School Nurses: Providing Intensive Care

Too Few Nurses, Too Many Chronic Illnesses & Counseling Issues

School nurses, still alive and well, help their charges stay that way. But now, they're also dealing with a bewildering array of chronic illnesses and counseling issues. The dramatic increase in chronic illnesses, behavior disorders, and learning disabilities has not only complicated the jobs of nurses in schools fortunate enough to have one, the deluge has also raised troubling questions about the care of students in schools -- and there are plenty -- with no health professional on site.

"The school nurse used to be all Band-Aids and iodine," says Michael Venutolo, supervisor of athletics and school nurses for the Jersey City School District. "Now, it's a multitask office. Every one of my nurses is like a mother, father, confessor -- and, in most instances, they're the primary health care provider for the students in our district."

The National Association of School Nurses estimates that only 40,000 health professionals practice in the nation's schools. As Fran Smith reports, there are not enough nurses looking after the 54 million children in elementary, middle, and high schools.

For more information on this topic, see the article on the Edutopia Web site: http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1424&issue=dec_05

Reprinted with permission from Public Education Network’s NewsBlast newsletter. The PEN Weekly NewsBlast is a free e-mail newsletter featuring school reform and school fundraising resources. PEN NewsBlast is the property of the Public Education Network, a national association of local education funds working to improve public school quality in low-income communities nationwide.

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