Catherine F. Yonkaitis, DNP, RN, NCSN, PHNA-BC, FNASN
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Department Head
Population Health Nursing Science Department
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Contact
Building & Room:
938NURS
Address:
845 S. Damen Ave., MC 802, Chicago, IL 60612
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Dr. Catherine Yonkaitis is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago – College of Nursing. Dr. Yonkaitis holds national certification in school nursing and is board certified in Advanced Population Health.
She is a content expert in school nursing, and a child health champion, working with several initiatives to advance school nursing and student health. Her expertise has been nationally recognized on several occasions with awards from the National Association of School Nurses including the Outstanding School Nurse Educator Award. In July of 2024, she was inducted as a Fellow into the National Academy of School Nursing.
Throughout her career, Dr. Yonkaitis has worked in both education and community settings. She has been a school nurse and school nurse educator since 2005, serving nine years as the director of the School Nurse Certificate program at UIC and 5 as the Director of the Advanced Population Health DNP program. With over 25 years of teaching in both practicum and classroom settings, Dr. Yonkaitis shares her expertise with UIC school nursing and DNP students as well as with practicing nurses through national and regional presentations, online learning opportunities and published manuscripts. She is the co-editor of the 3rd and 4th editions of the preeminent school nursing textbook and the editor-in-chief of the NASN School Nurse Journal, the clinical resource journal for school nursing.
Selected Grants
Illinois Nurses Foundation, Developing a National School Nurse Curriculum: Prioritizing Knowledge Domains., PI
Sigma Theta Tau- Lambda chapter, Developing a National School Nurse Curriculum: Prioritizing Knowledge Domains., Co-PI
Selected Publications
National Association of School Nurses. (2022). School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (4th ed.). Author. [Co-author].
Hardy, P., Gonzalez, M., Lane R, Yonkaitis, C. F., & Pappalardo, A. A. (2023). Stock Inhalers for Schools: What do Schools Want and Need? Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. [online]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2023.12.001
Diegel-Vacek, L. & Yonkaitis, C. F. (2022). A novel approach to fostering academic-practice partnerships: The DNP project executive summary. Journal of Nursing Education, 61(3):156–158. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20211128-03
Yonkaitis, C. F. (2020). The elevator speech: A 60 second advocacy tool for nurses. American Nurse Journal, 16(1), 54-56. https://www.myamericannurse.com/the-elevator-pitch-a-60-second-advocacy-tool-for-nurses/
Willgerodt, M. & Yonkaitis, C. F. (2020). School nurses: Keeping school children, families and communities healthy. American Nurse Journal. 16(2), 44-47. https://www.myamericannurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/an2-School-nursing-305a.pdf
Yonkaitis, C.F. (2020). Lesson plan basics: Teaching in the classroom with confidence. NASN School Nurse, [epub before print]. doi:10.1177/1942602X19893038
Yonkaitis, C. F. (2018). Evidence-based practice and school nurse practice: A review of literature, Journal of School Nursing, 34(1) 60-67. doi: 10.1177/1059840517728108.
Maughan, E. D.& Yonkaitis, C. F. (2017). What does evidence-based school nursing practice even mean? Get a CLUE. NASN School Nurse, 32(5) 287-289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942602X17724420
Yonkaitis, C. F. & Shannon, R. A. (2017). The role of the school nurse in the special education process: Part 1: Student identification and evaluation. NASN School Nurse, 32(3), p. 179-184 https://doi.org/10.1177/1942602X17700677
Selekman, J., Shannon, R. A., & Yonkaitis, C. F. (Eds) (2019). School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text (3rd ed.). F.A. Davis.
Service to Community
2020 – 2024 Board of Directors, National Association of School Nurses
2016 - present Illinois School Based Health Alliance Steering Committee, Everthrive Illinois
2016- present School Nurse Content Advisory Committee, Illinois State Board of Education
2008 - present Executive Board Member, Illinois Association of School Nurses
2016 - present School Nurse Content Exam Expert Panel, Illinois State Board of Education
2008 - present Communications/Discussion Manager - Illinois Association of School Nurses
2016 - 2019 Chair, Restructure Committee, Illinois Association of School Nurses
2015 - 2017 Preschool Vision Screening Task Force, Illinois Department of Public Health
2015 National Board of School Nurse Certification Item Review
2013 - 2016 Special Education for School Nurses program development team, Illinois State Board of Education
Professional Leadership
Editor in Chief, NASN School Nurse Journal, National Association of School Nurses
Board of Directors, National Association of School Nurses
NASN Director, Illinois Association of School Nurses
Notable Honors
2024, Fellow, National Academy of School Nurses
2022, NASN Recognition Award, National Association of School Nurses
2019, President's Recognition Award, National Association of School Nurses
2018, Outstanding School Nurse Educator, National Association of School Nurses
2016, Daisy Faculty Award, The Daisy Foundation
Education
Doctorate in Nursing Practice
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL May 2017
DNP Project: Creating change: The incorporation of evidence-based practice in school nurse practice
School Nurse Certification
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL May 2007
Post-baclaureate certification in school nursing
Masters of Science in Nursing
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, May 1992
MS Thesis: Dependant-care provided by informal caregivers for older adults awaiting nursing home placement.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, May 1986
Licensures and Certifications
LICENSES
Registered Nurse, Connecticut and Illinois
Licensed School Nurse, Illinois- ISBE Professional Educators License
CERTIFICATIONS:
2014-present National Board for Certification of School Nurses (NCSN)
2017 – present Advanced Population Health Nursing (ANCC)
Professional Memberships
2018 - present Illinois Public Health Association
2017 - present American School Health Association
2016 - present Association of Community Health Nursing Educators
2015 - present Everthrive Illinois (formerly IL Maternal & Child Health Coalition)
2015 - present American Public Health Association
2008 - present National Association of School Nurses
2008 - present Illinois Association of School Nurses
1992 - present Sigma Theta Tau- Mu Chapter & Alpha Lambda
Selected Presentations
Yonkaitis, C. F. (2024, March 16). The school nurses role in special education. Annual Conference of School Nurse of Washington. Seattle, WA
Willgerodt, M., Yonkaitis, C. F., McKinley-Yoder, C. (2023, June 30) Improving quality and equity of school nursing practice: Findings from current practice. National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference, Orlando, FL
Yonkaitis, C. F. # (2023, January). Regulation of School Nursing in the United States. Florida Association of School Nurses Conference – Research Showcase. [virtual].
Yonkaitis, C. F. (2022, December). DNP & Population Health Nursing in the United States, 42nd Annual Conference of Japan Academy of Nursing Science, Hiroshima, Japan [virtual].
Resha, C.A., Yonkaitis, C. F., Rau, W. & Reiner, K.L. (2022, July). School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th edition: What’s new. National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference [virtual]
Yonkaitis, C. F. & Willgerodt, M.(2022, June). Developing a national school nurse curriculum:
Prioritizing knowledge domains. School Nurse Educators Special Interest Group. National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA
Yonkaitis, C. F., Madura, K., & Vollinger, L. (2021, September). School Nursing Associations:Restructuring for contemporary practice. National Association of School Nurses Leadership Academy [virtual]
Yonkaitis, C. F. & Maughan, E. M. (2020). The C.L.U.E. Club- An online work group to put evidence into practice,[presentation rescheduled to 2022] National Associaton of School Nurses 52md Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV
Yonkaitis, C. F.# (2022, October). Elevator Speech 2.0- A sixty second advocacy tool, Illinois Association of School Nurses 65th Annual Conference. Lisle, IL
Research Currently in Progress
Developing a National School Nurse Curriculum: Prioritizing Knowledge Domains*
Summary: Specialty knowledge is required for nurses to care for the physical, mental, and social needs of school-aged children, their families, and the school community. States, like Illinois, require certification or licensure in an effort to ensure nurses practicing in schools have the requisite preparation. However, there are no standardized education guidelines to assist states in establishing basic school nurse preparation requirements. The lack of guidelines has resulted in wide variation in the content, competencies, and program outcomes of school nursing certificate programs, which in turn, creates confusion over what employers can reasonably expect in a school nurse. Ultimately, this has implications for the quality of care delivered in school settings.
Purpose: The overall goal of this project is to develop a school nursing curricular outline to inform and guide the educational preparation needed for safe, high quality professional school nursing practice. Aims are to: (1) describe the key knowledge domains necessary for entry-level school nursing practice and (2) establish initial FACE validity of those knowledge domains.
Design/Implementation: This study will employ the Delphi technique to identify essential knowledge domains for school nursing practice, followed by open forums using a modified focus group methodology. Participant will be drawn from practicing school nurses, school nurse educators and school nurse administrators across the United States. Three rounds of surveys will be administered to identify and achieve consensus on essential knowledge domains. Initial face validity of these domains will be established through open forums.
Regulation of School Nursing Practice in the United States*
Background: Nursing is regulated by a state’s board of nursing but school nursing practice is typically under local control, resulting in high variability in licensure/certification requirements across the 50 states. This creates multiple challenges:
- Inefficient data collection to understand the landscape of how SN practice is regulated
- Lack of portability of school nurse credential
- Administrator confusion about preparation
- Confusion over parental expectations about the level of care in school
Purpose: Conduct a summary analysis of school nursing regulations among the 50 states
Methods:
- Variables of interest: school nurse title, requirements to practice, certification availability, health professionals able to practice in schools
- Multi-pronged approach including: data extraction from state administrative codes, statutes, state departments of education and health; review of state nursing organizations; survey of 50 state representatives from national professional nursing organization; expert consultation.
- Data verification through random audit of data extracted, comparative analyses of data extracted and survey responses
*Research with co-PI Mayumi Willgerodt PhD, MPH/MS, FAAN, FNASN