School Nurses Underappreciated

As chairperson-elect for the Orange County School Nurses Organization, I want to thank you for your excellent article on the current status of school nursing in Orange County (March 2).

One thing not discussed in the article is the qualifications needed to be a school nurse in California.

Requirements include being licensed as a registered nurse, as well as holding both a college degree and a health services credential, which is the equivalent of a teaching credential. Such requirements are tougher than what is necessary for hospital nurses. Many school nurses have master’s degrees or higher, and some are nurse practitioners.

My personal concern is that school nurses are too often narrowly viewed only as Band-Aid appliers, which is actually only a very small part of the job we do. My other concern is the misconception by parents and teachers that anyone who staffs a school health office is a school nurse.

KATHY HUNDEMER

Los Alamitos

* Thank you so much for addressing the problem of the student-to-nurse ratio. Most people don’t realize all the things our school nurses do or how few there are.

As a parent volunteer, I have witnessed how overworked the nurses are in our school district.

When you think about how many hours a day our children are in the care of our schools, it’s apparent that we need as many school nurses and first-aid-trained staff as possible.

Another issue to consider is the need to have school staff trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and triage. If we should experience a major disaster, such as an earthquake, during the school day, I would hope that every teacher and staff member would be trained. We know the chances of having a nurse on campus are very slim.

STEPHANIE LITTLE

Santa Ana