More School Nurses To Disappear With Education Budget Cuts

Are American children facing an unsafe environment at school without adequate health services?

This is the question raised in a recent article from Parenting.com, which investigates the lack of school nurses in American public schools.

Only 45 percent of schools have a full-time nurse, while 30 percent have a part-time nurse. The remaining 25 of public schools have no nurse at all.

The numbers are expected to drop even lower with tough budget cuts hitting schools.

According to Parenting.com,

There's no shortage of people willing to do the job, says Sandi Delack, president of [the National Association of School Nurses]; the issue is funding. Districts everywhere are under pressure to raise academic test scores, and to do so with ever-shrinking budgets. When inevitable cuts come, the first to go are programs not required by law. And, strikingly, very few states mandate that a nurse be in every school; individual districts decide if it's a priority.

School districts are cutting costs by laying off nurses, reducing their hours or replacing them with untrained employees. These cutbacks could mean danger for millions of American children with asthma, ADHD, food allergies and other health conditions.

Across the country, individual communities are facing shortages of school nurses. In Cincinnati, the majority of the district's nurses will soon find themselves out of a job. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the state Senate is considering a bill that would allow public schools to replace nurses with lower cost employees who lack the same level of medical expertise.

In Wichita, Kan., similar cuts are in the works, with schools considering replacing registered nurses with less trained, and therefore less expensive, practical nurses.

Registered nurse Mandy Pilla told The Wichita Eagle,

"I know we're not generating any measurable test scores, but there's so much going on with the children of our district, you wouldn't believe it... Nurses are a crucial part of schools."

Comments

[robert joseph murray]

03:38 PM on 05/31/2011

true story rockstar robert joseph murray born august 1rst lived in bayshore long island went to mary g clarson even at that age robert was writting short storys with a cayron his first book was a horror book at age 10 it was call ed a night mare on elm street 7 he went to rob went t o bayshore middle school for 2 years than transfered to is 201 in brooklyn dyker hieghts new york he gradulated as one of the most funniest class clowns ever ( in the back of the class) at age 13 he exposed his penis to ( friends) big than gradulated at fort hamilton high school he went to browns college than ucla new york tech. gthe rob murray story

[am10]

12:37 PM on 04/06/2011

Seriously? With the amount of kids on medication, and mainstreaming of kids with physical disabilities that might require a feeding tube or catheter, we're going to get rid of school nurses?

[justhuman]

10:29 PM on 04/05/2011

I think that both Dems and Reps (Reps apologetically though) have been taken over by big business for quite some time. Big corps are using the Dems as the 'good cop' and the Reps as the 'bad cop' to give us the impression that we have a choice.

[justhuman]

11:03 PM on 04/05/2011

I meant Reps unapologetically!!!!!

[Gaylord P Farqua]

07:09 PM on 04/05/2011

One step at a time to get from a caring society to an oligarchy where serfdom comes without any perks. The absolute amazing part is that the GOP/Tea Party through Boy Wonder Ryan and guys like Eric Cantor are willing to come right out and tell the American people that they intend to cut social benefits to the bone or eliminate them entirely and, not even pretend to mention tax cuts for the super rich. They actually advocate making them permanent. And we do nothing. Even worse the Democrats especially the President and the Congressional Leaders, are not responding with outrage on every media venue available-excepting Fox of course.

[leftheaded]

06:49 PM on 04/05/2011

Amerrrrrrica, Amerrrrica, God shed his grace on theeeeeeee.....

[motoGpifupleez]

06:36 PM on 04/05/2011

Get used to it. Unless you're rich, you will be treated with the "Walk It Off" plan.

[UltraClassicII]

06:22 PM on 04/05/2011

Oh big deal, there are plenty of others they need to get rid of also.

[teacher32]

11:05 AM on 04/06/2011

It is a big deal as a school secretary or teacher, to put your required job duties aside to take temperatures, fix boo-boos, check heads for lice, call parents, check insulin levels, help with bathroom accidents, etc., but we do it anyways because their is no school nurse and the children deserve the care. Would you be able to do your job if you had these constant interruptions to your workday?

[am10]

12:37 PM on 04/06/2011

Do you have any idea how many kids a school nurse sees each day?

[mikey09]

06:15 PM on 04/05/2011

In my day, the school nurse would take your temp and call your parent, and I'm from the generation that still got measles, mumps.
 

[Gus DiZerega]

06:03 PM on 04/05/2011

Cutting school nurses, ending medicare - can you feel the right wing love for America?

[Martha T]

05:37 PM on 04/05/2011

school nurses?? what the heck is that? we haven'[t had a county nurse visit in YEARS and frankly I am surprised that there are school nurses still out there.. amazing

[teacher32]

11:11 AM on 04/06/2011

Agree. We have a nurse that comes once every two weeks and I'm surprised she is still employed by our district.

[MRITechnologist]

02:02 PM on 04/06/2011

Rural eh?

[supportamerica]

05:01 PM on 04/05/2011

It is getting so that the schools really need a doctor not a nurse. I have read so much regarding peanut allergies which are life threatening, juvenile diabetics,Tyoe 2 diabetics (over weight children), heart problems, kids on so many different medications I can't begin to name them all. We are over medicating, anti- antibiotic diseases, and creating a generation of such sick children I am surprised any of them grow into their adult years.