More School Nurses Needed

Years ago, it seemed that every school had a nurse. As recently as two decades ago, the Saddleback Valley Unified School District had nine. These days, the nurses in that district number just two, and even that is an increase, perhaps temporary, from the one who was the sole practitioner for many years.

School officials say the problem is money. Still, Saddleback has benefited during the last year from a grant from Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills that has paid for a second nurse in the district.

Hospitals have not had an easy time financially as Americans try to rein in medical costs. But hospitals are wise if they can find a way to put grants to school districts for nurses at the top of their community service list. That’s especially true with the for-profit hospital chains that are buying more and more nonprofit medical centers; the hospitals have an obligation to the community, in this case schools, as well as to their shareholders. School grants also can spur goodwill among their neighbors.

Saddleback’s school enrollment has grown dramatically with the development of South County, so its ratio of two nurses for 16,500 students is a special case. But the overall Orange County ratio of one nurse for every 3,000 students should be inmproved.

Like most of life these days, nursing is more complicated. The Americans With Disabilities Act has put more children with special needs into classrooms. Childhood asthma is on the increase. That means nurses do more than dispense aspirins and apply cold compresses; they insert catheters, change dressings and give children from homes without insurance the only regular health care they receive.

Health aides pick up part of the burden of handing out pills and administering first aid, but they do not have the training of nurses. An Orange County PTA member persuaded the state PTA to support a resolution putting a cap on the nurse-to-student ratio. Sixteen states have such ratios; some require at least one nurse for every 1,000 children. That’s something the California Legislature should consider. But regardless of action in Sacramento, school districts need to do a better job of increasing the number of nurses.