Becoming A School Nurse
School nurses are responsible for a heck of a lot more today than they were in the days of scoliosis screenings, eye tests, tummy aches and the occasional episode of pediatric projectile vomiting. Kids today are entering school with more serious chronic conditions and developmental disabilities such as autism, psychiatric disorders and multiple medical problems.
School nurses act as primary caregivers for these children during school hours while also administering scheduled medications, managing immunization programs, wellness and prevention programs, emergency and disaster preparedness, and acting as an overall advocate in a leadership role on behalf of the students and school staff.
It’s no wonder that public school systems and county officials in cities across the country are growing anxious about the shortage of school nurses. Although most of the media coverage about the nursing shortage focuses on hospitals, nurses are needed just as much in the public school setting.
The national average is one school nurse per 1,100 students with an agreed upon goal ratio by some administrators of one per 750 students. In Oregon, the ratio has ballooned to one nurse per 3,100 students. School officials in Michigan are also concerned, with their ratio of one school nurse for every 4,000 students.
In Calhoun County Michigan, where this ratio was reported, public health officials are proposing an innovative solution to their school nurse shortage. Their unique initiative would place local nursing students in the county’s public schools as school nurses, freeing up the RNs currently employed in those roles for a strictly educational and leadership role.
This program is a strong possibility, since each county and state in the country sets their own standards of educational requirements for school nursing. The spectrum of county educational requirements ranges from nurses with an LVN (licensed vocational nurse) license all the way to nurses with a BSN (Bachelor of Science degree in nursing held by RNs).
