By Barbara Pierce
“School nursing is one of many areas that schools have strug-gled to maintain a workforce in since the pandemic,” said Peter Blake, superintendent of schools, Rome City School District. “Schools can’t be open without a nurse on site. So it’s a crucial position to have filled every day.”
School nursing is a complex and challenging specialty practice area that is not always understood. Students going back to school will have a variety of mental and physical health needs — school nurses are on the front line to address these needs.
“People think we just sit in our office and put a Band Aid or an ice pack on kids from time to time,” said registered nurse Sharon Bognaski, school nurse at Otto Shortell Middle School in the Oneida City School District.
“You’re not a ‘real’ nurse, they think,” she added “But we take care of complex medical problems every day. Kids have gotten sicker over the years.”
With nearly 20% of students entering school with a chronic health condition, such as asthma, life-threatening allergies, diabetes, and seizure disorders (according to the U.S. Health Resources–Services Administration), school nurses provide direct care, checking blood glucose, administering medication, providing treatments to students with these needs.
As another 20% of students suffer from anxiety, stress, depression, bullying, or similar concerns, (U.S. Department of Health/Human Services), school nurses tackle these problems also.
It’s the responsibility of our schools to provide all students, regardless of their disabilities or needs, with the accommodations and modifications required to make it successfully through their school day. School nursing is the vital link in the school team to coordinate and provide care for students.
Some of the many responsibilities of school nurses, mandated by New York State, include: triage student health concerns, assess physical and emotional issues, provide primary healthcare to students and staff including first aid and chronic condition care, counsel students on health and emotional issues, administer medication on a daily and as-needed basis, refer health issues to healthcare providers for further care and treatment, provide health screenings, and act as a liaison between the home and the student’s medical provider.
There’s no doubt that the role of school nurse is a vitally important one.
We surveyed several schools in the Mohawk Valley and are pleased to report they’re doing exceptionally well in meeting the requirements that each school have a school nurse.
“We’re adequately staffed with school nurses for this school year,” said Joseph Palmer, superintendent, Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District.
“Was it difficult to get there? Yes, it was difficult,” he continued. “This is my fourth year as superintendent. When I started, we had only one nurse in the district. I had to be creative to recruit. Now we have an LPN and RN in each school.”
“The nurses are so valuable as we have many medically fragile students; the nurses care for these students,” he added. “They became a vital part of our school system at the height of the pandemic — they kept our schools running.”
“School nurses are essential, not only for medical needs but they meet a lot of demands. Students need a safe place to talk when something isn’t right in their life; many are going through difficult things,” he said.
“Yes, we are fully staffed with school nurses, and we’ve also been able to secure substitute nurses as well,” said Kathleen Carney, superintendent, Herkimer Central School District.
“In Rome, we’ve been fortunate that we’ve maintained a full staff of nurses,” said Blake. “In many buildings we have more than one nurse which makes it easier to keep buildings open if there’s a nurse out for some reason. We also employ ‘float nurses’ who can cover a building if there’s a need.”
“However, I know that while most places are able to find full-time staff to work the schools, finding substitutes has become increasingly challenging,” he continued. “Beyond the fact that a school can’t be open without a nurse, the expertise they bring to the table for students with disabilities and unique medical needs cannot be overlooked. Every day our nurses are vital to ensure that students who need their support are able to attend school without the worry that, if something goes wrong medically, there will not be a quick and appropriate response. They have for years and will continue to for years, support students and schools.”
“All of our schools are staffed with a full-time RN,” said Matthew Carpenter, superintendent, Oneida City School District. “Additionally, we have an LPN who supports across the district.”
“Our nurses are often the first line of communication with our families,” he said. “They’re adept at sharing information regarding student health, immunization requirements and day-to-day issues pertaining to individual students. We’ve got an experienced and dedicated group of nurses in our district.”