NURSING THE SCHOOLS

School nurses in Orange County are some of the most educated in the nursing profession. They are required to earn a bachelor of science degree, a registered nurse certification and pass a State Department of Licensing approved nursing program.

The number of students for which county school nurses have responsibility ranges widely, with the most severe ratio being the Saddleback district’s one nurse and 23,000 pupils. And budget crimps will worsen the situation next year in both the Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley districts, which will be dropping nurses from their payrolls. Here’s a look at the student/nurse situation in each district:

Students School per School District Students Sites Nurses Nurse Anaheim City 13,000 21 6 2,167 Buena Park 3,700 7 1 3,700 Centralia 4,224 8 1 4,224 Cypress 3,400 9 1 3,400 Fountain Valley 5,800 12 5 1,160 Fullerton 10,000 18 3 3,333 Huntington Beach 5,300 8 3 1,766 La Habra 5,000 8 0 -- Magnolia 4,000 8 2 2,000 Ocean View 8,300 17 1.3 6,385 Savanna 1,800 4 1 1,800 Westminster 7,000 17 3 2,333 Yorba Linda 1,800 5 0 -- O.C. Dept. Ed. (S.E.)* 700 10 6 117 Brea-Olinda 4,800 9 1 4,800 Capistrano 20,400 27 1 20,400 Garden Grove 39,000 56 18 2,167 Irvine Unified 21,000 28 9.9 2,121 Laguna Beach 2,300 4 1 2,300 Los Alamitos 6,000 7 4.4 1,364 Newport-Mesa 16,000 24 8 2,000 Orange Unified 24,500 37 6 4,083 Placentia 18,000 23 8 2,250 Saddleback 23,000 30 1 23,000 Santa Ana 39,000 39 17.5 2,229 Tustin 28,000 17 3 9,333 Anaheim High 22,000 17 4 5,500 Fullerton High 15,000 8 1 15,000 Huntington Beach High 16,000 7 1 16,000

*Special Education

Note: Ocean View, Irvine Unified, Los Alamitos and Santa Ana Districts all have full-time nurses working in those districts on a less than full-time basis.

Source: Individual districts and State Department of Education