for a two-hour delay. I didn't want to lose another school day, he said. Millville was forced to close schools for a day back in January when a nurse called in sick and no other person could be found to take her place. So let's step back. You said that Kara, uh, this is the school nurse, the CSN, and and I want to step back actually even further, guys. If you're not in Pennsylvania, there are a few laws. Uh in the practical nurse laws, it says any LPN cannot practice nursing care uh without a nurse or physician or a dentist. However, the Department of Education in Pennsylvania, it's called the PDE guidance, says that every school must provide a certified nurse and that an LPN, LPN cannot replace a CSN and required school help. And that they can, if the CSN is absent from the building, it says that they are allowed to supervise an LPN. However, they have to be immediately available and directing care in accordance with the law and board of nursing standards. Um, if there is no RN or CSN providing supervision, an LPN cannot independently function as a school's nurse or perform duties that require RN judgment. We're gonna get into that a little bit more later with some more interesting facts here. But let's step back. The school nurse, the CSN Cara, had already told put in vacation leave back in sometime in February. Yeah. And we're talking in April. And they, according to the documents in the transcript, court transcripts and text messages that I'm in possession of as well, that I reviewed, you reached out, they knew that she was going to be gone, they had found coverage for every day that she was gone except for Friday. So the school knew that she was gone and they attempted to cover every day but Friday, but they did not get coverage for that Friday. And in the absence of that coverage, they asked you to cover without supervision andor they reached out to the Benton School District, which is a neighboring school district, to use their CSN that you could call. However, were you ever given that CSN's name, number, or contact information? No, I was not. No. What were you provided with

The "backup" nurse in the neighboring district turns out to be another LPN

Speaker 2

instead?

Speaker 1

I was provided with a phone number for an LPN that would be in the district in Benton. Uh her name was Brooke.

Speaker 2

And Brooke. So nurses out there listening, you already know two LPNs don't equal an RN or a license. And actually in Pennsylvania, it can't be an RN over a school either. It has to be a CSN, a certified school nurse has to be the one in direct care over a district. So this gets a little, this is where it gets really, really interesting. Um they uh take proceedings against Moriah and they plan to terminate her. On May 4th, Moriah was put on uh administrative leave and she was brought charges uh from the school board. And those charges were for persistent absences, neglect of duties, improper conduct, and operational dis operational disruption. So let's talk about those persistent absences because you do have some absences, but let's let's talk about what those absences were. And everyone listen out here, Moriah, you're a single mom.

Life as a single mom on $28,000 a year with no benefits — and where her ten absences really came from

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah. I have a little boy.

Speaker 2

And how old is your little one?

Speaker 1

Uh he'll be three at the end of this month, so yeah.

Speaker 2

And you're doing this on your own and you have to rely on daycare. I do. Or as I would imagine, a large portion of listeners, including myself, when I had little ones, I had to rely on daycare. And we all know what happens when your kid gets sick in daycare. What happens? What do they do, Maria?

Speaker 1

They're out and they have to be fever free without Tylenol for 24 hours. Uh and they have to in my in my son's daycare. Um if he misses a day because he's sick, he has to have a doctor's note to return. Um, and his doctor, of course, won't do a doctor's note until they see him. And um, you know, so it can kind of create a a domino effect for for days sometimes. But yeah, I did I did miss, you know, days of work when I was taking care of him. Um the crazy thing is, you know, it's there's there's really not much you can do about that part of it, you know. There's there's times that I was a school nurse. Oh sorry, guess what? No, go ahead. Oh no, there was uh days that I was like able to obtain like a private sitter, but it's very, very hard to do.

Speaker 2

So right, right. As a school nurse, whenever a child gets sick at the school you work out, what do you have to do?

Speaker 1

I have to call their parents and they have to come home from work or find somebody to come pick them up, unfortunately.

Speaker 2

Right.

Speaker 1

The irony. Yeah, all the sick kids, where do they end up? In my office.

Speaker 2

So and um I am in possession of the doctor's notes that Moriah did provide to me. I will not be sharing those because there is and there's pediatric stuff, but I have reviewed those. And at one point, Moriah, you also got sick with influenza A. I did. And working as a school nurse, did you see a lot of influenza with your kids there?

Speaker 1

We did, we did. Uh, you know, I I had one student in my office, and you know, the parents do the best that you can. Like that's honestly like that's all you can do. And um, but you know, I I had one student in there for almost three hours just throwing up, you know, and you know, uh I did get, you know, a a call later saying, hey, you know, uh, she's gonna be out a little bit because she has influenza, or I think it was C at the time, I can't remember. But it it happens.

Speaker 2

So and then shortly after you you were sick as well. Yeah. And I and I am also in possession of that doctors. No, I have reviewed all of this. Um, so the school, you and and some of you might be like, well, you can't just fire for being sick, but but remember, Moriah was newly hired at this job, and in the state of Pennsylvania, she was on a probationary period. Were you paid for the days that you were off?

Speaker 1

No, it was all on the paid.

Speaker 2

And just for transparency, and it's it is public record, Moriah, how much did you make a year at that job?

Speaker 1

I think it was a little under $28,000 a year.

Speaker 2

Did you get benefits or medical coverage? No. No.

Speaker 1

Uh at the So you're they did explain to me that you know you could have had them, but they they were full price and uh couldn't afford them.

Speaker 2

So right. So you're you're working as a school nurse, you've got a a baby, uh a little one, toddler who's in daycare, and you're in a probationary period with a school that says within 90 days you can't call out. Well, you ended up calling out 10 prior to the incident, and then it was 11, and those 10 were your your your child was very sick, and then you were also very sick, and and and some life happened. Uh, when you called out for those days, you did you call out using the appropriate system with the appropriate time?

Speaker 1

Yes, I did. Yeah, there's an app that we would use.

Speaker 2

Did the school board approve those absences retroactively?

Speaker 1

They did, every single one of them, including April 17th.

The 95-page school board hearing: Moriah represents herself after a $250 consult was all she could afford

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 2

So then it brings us to the 95 pages. I laughed, but I I did not authorized them. It's it's pretty interesting. Um, you know, I went through every single page of this 95 pages, and let's just start out with I want to start out with some interesting stuff. And this was brought. Moriah did have a public hearing. She had no representation. Why did you not seek a lawyer, Moriah?

Speaker 1

Um, I did. I paid uh $250 for a consultation. And uh, if I'm just being honest, I couldn't afford to be represented at the hearing.

Speaker 2

So you had to represent yourself. And um for those listening, this whole transcript will be available um on nurse.org in an article, so you will be able to see. Um you might have a job as a and actually a lawyer one day, to be honest. But there was I'm just gonna read some quotes and and I do want to be transparent uh through journalistic standards. I'm gonna read quotes, and if some people, I want you to have access to this whole thing because I think it's fair that everybody understands the full scope of what really happened. She is a public school employee. This is public knowledge. Um, this was done in a public hearing. All of this is free for everybody to read and understand. But I want to read what there was the attorney who was representing the school, his name was uh uh David Sterngold. Attorney Sterngold, they opened up and they said that they he was going to approve why she should be terminated during the pronationary period because of her persist persistent absences and neglect of duty. Now, remember when she started, whenever this started, on May 4th, she was put on administrative leave for persistent absences, neglect of duty, improper conduct, and operational disruption. And Dr. Sterngold, he he brought that up, or excuse me, Attorney Sterngold, who's nursing me. Um, he says, if you find that she's neglected her duties as a probationary employee of the district, the law says you have the right to remove her. Miss Benjamin may attempt to complicate this hearing by making arguments concerning her license or emotional appeal. I would urge you to simply focus on the question of whether Miss Benjamin filled her duties as a probationary employee of the district or not. So they they kind of they go through that, and that that struck me as you as an appeal on your license. And we're gonna get to that, but I also want to bring up that they had one of the board members, Miss Holloway, I believe it was Natalie Holloway, came through and you questioned her because they said, you know, you can only get so many paid absences. However, none of your absences were paid. And in the agreement, it states that probationary absences that are uh paid, but you question, well, what is that? How many absences do I get if they're unpaid? Was anybody able to give you an answer?

Speaker 1

No, I would wit, yeah, Whitney Holloway. Uh yeah, she's I think she's a bit business or I can't remember, but yeah, she um no, she she couldn't give me an answer. Answer. Uh at one point I asked if they could find the answer, you know. Um it's in the transcript. I think uh the judge intervened.

Speaker 2

Um yeah, and they said that no, they didn't know the answer. Yeah, there was not an answer provided in there. And we get down to Daniel Fritz, who was your direct supervisor at the time, and there was an exchange of text messages. And these text messages, once again, they're going to be available for everybody to see, and they're gonna be in the transcript. You had let them know you had an exchange with her about other absences, and everything seemed to be okay. And then some of the text messages that said, Hey, I've got to be out this day, making some kid no worries, got coverage. You found coverage at times for those those absences, and that all seemed to be okay. But after April 17th, it did not seem to be okay. But here you had 10 absences before that. They knew your child was sick, you were sick, and they came and offered you a job for the summer on April 16th. Were you ever extended a formal offer after April 16th? Yeah, actually. They met on April 20th. Yeah, April 20th.

Speaker 1

They actually, yeah, they met and they did approve me to work the

Approved to work the summer program on April 20th — then served with charges on May 4th

Speaker 1

summer.

Speaker 2

So you had the incident on April 17th, then on April 20th, the board meets and they approve you to work for the summer, but then May 4th, you're served with the charges. And you know, um, tell me a little bit about the exchange because you, if you guys can even picture a courtroom, Moriah is representing herself. There is an attorney next to her, and there's an attorney overseeing it, there's the entire school board, and there were quite a people there to support Moriah because her town is very much in support of her. But kind of explain a little bit about how that felt when you had to ask questions to prove, you know, listen, I wanted to be at work, but you did not give me the proper safety for my license. Did you express to Danielle Fritz the severity of you can't practice outside of your scope?

Speaker 1

I did. I I really, I just never expected something like this to happen. Um, and I tried explaining to her that like I think in one of the messages, I even went as far as saying, I could lose my license. I kept saying, like, um, at some points, like I I have to protect my license. It's my job to know my scope. Um, and uh at one point I I think she messaged me back and said, You're not the primary nurse, you don't worry, you won't lose your license or something to that nature. Um, and at one point I just stopped responding. Uh this was all on the 16th, because I realized that what I was saying was not being heard at all. And I wasn't really sure if it was that it wasn't being heard or it just didn't matter. Um so that's um yeah, it it was really tough uh to to keep saying the same thing over and over, and I uh just nobody was listening.

Speaker 2

And with Danielle Fritz, there was an instance where she you asked, Did you tell me that there was going to be a CSN available? And she said no. And then there was another question where it was asked again, she said, Well, maybe. And then one of the school board members interjected in and asked her if she did give you the CSN's number, and she said yes. So her story changed three times. And you actually at one point asked her, you said, You're under oath. Can you please answer? And uh tell me, tell me about that. How how how

Testimony changes three times on whether a CSN was ever made available

Speaker 2

did that feel?

Speaker 1

That was really Yeah, that was really interesting because and I smile and I laugh because I went to court. Uh, I didn't know what I was gonna walk into, I didn't know how it was gonna be set up, I was really nervous, and I did it because it was the right thing to do. Um, and I expected everybody to be honest. Um, like so when they gave answers, I expected, I never truly expected anybody to lie under oath. And I say that because it was truly a flat out lie. Um the only information that I was ever given um from Danielle was that Brooke, uh, an LPN at Benton School District, would be available by phone. And she asked that if it was okay um if I if she gave her my number and if you know she swapped numbers with us. And I did agree that you could give her my number, but I also stated that it still doesn't, like I'm still not comfortable. Um, and of course, this conversation happened by phone. And when I realized, like, I don't know, this is probably gonna be a little bit of an issue, I decided to not take phone calls and do everything through texting. Um so yeah, it was really interesting because Danielle, um, she was being very honest in the beginning. You know, she she did not tell me that there was a CSN available. Um, the only thing that I knew um was that uh there was a nurse, Brooke, and then later on, like I said, I found out she was an LPN. Um, but no, there was never a time that um anybody told me that there was an RN available. Um and I tried explaining to Danielle, like, you know, if I knew there was an RN available, then why would these text messages be like this? Or why at some point didn't wouldn't you have said there, you know, there's an RN.

Speaker 2

And um And how did you know that work wasn't LM?

Speaker 1

Uh I found out from uh when I called over to this to my supervising school nurse. Uh and I said, you know, well they do have a nurse available, so I guess, you know, and uh I just said I'm still it's I'm not gonna lie, I would have still been uncomfortable from somebody from a uh, you know, a half I don't know how far it is, 25 minutes to a half an hour maybe from Millville to Denton. Um, because the whole idea of it is uh, you know, what if something happens? I'm a mom, you know, and and I care about my license. I do, but I care about I care about the kids' safety, uh, you know, equally. So absolutely.

Speaker 2

Which brings up a great point. Let's move into that. Let's move into Dr. Rasmus's testimony here. And uh let's start with I wanna I wanna read this out loud because this is this is quite interesting. And and this comes into a really important part. And this when I started covering this story, this was never about the absences and whatnot. This became nurse safety and patient safety. This is this is a big deal. I have kids. Most everybody here is listening with kids. And on the stand, um, when they were you were questioning uh Dr. or is I think it's Dr. Rasmus, he's this he goes by Dr. Rasmus, he said um he had reached out to the Benton School District and they had made an agreement that basically states if our school nurse is out, we can borrow one of yours. I have that agreement. Um holding it up, guys. It was an agreement. And basically it says when any while assigned to the Millville Area School District, the Benton Area School Districts out comply with the policies, the MASD's policies and procedures, applicable health and safety regulations, confidentiality requirements, and professional standards of practice. Well, let's let's take a look at the professional standards of practice, which I'm also holding up right here. On August 30th, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Education sent a memo to all the LEAs. Those are those are the superintendents, those are all the school superintendents. And it's on the provision of certified school nervous to Pennsylvania school students. And this is once again will be accessible for everybody. But section 1410 of that states that uh it allows the US school to employ a licensed registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse to assist a school certified nurse. I want everybody to hear that an RN can assist a CSN. It cannot just be an RN. It has to be a CSN that is over everybody. And although schools are permitted to enter into an agreement with a supplemental RN or LPN to assist a school certified nurse, a supplemental nurse may not be assigned to a student caseload.

Speaker

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The safety math: one CSN, two LPNs, two districts, and up to 1,500 students per nurse

Speaker 2

And on that day, let's talk about safety. Let's just pretend that there was a CSN that day and that you had her number. And however, she was on a field trip. She was also out of the district. And you say they're already 25, 30 minutes away. We don't, we're not going to speculate. We don't know where that is. We just know that she was not there. You had an LPN and she was covering that entire school district on her own, but she had access to a school nurse who is also taking kids out, taking care of kids out of the district, and now is responsible for that LPN. Now you're alone and you're responsible for two buildings on your own. You've never met the CSN. She knows nothing about the students. And we all know that in every school there are kids with issues. We've got diabetes, we've got seizure disorders, we've got anaphylaxis. And then, of course, we have the heart issues that nobody knows about that things happen. Things, while kids are resilient, we all know that there's always something that can happen. So now we're sitting in that situation. And I think Dr. Rasmus said it best when he said, Um, however, if you'd like to have your nursing staff, and I explained, and no disrespect to Moriah, she's young in her role in the district and she's getting acclimated to her role. She'd probably benefit from the opportunity to speak to your nursing staff, which she's talking about, the Benton staff. Which he obliged and said, Absolutely. He's referring to the superintendent of the Benton School Districts. You know, by all means, do you have their numbers and gave me their numbers? And then I spoke to Danielle and she's like, I've got it. I'm going to take it from here. So that's what I was able to invoke to that day based upon personal variables for the given that day. It was Murphy Laws and it was going, it was Murphy's Law and it was happenstance. So then he goes on to say that he was very proud that he said, This is my 11th year as a superintendent. I don't know how many years I've served in two other districts, one similar, one very different. And in both those districts, it's very much the case that I can tell you that the LPNs uh were employed in simultaneously once upon a time. I believe the high school was about nine miles from the intermediate school, and an LPN was solely placed at the intermediate school. He goes on to say in this that he was very proud that uh Millville had a CSN and an LPN being you to cover each building. And then he also states in there Murphy's Law. So let's discuss this from a safety point. You got the CSN at Benton. She's out dealing with kids, and in it we don't know where. You have the LPN who's now responsible for however many students they have. And guys, in Pennsylvania, the nursing ratio for student for school nurses to students is 1,500. It's one to 1,500. 1 to 1,500. So this nurse is now responsible for up to 1,500, and now you're responsible for up to 1,500. And you have one CSN who is now responsible for 3,000 patients or students. At what point does this become an issue of this is not only practicing out of standards, but this is where the parents of these children in Pennsylvania have to say, wait a second. When I drop my child off at school, the the Pennsylvania states, every school has to have a certified nurse. But do they know that there are some back-end deals going on where we're making arrangements with other school districts that are 30 minutes away that, hey, this LPN can have this many patients, and the CSN from another school district is out. What would happen, Moriah, if there had been a code in one of the buildings and one of the patients had had some kind of cardiac arrest, and you had to go to that building, and then you had to call the LPN. And then the LPN had to call the CSN. And of course you call 911, but at the end of the day, and this is a question for the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing, who, by the way, I have reached out to multiple times. I have reached out to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, I have reached out to the board of directors, I have reached out to the school board, I have reached out to Dr. Rasmus. I have multiple, multiple, multiple requests for comments on this because we actually as nurses need clarification on this. If there was a dramatic disaster, life-threatening event of a child, and that outcome did not end well, who is responsible? Me. The LPN who took the assignment, knowing it was out of her scope, or the certified school nurse who is miles and miles and miles away and didn't happen to see the phone call. Every nurse out here, we already know the answer. We see the headlines. We know what happens. We saw the camp mystic nurses. We know what happens. When there needs to be a blame placed, who is it placed on, Moriah?

Speaker 1

Yeah, the nurse, the nurse that took the responsibility that she shouldn't have.

Speaker 2

Right. And so operating outside of your scope of practice is is huge. And secondly, where's the safety for these kids? Where's the safety for these kids? So let's continue going. That's that's where we're gonna go with that part of it. We um Dr. Erasmus in his uh uh testimony said that you were unreliable. He said you're very unreliable. Yeah, he also stated that in his text messages, and once again, guys, this is 95 pages, we're not gonna go through it all. You can go through it. He stated when he talked to you in his text message that you were a very important part and that you were a crucial member to the day being able to go on, that the school could not go on without you. And yet he called you unreliable as well. And then they approved for you to be a summer nurse. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 1

What are how are you feeling about that? I if I'm just being honest, I um you know, I was nervous uh saying that I wasn't going to that I couldn't take, you know, that I couldn't work on Friday. And um, but then when I got the the email um from his assistant stating that all my absences were approved um as unpaid, and they were like I looked just to see because I was like holding my breath a little, you know. Um, and once I seen that, I was like, oh, like everything's fine. Um, and then once I seen that I was approved for the summer program, I'm like, okay, like I'm I'm I'm okay. Um but you know, to tell me that I'm so important and that my job is so crucial. Um, but at the same time, it was almost like I felt like um what's what's the word? Uh you know, I can't even think of what I'm trying to say, but he was not listening to what I was saying. Um, you know, and it's okay to be crucial and it's okay to be important. It does not change the fact that, you know, it just I can't do that.

Speaker 2

Further

The charges that changed between May 4th and May 9th — and the objection that got shut down

Speaker 2

on with the the Dr. Asmus, we have to come to a really important part in this entire case. And this is something for anybody legal out there, throw this over to the legal MP, and we're gonna have some of people looking. On May 4th, you were given the the charges, the four charges persistent absences, neglect of duties, improper conduct, operational disruption. However, on May 9th, you got a separate letter, and there were only two charges, which were persistent absences and neglect of duties. Correct. When you went to the hearing and you Dr. Erasmus was asked by attorney Weber if he had the louder mill notice. And for anybody wondering, the louder mill notice is the actual proceedings that have to be given to Moriah in the state of Pennsylvania that allow them to proceed with termination. He said yes. And they referenced the May 4th charges. However, two of those charges were dropped. And going through board meetings, I have requested RTK requests, which are right to no requests in the state of Pennsylvania. I have requested those and I have been denied. I'm in the current process of appeals to get those. Uh, I just basically have asked for basic public knowledge, public information that anybody can get. I've gone through the proper channels and I have been denied getting this basic information. But uh and you can go on the site and see that there you can see charges for when they were posted on May 4th. She was given new charges on May 9th, and in between, there was never a board meeting for us to see where they changed those charges. But then when we come to the actual hearing, they go back to the original charges on May May the 4th. And while the attorney says that they're really going after persistent absences of neglect of duty, in 95 pages, they address operational disruption. Dr. Rasmus addresses operational disruption and neglect and and the um improper conduct, yet those were charges that were dropped on May 9th, yet somehow reintroduced into this whole proceedings. Now you picked up on that and you actually said something. And when you brought that up, what was the response that you got?

Speaker 1

Um, I actually objected to them entering that stuff, uh, that that letter into evidence because it wasn't accurate. Um, and I was uh I don't recall exactly, but I was pretty much hushed. Um I was told it didn't, you know, it didn't.

Speaker 2

Let me help you out. Says, all right, so you're looking to introduce only the first two pages that's marked A uh A1. That's the exhibit. It's the letter from May 4th, 2025. Those are the original charges. The first two pages include the original charges.

unknown

Mr.

Speaker 2

Sterngold, that's sufficient. And it's solely to establish it there that the step was complied with. Mr. Weber, all right, very good. Ma'am, do you have any objection to that, Miss Benchman? I do object because it's different than what the actual charges I got in the mail. So the charges are different on May 4th than they are from when the board met. Mr. Weber, may I say that's a different issue? All they're asking now is the letter that was presented to you. So now we're having a hearing that's based off May 4th charges, but you were given a different letter on May 9th when they dropped two charges, but somehow they reverted back to the original May 4th charges. And you were the board was able to make a decision on charges that were not even supposed to be brought up. How did it feel when by the way, guys, and Moriah did an amazing job defending herself and she did object and she called out very, very well. But how did it feel when you knew, wait a second, this isn't fair? I've I've got these charges from May 4th, but these are not the May 9th charges, and you were shut down. What did that feel like?

Speaker 1

It it was really strange. Uh I realized, if I'm just being honest at that moment, that I was not gonna get a fair trial. Like this was not going to be a fair uh, you know. And if I'm just being completely honest, I was so nervous that I felt like people could see my chest pounding, you know, because like it is really like you picture it in the courtroom. So I'm at this table with the other attorney sitting right next to me, and all the people that are there to support me are behind me, so I can't see them. And in front of me is the whole board, and it's like uh, you know, like you're almost kind of boxed in, but not, you know, and you have all the administration on this side, and then it's all board members and and the judge in front of you. And um, I looked around and I realized um this is gonna be tough, you know. I don't know, like we'll see what happens. Uh and um the strange part is is that for them saying that it was just to to show that they gave me the notice, uh, the whole hearing was pretty much based on this this whole thing. Like, I think my absences came up a few times, but it was really the base the basis of this hearing was surrounded around that because it you couldn't get away from it because at the end of the day, the reason that I actually got fired was because April 17th put me at my eleventh day. And that eleventh day, um, I was trying to prove that I shouldn't this shouldn't count against me. Um, like I couldn't legally do this. Uh and I realized uh when every you know, I only objected I think once or twice. And um it was just weird. That it was like it it didn't matter.

"This was retaliatory": why Moriah believes the hearing was never about attendance

Speaker 2

Yeah. Right, do you feel that it wasn't really about the attendance? Do you feel that there was a different motive behind the entire hearing?

Speaker 1

Yeah, truly. I I feel like uh I told the superintendent no. You know, and um it and you know, if I'm just being blunt, you know, I didn't really say no, but uh I feel like that's what it was. I truly feel like this was retaliatory. Um it just doesn't make any sense. And if I would have gone to the hearing and somebody could have explained, okay, well, yeah, it's because this is this is typical. Uh I looked through our whole handbook, I asked questions um about days. Uh there's like there's no specific guideline in the handbook about days. Um, I asked, I asked everything I could to try to defend. Um, you know, at the end of the day, I just couldn't believe that this was happening. Like it I it blew my mind that every single person that was sitting on that school board or administration, and including the attorney, which he was a really he was very respectful, um nobody looked up the codes. So I'm fighting, right? Like you I'm fighting for this, um, you know, my scope of practice. That is like it it's a law. And I just couldn't believe, like, how am I fighting about this? Why can't somebody just look it up, read it, and say, oh, you know what? We we we were wrong. Uh and if I'm being honest, that's what I I thought truly going into that hearing. I truly thought that there would be uh a moment where they were like, hey, this this yes, she missed 10 days. You know, this isn't right.

Speaker 2

And it is in the transcript, guys, that it was brought up about the law. And attorney Sterngold kind of danced around it a little bit. You guys can read it. Uh, attorney Weber said, Hey, what is it? They never actually brought into the actual law. Dr. Stern Sterngold, or excuse me, attorney Sterngold stated, Well, it says something about she might be able to do this, she might be able to do that. There was never an actual reading of any Pennsylvania statute surrounding nursing whatsoever in this entire transcript. Not one, not one. And what's even scarier is that there was a document made, and as Rasmus stated, he said he got creative and he created a document that has how much they're gonna pay. It I'm holding it up for anybody who can read it. It says how much they're gonna pay there for Benton school to even cover $475 a day. $475 a day is what they will pay for the service for Benton to borrow one of their nurses. So essentially, Millville is going to pay Benton $475 for having a CSN out of the district, not able, if that's what was going on. We don't know. We still don't know who the CSN was, we still don't know if she was there, we still don't know if she was available, we don't have any evidence other than hearsay. And but we do know that the Millville School District is going to pay $475 a day for their services. And that brings us to the question $475 a day. Um, right, how do you feel about that when you are making covering school districts $1,500 less than $1,500 a month take home? How does that feel?

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's pretty much almost what I make in a week. Um it it's tough. Like that, uh you know, it's I I think in that district something just really needs to change. You know, it's it's it's tough. But um I think the bigger picture with with the school district and Benton, um, and I know how proud Dr. Rastis was of this, um, you can read if he talked about it for a while. Oh yeah, he's very proud of it. But I um that agreement that they made did nothing to help us because there was truly, I mean, at the end of the day, there was really no CSN available. There's no um there was none. Um if you look uh at the text messages that Dr. Rossmith sent me in the morning, he did say that um you know that the CSN was absent.

Speaker 2

So uh the text messages say that the CSN was absent.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and that Brooke, uh Brooke was, you know, this happens all the time, and that Brooke was covering in her absence. So honestly, at that moment, I assumed that she was absent, like absent, absent. Um and i if I have to be honest, um, you know, just because somebody else is doing something doesn't mean that it's right. And just because this is the the standard sometimes that people think is the standard, um it's it that's not always okay. I don't have the best luck in the whole world. And I'll be honest, um, you know, I'm not I'm not willing to, you know, I'm not willing to risk my license, uh you know, because of somebody's poor planning um by not obtaining coverage. Um you know, and I think at one point like they admitted, you know, that they never even reached out for coverage anywhere.

Speaker 2

No. Anywhere. No, they didn't. There was they they said that they attempted and that they just quit when they couldn't and they left it at that. And that that they reached out to the Benton school, they knew for months, but they only reached out to Benton the day before. And you know, that's that that was there was ample time to find a CSN in that to at least have her reach out, speak with you, know that she was available. But um we're planning on that. You just said something, and this is this is my this is the best part of it, and this is what I want nurses to know. At the very end of this, you gave a closing statement. And there was one line that you stated, and what was it? What did you do? She had to stand up and closing statement, and she addressed the board, everybody there, the attorneys, and everybody. And what is it that you said, Moriah?

The closing statement: "I would rather lose my job today than my license tomorrow"

Speaker 1

I said I would rather lose my job today than my license tomorrow. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2

And Moriah is absolutely right. And I know you're getting emotional because this is the truth. And and Moriah, this is why is that? We nurses need to hear it about why protecting your license is so important.

Speaker 1

You know, it's it's everything, you know, it's it's it's how I take care of my family, it's it's something I'm good at, you know, and you know, I think the most heartbreaking thing was is I you know, I heard people say like, oh, she was only at the job for you know less than three months. My probationary period was up that Friday. Uh, you know, it you know, it all this felt like it was just it was a very like retaliatory thing, you know. Um I never got written up and never got in trouble, I never, I mean, nothing. Uh so the whole idea of it is is that sometimes, you know, standing up for the right thing doesn't always make you popular. You know, it makes you a pain or it makes you hard to work with. Um, but at the end of the day, I still have my nursing license. So I might not have that job that was paying me, you know, uh, you know, and I people had said I seen people write, you know, because this is this was a big story, you know, yeah here at home. And I seen a very few people were negative, but like I seen a few people say, Well, it's her fault she took a job that paid her so low. But the best part is is that I never got a copy of my contract. So I was just told to go ahead and log on to their website and look it up myself, which I did. And um, I seen a paraprofessional contract and I seen uh, you know, like a different contract. I can't remember what it was called. And when I clicked on the one, I seen the job listings that they had there, and I was like, oh it's really not. I click on the other one and it had nurse, and I was like, oh, this is my contract. Um so when I accepted this position, I thought I had full benefits. I thought I had full um, like I thought I had everything. Um, I thought I had the vacation time. So there was a lot of things, and it it's like, well, you're still like money-wise, you were still making a little bit of money. I would have, I would have I probably could have retired there. And I liked it that much.

Speaker 2

And

Life after termination, Studio 143 Designs, and the call for accountability in Millville and beyond

Speaker 2

um, yeah, so just not worked out, but you are doing something now that's pretty exciting. And are you wearing it now? I am, so I made a new one. It says she has a shirt and it said, I'd rather lose my job today than my license tomorrow. And Moriah, by the grace of God, has found a way to make income because she has not had any income since being fired and terminated. And so she is selling all sorts of shirts on TikTok, right? TikTok shop. And what is where what what what's the name?

Speaker 1

Uh Studio Studio 143 Designs.

Speaker 2

Studio, and we're gonna have that in for you guys to see to go. But she has this shirt for sale, and you know, she's got some other stuff. So this is how she's supporting herself right now, and she so bravely has come on and spoken out because she has absolutely been retaliated against. And she's right, this has been a huge ordeal in Millville. There's a lot of Facebook pages that are really supporting her and saying that this is not right. And and fair warning and transparency, I've also spoken to other nurses that work for Millville. Some are off the record and some are on the record. They will be in the article. Um, the ones who have chosen to be on the record who are going to speak out also that this this is not just one one-off thing with Moriah. There have been a lot of complaints in Millville about the school nursing situation. And it's not, we are not here as nurses to attack Millville or the people, the administration. And I really hope I don't see any of any of our followers going on there and being uh rude or or saying anything that's awful. But what we're asking for is accountability. That's what we're asking for. We're asking for accountability for what has happened to Moriah, but we're also asking for change, not for nurses, because the truth is, is there's gonna be another nurse who fills that job. And she's gonna be he or she's gonna be put in the same position. And this is not right. And if it's not happening there, it's happening all over. It's said in the transcripts. Dr. Rasmus said that this is happening all over Pennsylvania area school districts. That they even mentioned that he was fully aware that one day Moriah was practicing without a CSN. And he said, this is what we do all the time. Not acceptable. Not acceptable. We do not practice outside of our scope because we all know it's that one day. And as Dr. Rasmus put it so clearly, Murphy's law, it is that one day that you bend your standards and you say, you know what? Okay, I'll I'll practice outside of my scope. And somebody tells you, it's okay, we won't call, we won't tell on you, we got your back. No, they don't it's never, ever for one second okay to practice outside of your scope of practice. And even more importantly, it is never, ever, ever important to put somebody's life in jeopardy. These are kids, these are kids. And Ray, I'm gonna just say you did the right thing. Thank you. You absolutely did the right thing. Thank you. And you're doing the right thing by speaking out, and I have to say I have covered this story with Moriah. I have been relentlessly covering this story because it is so important. And I, while I have I I'm disappointed that this is how it is, but this is an opportunity for uh Millville School District and for Pennsylvania, uh, the Board of Nursing, and for the families of these kids in Pennsylvania to step up and say, hey, listen, um, let's change this. Let's change this. Let's figure out how we can redo the budget and get a better budget for these nurses. Let's figure out how we can provide safer standards for our students. Let's figure out a way how we can get quality coverage on days that life happens because people get sick and things happen, so that we can provide solid coverage and care for our students and that we can protect our nurses because when you protect your nurses, you protect your community. Moriah is very much a part of the community, and it also is very important that we protect her. And from a journalistic standpoint, it's also pretty important that we stop putting nurses on the front page of a newspaper without getting a clarification. As a journalist, I am going to go ahead and say Moriah was never called, she was never spoken to, she was never asked her side of the story, but they got the Millville side of the story. And as a journalistic standard, that is not okay. We get all sides of the story. And as people are asking about that, if I got all sides of the story, I have reached out relentlessly for comment, relentlessly for comment to make sure that I can cover Millville's side of the story. And I did get that side of the story in the form of 95 pages of a transcript that I'm going to put out there so everybody can see what Millville School Board and District had to say. So I'm hoping that the Pennsylvania Department of Nursing will get back to me at some point. We do need to clarify these standards for nurses coming up. We need to know. We need to know. And for all the Moriahs out there who are so brave to speak up. You set a wonderful example. And you your bravery and your courage are really something to be honored. It's really something that you've you've really done a solid um justice for the nursing community who is relentlessly experiencing experiencing injustice every day, left and right. Um, I know it's been hard. I know the retaliation and the and the fear and the losing your income has been has been just terrible. Yeah. But um you set the you set a precedent. You you showed that this is possible and that you're doing the right thing. And I hope that nurses out there will realize, and I hope change comes from this. I hope change for your community comes from this. And I really hope your TikTok shot close up with your t-shirts. And I really, really do hope for the best for you. So um thank you again for coming on. And is I what do you want to say to nurses out there? What is your final thoughts?

Moriah's message to nurses: stand firm, protect your license, protect your patients

Speaker 1

I really um I really just think it's important to stand up for what's right, you know. I mean, in our field, sometimes it is really hard, you know. It's you have so many different people sometimes coming to you asking so many different things. And um it's just really important to stand firm on what is right and what is not. And um, you know, at the end of the day, you know, in my situation, yes, I'm out of a job that I actually really love. Like it costs me a lot of money to drive to that job. Um, but you know, I hope that something does change. I hope that this this podcast, I hope it gets forwarded to the school board and I hope they look at it in a different light. And I hope that they read some of the beautiful comments that are there and they realize that what happened was not right, and that moving forward, somebody is gonna use their voice. Because there was, I think, eight or nine of those people there that could have stood up and said this is not right. Um, and not one of them did. So I I just think that um I think at the end of the day, you just really do have to stand up for yourself um and you have to protect your license and your patience.

Speaker 2

That's right. That's right. Well, again, Moriah, thank you so much for coming on. It's been an honor to be able to talk with you. And um, guys, you can get the article with all of the information, the transcript, all of the evidence that we have, because it is fair. We need to tell both sides of the story, and as much information that I can share from this will be in there. And once again, you should go check out Moriah Brow t-shirt, wear it proudly. And remember, guys, that your license is never ever worth risking. You've worked too hard. Um it's just an honor to be a nurse and being able to stand up and practice within our standards and our scope is honestly a form of telling our patients and the ones that we care for we really care about you. We really enough that we're going to protect our license and we're gonna practice within it so that we can make sure that we're giving you the best care that we can. So once again, guys, my name is Jana Price. Thanks for listening. And remember, guys, stay safe out there. We'll see you again next time.

Speaker

Thanks for joining Nurse Converse, brought to you by Nurse.org. Help us grow by leaving a five star rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Nurse.org supports nurses with career and education tips, life advice, and breaking news. Thank you for all you do and for being new.