Nurse Is Now Doctor: West Orange School Worker Reaches Milestone – Patch

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A school nurse in the West Orange Public School District with a diverse background in health care recently earned a prestigious title: “doctor.”

Denise Makri-Werzen, who works at West Orange High School, has received her doctorate in public health: community health. She has worked in the West Orange district for the past 14 years, and has served as a nurse at the high school for the past 11 years.

“It was 10 arduous years of hard work and perseverance, through many personal and financial trials and tribulations, but I persevered and reached my goal,” Makri-Werzen enthused, calling the new designation of doctor “an honor.”

According to district administrators, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology with a minor in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1975, Makri-Werzen went on to earn her master’s degree in Human Physiology (Assisted Reproductive Medicine) from FDU Dental. She received a NJ ADS in Nursing in 1998 from Bergen Community College, and worked as a NJ Certified School Nurse/Advance Standing Health Teacher at Caldwell University from 2004 to 2006.

During this time, Makri-Werzen raised three children and grew her own business, Med-Con Associates, consulting for the FDA on SAE’s Med Watch Reports, while remaining active as a consultant in the field of Assisted Reproductive Medicine and Clinical Laboratories.

Makri-Werzen began her doctoral studies with Walden University in 2012 while working full-time, caring for her children, her parent, and her husband, Bill, who passed away in 2018.

That push culminated with a dissertation titled: “Perceived Health/Safety Risks and Critical Thinking Skills in College Students Using Social Media Networking.” She was awarded her doctorate in public health in February.

With her diverse background, Makri-Werzen became an important resource during the pandemic at the high school, administrators said.

The veteran health care worker said she was glad to step up to the task. But without her experience as a senior research scientist at Novartis Pharmaceutical, it would have been much more difficult, she added.

“Understanding so many aspects of dealing with the pandemic, such as contact tracing and knowledge of the COVID vaccines’ key ingredients – J&J (adenovirus vector), Moderna and Pfizer (antisense therapy) – helped students and staff understand how the vaccines worked along with their target mechanisms,” Makri-Werzen said.

“My 10 years at Novartis Pharmaceutical … assisted in explaining to staff and students any questions they presented about the vaccine’s safety/efficacy and any potential serious adverse effects,” she said.

But the dedicated school worker’s contributions to the community don’t stop there, district administrators said.

In addition to her work at the high school and her consulting business, Makri-Werzen is the Program Coordinator of the Essex County School Nurses Association, and is a Certified Basic Life Instructor at the Hackensack University Medical Center. She received the 2018 New Jersey State School Nurses Association Award for Essex County for her efforts.

Makri-Werzen said that she plans to remain active in the health care world as a consultant when she retires from the public school system.