We have all heard of the nursing shortage, but vacancies are especially noticeable in the public school system where they serve an important population, our children. According to the National Association of School Nurses, only 65% of schools in America have a full-time nurse on staff. The rest either have a nurse part-time who is responsible for multiple schools, or worse, no nurse at all. There are many reasons for the shortage of school nurses. Some are leaving schools for better pay and recognition in the hospital, others are looking for lower-stress jobs with more support, and some are simply aging out.
Benefits of a School Nurse
School nurses are doing more than putting Band-Aids on scraped knees and calling parents to pick up their children because they have a stomachache. They are responsible for administering medications and ensuring the general welfare of a growing number of children with chronic illnesses like asthma and diabetes.
Nurses play an essential role in educating children and parents on nutrition and exercise and identifying children suffering from mental health problems. The American Psychological Association has reported a drastic increase in mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, and suicide rates in children continue to climb. Nurses provide much-needed referrals for both physical and mental healthcare.
One of the most important reasons to have a full-time nurse in a school is to provide care to sick children. This can be during emergency situations, or just everyday ailments. For example, a study published by Sage Journals found that when school nurses cared for sick children they sent home three times fewer students than schools with unlicensed school employees alone. This suggests that nurses are better equipped to assess and treat ill or injured children, resulting in fewer dismissals and better attendance rates.
Increasing the Number of Full-Time School Nurses
There are several approaches that would help alleviate the school nurse shortage. One of the most pressing changes that need to be made is addressing the pay gap between school nurses and hospital nurses. The median annual salary for a school nurse is $55,000. That’s $30,000 less than a nurse with the same credentials working in the hospital. Recently The National Education Association in Missouri bargained for a significant pay raise and a $10,000 bonus.
Another way to combat the school nurse shortage is to highlight the many benefits of the profession. Unlike hospital nurses, school nurses have summers off, holiday breaks, weekends off, and for those who live up north, snow days. Not only do school nurses have scheduled breaks, but the job also provides work-life balance for parents.
Even within the profession of nursing, the role of a school nurse is not well known. To alleviate the school nurse shortage, we can raise awareness, increase compensation, and emphasize the benefits of the profession, which will keep students safe, healthy, and in school.
