No, The School Nurse Is Not In

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/03/144615747/no-the-school-nurse-is-not-in

More than half of American public schools don't have a full-time nurse, and the situation is getting worse as school systems further cut budgets. This year, 51 were laid off in Philadelphia's public schools, 20 in a Houston suburb, 15 in San Diego and dozens more in other school systems nationwide.

Other schools have reduced their school nurse staffing.

snip

The National Association of School Nurses reports that a quarter of schools don't have a nurse at all.

The association's president, Linda Davis-Alldritt, says that's bad for schools, parents and students.

"Children are coming to school with increasingly complex medical conditions that need to be managed on a daily basis. And when there is no school nurse available, those kids are not going to be well-managed in school, and so it puts them at risk for complications," Davis-Alldritt says.

And Davis-Alldritt says the staffing is getting worse. In the association's most recent poll, one-third of school districts surveyed said they reduced nursing in the past year. She says the recession has dried up local and state funding for school nurses.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure.

We need school nurses.

-Laelth

[DesertRat]

2. Our school district uses a "health tech" in schools, instead of nurses

School funding has been so deeply cut that administrators have been forced to make drastic cuts across the board. To qualify as a health tech, one only needs a one-day first aid and CPR course.

[w8liftinglady]

3. and... as special needs kids are integrated into the mainstream,there is a higher acuity

My partner taught special needs 5th graders for one year. trachs,Gastrostomy tubes,seizure disorders,incontinent.
Elementary schools are seeing a higher rate of type 2 diabetes .
In the dallas area,we have a lot of asthmatic kids due to grass pollens and pollution- requiring a lot of office visits for inhalers.
And...many times the nurse would discover the physical or sexual abuse.It was not uncommon for a school nurse to testify in a hearing.

Bad place to cut the budget,imho.

[ceile]

4. That just doesn't make any sense.

Seems it would be cheaper to pay a full time nurse than increased insurance premiums and possibly a lawsuit....?