School nurse provided

[SLK1]

Since there are two threads related to schools and allergies, I thought I would ask if your school, or state, provides a school nurse, or do parents have to raise funds to pay for one? In our county, a hospital pays for half, the rest (around $26,000) has to brought in by parents. I think, with all the allergies and disabilities out there, it should be provided by the state. Any thoughts?

 

[marcyinPA]

Our school district has contracted school nurses, so basically, the taxpayers pay for them through our very high school taxes. The one at our school is shared between a few elementary schools, but we always have either her, or a nurses aide, on-site. I can't imagine NOT having a school nurse...especially with allergies, asthma, diabetes, etc. If there is no nurse, who takes care of dispensing meds and blood checks and stuff like that?

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

I don't even think our school has one LOL

 

[pjb0216]

We do not have a school nurse at our school, none of the schools in our county does. It is the responsibility of the front office staff to dispense meds and things like that. The teachers recieve training as well (for things like checking blood sugar, epipens and things like that). I really think there should be a school nurse though. That is a lot of responsibility for the front office.

 

[zoemurr]

we have a full-time school nurse (and often an aid) in each school. I imagine we pay for it with taxes just like teachers. She does meds/lice checks/changes of clothes/and decides if kids are sick enough to go home, and I'm sure many other things. She calls daily if your child is sick if you haven't checked in.

Saying that.. the woman that was there before was very old and the office was a gross mess. I had to give my DD eyedrops for a few days and I was more comfortable doing them out in my car. This year we have someone new.

 

[crisi]

We have a health aide, not a nurse, who is paid for by the school. In addition to checking for lice and taking temperatures and tracking the outbreak of strep throat, she backs up our solo school secretary (who, in turn, backs up the health aide).

 

[RMulieri]

We have school nurses in all our schools and i am not sure how they are paid.I agree we have kids that are on nebulizers,insulin,and all manners of prescription medication..That is a HUGE responsibilty and liability for the schools, to have a secretary do it.

 

[crisi]

When my kids have needed prescription meds mid day, either I've had to go in and administer them, or they've had to do it themselves. Our aide doesn't administer meds.

 

[mjkacmom]

Each of our 5 elementary schools have nurses, as well as the JH and HS. Back in the day, only one rotated to elementary (town is only 3 miles from end to end), but that changed years ago.

 

[marcyinPA]

When my kids have needed prescription meds mid day, either I've had to go in and administer them, or they've had to do it themselves. Our aide doesn't administer meds.

Wow...they allow the kids to have their meds with them and take them themselves?? My DS9 got into trouble with his teacher last year because he had COUGH DROPS!! She told him he was not allowed to have them in school, and if he needed one, I had to write a note for the nurse and he'd have to have it in her office!!

 

[happymommy]

My kids go to a private school, always have, so I don't know about our school system here. But our current school has 3 nurses - one in lower/primary school, one in middle, and one in upper (school is PK through 12th grade). I feel very confident in them - they are RN's.

I always assumed public schools had nurses. I guess I was wrong. My DS has food allergies, asthma, and other health problems, but mostly he's seen the nurse for his migraines. Hope they don't come back this year!

 

[wildfan1473]

My kids go to a parochial school, and we share our nurse with the public school district. I believe she is in our school 2 or 3 days a week. I honestly don't know how she is paid, but I am sure we are paying for it somehow. I think the school secretary handles the meds, I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later when someone has a headache or upset tummy or the like

 

[SLK1]

When my kids have needed prescription meds mid day, either I've had to go in and administer them, or they've had to do it themselves. Our aide doesn't administer meds.

This goes in part to my question...with the Americans With Disablilies Act, if you are expected to go in and dispense medication but can't (job, no transportation, etc.), how can you expect your child to go through the day without his necessary meds? I'm sure it's not a common thing, but enough to warrant an argument. We pay a great deal of money on something that seems like it should be provided by the state...and that money could easily instead go towards educational materials.

I'm even uncomfortable thinking about ME giving my daughter an Epi-Pen shot; I can't imagine leaving it up to a secretary!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

In our area public school's have the nurses who are required to go to the parochial school one day a week. She does eyes exams, hearing, and scoliosis, etc. She also confirms and denies lice as needed (no wait for this). Parents of students who have medical needs during the day have been known to pay the office staff/teachers to get training to administer meds/insulin for the kids. DS moved school's last year to another district and they do have a nurse full-time. She is a parent of one of the students. I am not sure she gets paid.

DD's parochial HS has a nurse and with the amount of tuition I pay, they should!!

 

[minkydog]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this one. I *am* a school nurse. The state of Georgia mandated nurses in public schools about 5 years ago; our salaries are paid through a state grant. It is shocking to me when I hear the secretaries talk about how they used to run the school clinic--with all the inhalers, meds, injuries, illnesses it's a huge responsibility to take on!

I work in a middle school which has about 900 students and 140 staff. Do you know how many kids I evaluated last year?? 9,716. That's right--over 9 THOUSAND CLINIC VISITS. For one nurse, in one year. That's a lot of sick kids.This time of year I see about 40 kids a day, but in the spring when the pollen blooms that number can skyrocket to 80 or even 100 kids per day.

Today I took care of a student who passed out during the mile-run and I suspect a heart problem; mom is going to take her to the doctor. One girl forgot to take her seizure meds this morning. I had several with asthma, sore throats and vomiting, and a few finger, knee and head injuries. A burn, some bug bites, and a few with "I-hate-math-itis." I taught 17 teachers how to use an Epipen. 20 minutes before closing an administrator wanted a written report of every kid in the school who has some kind of health issue. I was dressed down by another admin in front of another group of 15 teachers over something beyond my control

School nurses elevate the level of education in any school by keeping kids (and staff) healthy. Sick kids can't learn. It costs a lot to keep a good nurse on staff, but it should be a necessary cost of doing business. States need to step up to the plate and fund school nurses.

 

[crisi]

This goes in part to my question...with the Americans With Disablilies Act, if you are expected to go in and dispense medication but can't (job, no transportation, etc.), how can you expect your child to go through the day without his necessary meds? I'm sure it's not a common thing, but enough to warrant an argument. We pay a great deal of money on something that seems like it should be provided by the state...and that money could easily instead go towards educational materials.

I'm even uncomfortable thinking about ME giving my daughter an Epi-Pen shot; I can't imagine leaving it up to a secretary!

I have no idea since neither of my kids are covered by the ADA. Meds have to be kept by the health aide, but the child or parent or another adult authorized by the parent must administer.

(They won't even put sunscreen on your kid - your kid must do it for themselves).

 

[imthatgirl]

now that my daughter is in public school there is a nurse there at all times. when she attended private school there was only a nurse on tuesdays and thursdays. that always seemed silly to me .

in our schools children are not allowed to carry any kind of medication to school. if i need my children to atke anything, i have to go in in the morning and give it to the nurse(who will administer it) and then go back and pick it up. if i do not pick it up by the end of the day it WILL be discarded. or i can go in and administer it...which i always do, i cant see driving there twice .

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Yet one more reason I'm very happy with the school district I live in. We have an RN full time in each building. I've spent enough time around the building to know how busy she is. I don't know if this is a district decision or state mandate.

 

[toystorymom]

I am also a school nurse. We are very fortunate in our district that each school has a full time RN and a part time aide. With all the medical issues today I can't imagine the office staff having the time or appropriate training to take on this responsibility. I had 62 visits in my office today, it was only the 7th day of school! Minkydog - "I-hate-math-itis" must be a common middle school ailment, I've seen some of that myself!

In most situations, our students are not allowed to carry their own medications. Even OTC medications can be very dangerous if taken incorrectly. As a parent, I am comforted by the fact that a nurse is available throughout the school day.

 

[nuts4wdw]

I, too, am a school nurse (RN), but my position is not guaranteed each year because I'm a grant between our state dept. of ed and dept. of health and welfare. There are only 10 of us "grant nurses" in the entire state! Our schools contracted for 27 hours per year with a nurse from the health dept before this grant. So, that works out to be 400 students with 27 hours a year, which equals each student gets 4.05 minutes a year . Once my grant is gone, so is the only access some of these kids have to healthcare. I work in a low income high migrant school, that is how the school qualified for the grant. We have a special needs kid that is wheelchair bound, that is totally non-verbal, requires a feeding tube, and has 3 to 5 seizures per hour, that is taken care of by an education aide (someone with absolutely no medical training)!!! We have epi-pens, kids with vision is so poor that they can't read anything below the "E" on the eye chart, and a kid with a liver transplant. But yet, a school nurse is not required I would love to see legislation to make it mandatory that there is a school nurse in every school, but it will be a while, if ever, at our head-in-the-sand state dept. of ed. Off my soap box now. I do love my job, and the kids make it so totally worth it! I think I missed my calling, I love the kiddos and teaching!