School Nurse Shortages Prompt Teachers, Staff To Substitute

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 18 Jul 2008 - 10:00 PST

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The AP/San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday examined how "medical duties have become a part of the job" for U.S. teachers as schools reduce nursing staff or require nurses to work at multiple schools. According to the AP/Chronicle, the trend comes as an increasing number of students have serious medical conditions, such as asthma, diabetes and severe allergies. According to Amy Garcia, executive director of the National Association of School Nurses, 16% of U.S. students have a condition that requires the services of a school nurse.

Federal guidelines recommend that schools employ one nurse for every 750 students. The national average is one nurse for every 1,151 students, Garcia said. The average nurse divides time between 2.2 schools, according to NASN. According to the AP/Chronicle, 25% of U.S. schools have no school nurse on staff.

Garcia said the shortage of school nurses can be attributed to budget cuts, priority management and an overall misunderstanding of the role of a school nurse. In response, nurses are training teachers and other school staff to dispense medication, give insulin and adrenaline shots and provide assistance with asthma inhalers (Kossler Dutton, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 7/16).

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