CURBING THE SCHOOL NURSE SHORTAGE

The USA Today is reporting that according to U.S. Census data the average number of students that a school nurse treats is 971. Also in this report says that 13 states are over 2,000 students per school nurse. The National Association of School Nurses conducted its own survey in 2007 and they found the number to be closer to 1,151 students per school nurse. Neither of these figures are encouraging as both are over the recommended number of 750 students per school nurse.

Clearly, this is not good news for the national teacher community or nursing community. More health professionals are required to protect our children in schools. Applebatch started an essay contest for teachers to ask them what they would do with $1 million in stimulus funds. Is the right about of stimulus funds being allocated to special ed and health professionals?

The National Association of School Nurses also recommends a ratio of 1 nurse per 225 students that require "daily professional school nursing services" and 1 nurse per 125 students in schools with "complex health care needs.” This could be helped by Applebatch’s teacher network. Teachers would be able to discuss with each other ways to deal with problems if their school does not have proper school nurse coverage.

These are not the only ways teachers and school nurses can benefit from collaboration. Through our website, http://applebatch.com, Applebatch gives teachers a free and easy-to-use forum to discuss their ideas on how to help out the nursing community in their schools.