School Nurse to Student Ratios

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

I am writing today because I am concerned that too many schools are not appropriately staffed with enough school nurses to take care of students with routine and chronic healthcare needs. Legislation to address this issue (the Student-to-School Nurse Ratio Improvement Act of 2009) has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) and introduced for the first time in the Senate by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). I urge you to support and co-sponsor H.R. 2730/S. 2750, which would provide grant money to states for the purpose of improving the ratio of students to school nurses and studying the outcomes of such an effort. At a time when many states are struggling to adequately fund education and health services, this legislation could help save children's lives.

School nurses are an important part of the education and public health systems in America. Ninety-eight percent of our nation's children attend school each day. School nurses help ensure that they can see and hear adequately, and that they are ready to learn. School nurses screen for illness and ensure that children are vaccinated to prevent the spread of disease through our communities. Increasing numbers of children with special, complex healthcare needs and illnesses are now in regular classrooms. In fact, 16 percent of the nation's 52 million students have chronic physical, emotional or other health problems, and 13 percent of all students receive prescription medications during the school day. If there is no nurse on the school premises, the responsibility to administer the necessary medications and treatments, and to monitor these children afterward, often falls on the shoulders of teachers and school staff who are ill-prepared to perform these tasks.

In the United States, there are approximately 65,000 employed school nurses--way too few to properly care for millions of students nationwide. According to the National Association of School Nurses, the caseload for school nurses should be determined using a needs-based formula. There are wide disparities between states and within states. Children in Vermont have one school nurse per 275 students. Children in Utah rarely see a school nurse, with only one school nurse per 4,839 students. (2008, NASN) This situation creates a national average of only one school nurse for every 1,151 students.

Currently, 45 percent of U.S. public schools have one full-time school nurse (or more) caring for students' health needs. We must build on this foundation, as 30 percent of public schools only have a part-time school nurse, and 25 percent have no nurse assigned to the school at all.

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