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Study:School Nurses Need More Help *** Many Districts Short, Clinics Help Fill Gap

Posted on: Monday, 16 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By MANDY M. GOODNIGHT

Study:School nurses need more help *** Many districts short, clinics help fill gap

ALEXANDRIA Many central Louisiana school districts have more students per school nurse than is federally recommended, but so do most of the schools in the nation, according to a USA Today study.

Federal officials suggest that school districts have one nurse for every 750 students a figure most school administrators and nurses say is hard to achieve because of a lack of money.

We would like to have a school nurse in every school, said Frances Ann Chatelain, coordinator of nursing services for Rapides Parish. We know it is not possible.

The USA Today study showed there are about 56,000 full-time nurses nationwide working at public schools, putting the national ratio at one nurse per 950 students. Figures came from U.S. census reports from 2004.

The National Association of Student Nurses, a nonprofit organization, estimates that the figure could be as high as one nurse per 1,461 students.

In Rapides Parish, the ratio is one nurse per 2,210 students.

The parish has 11 full-time nurses who work with the children, said Chatelain, who is a registered nurse and has a bachelors degree in science nursing, or BSN. She was a school nurse before becoming a supervisor.

The school district also has training nurses who go to the schools and teach faculty and staff how to handle certain medical situations. The nurses are assigned to four or five schools to check in on and monitor the students.

While the ratio is high, Rapides Parish School Superintendent Gary Jones said that school-based health centers are helping the district nurses.

Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital has 15 health clinics in schools throughout central Louisiana. Of the 15, seven are located in Rapides Parish schools.

We probably offer more health services than most school districts, Jones said.

He said the district knows it is impossible to teach a child who is home ill.

Elsie White, a school nurse for 20 years in Rapides Parish, said the nurses have a lot of work. She said there are times when she has to assess a medical issue over the phone because she cant get to a rural area quickly.

Besides handling school emergencies, the nurses are required by the state to run several tests on children, including vision and hearing screening and a review of immunization records.

Each school has plans in place in case of an emergency.

Sadye Holley, one of two school nurses in LaSalle Parish, said she tells the schools that if it is a life-threatening case to call 911.

I tell them, Dont wait for me, she said.

Holley has to check on schools that are 14 miles and 24 miles out from Jena and knows that, in some cases, she cant get there as quickly as needed.

It wasnt until October that LaSalle Parish met the state recommendation for nurses.

Holley said it was then that a second nurse was hired so the school nurse did not have to cover all nine schools in the parish alone.

The parish also has two school-based health centers.

In Avoyelles Parish, Sue White, the health coordinator, said nurses have to prioritize and talk with school officials on scene if the nurse is not at the school.

The parish has five nurses to work with about 6,605 students.

Avoyelles Parish has two health centers one at a parish school and another in the charter school.

Dena Hicks, an RN and BSN at the Tioga High School health center, said the centers are not in place to replace school nurses, but to help them.

She said the school nurses work together with the health centers to meet the medical needs of the students.

The health centers provide medical care free to students who have their parents permission to be treated.

Among the services offered are treatment of minor injuries and illnesses, immunizations and physicals.

A nurse practitioner and a doctor make visits to the centers. A social worker also is on staff.

We are trying to do all we can to make these kids well and to stay in school, Hicks said. Before, many of them would go home if they had a headache for example.

She said having the services in school also helps so parents dont have to leave work to go to a doctors appointment.

In 2003-04, Tioga High Schools health center saw more than 3,000 students.

Michael Gengo, 16, said the health centers are nice to have. The Tioga High School sophomore said it is easy to walk in and get medical help from people he knows.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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