In short supply
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
L
AYTON -- Margo Hill packs her office in her car every time she leaves a school.
Hill, a registered nurse, has been a school nurse in the Davis School District since 1998. She chose the profession because the lifestyle suited her.
Hill is assigned to four elementary schools, one junior high school and one high school. In the state of Utah, it's not unusual for a school nurse to spend only half a day each week at the schools they oversee. In fact, Utah ranks lowest in the nation with only one nurse for about every 6,000 students.
Hill was at Whitesides Elementary Tuesday to do vision testing on several students who missed it the last time she was there.
One student, who was diabetic, was absent again. Hill learned the student's insulin pump had broken on Monday and the student's parents kept her home "because no one is trained here to give her shots or to monitor her," Hill said.
If she could be at the school every day, she said, she would be able to administer the insulin and monitor it. But Hill only works three days a week, spending four hours at each school.
State lawmakers are meeting this morning to begin examining whether to increase funding to hire more nurses to help Utah students.
Sen. Ed Mayne, D-Salt Lake, said he became aware of the school nurse shortage a year ago after reading a newspaper article.
Mayne said he was shocked to learn of Utah's poor ranking with school nurses.
The National School Nurse Association recommends one nurse for every 750 students. Some states have mandated that ratio by law.
"We have great concerns for Utah," said Amy Garcia, the association's executive director.
One of the association's goals nationally is to increase staffing of nurses in schools, but "Utah has a long way to go," Garcia said.
There are 129 school nurses for the 40 school districts in the state and many of them work part time. The ratio is one nurse for about 10 schools.
Mayne said it will take between $30 million and $35 million to put
a nurse in every school, something the state cannot do right now.
"But if we appropriate $5 million to $6 million this year, we can make a dent in the problem," Mayne said.
Just two more nurses for Davis district would make a difference, Hill said.
Christopher Williams, the district's spokesman, said Davis would need an additional $4.62 million to hire a nurse for each of its schools.
The school district contracts with Davis County's Health Department to supply the nurses. It will cost the school district $649,502 for this year.
Each school has students with medical needs who would benefit from a full-time nurse on staff, said Paula Johnson, the bureau manager of school nursing services for the county health department.
"Our biggest concern is students need to be in school," Johnson said.
That is not always possible with students with chronic health problems, such as asthma, allergies, diabetes or seizures.
Some teachers are trained to used EpiPens and inhalers for those students who need them, but not all teachers have received that training.
"Teachers are willing to do it, but they didn't go into teaching to do this," Johnson said.
And every year, schools are seeing more students with chronic medical needs, officials said.
One Layton mother, who has five children with medical needs, is on a personal campaign to get more nurses in schools.
Sheryl Walton said she used her own money to print up fliers asking parents to sign a petition if they think more nurses should be hired.
Walton, who is a licensed nurse from California, moved to Utah with her children six months ago.
"I came from a small, rural community with less than 17,000 people and we had a nurse in every school for four hours a day," Walton said.
She was shocked to learn that Utah, which has significantly more children, has hardly any school nurses.
E.G. King Elementary is one of those schools that has sent home Walton's fliers this week.
"I agree with her," Principal Pat Lusk said.
Lusk said the school nurse who comes half a day each week is terrific.
"She's been wonderful training our staff," Lusk said. "Bless her heart, she's only here a half a day, but if we need her she comes.
"It would be nicer to have someone more often though."
Lusk said other parents who've moved to Utah are also shocked to learn there are not nurses in the schools all day.
On her desk Tuesday was a stack of at least 100 fliers returned from parents who agree there should be more school nurses.
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