Many school districts across the country have few or no nurses to prevent or respond to outbreaks of the swine flu. This leaves students more vulnerable to a virus that spreads easily in classrooms. With the resurgence of the virus, schools need a nurse available to quickly diagnose students and detect outbreaks before they spread.
A 2008 survey by the National Association of School Nurses found that only 45 percent of public schools have their own full-time nurse, another 30 percent have a part-time nurse, and a quarter don't have any nurses at all.
Only 12 states, mostly in the Northeast, met the 1-to-750 ratio recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the association found.
With swine flu cases rising, districts are pushing the responsibility of monitoring absences and illnesses to determine if there is an outbreak onto teachers and other school staff. These people have little medical training to identify, isolate and send home sick children that they think may have symptoms of the H1N1 flu.
Since it was first identified in April 2009, the swine flu has infected more than 1 million Americans and killed nearly 600, the CDC estimates. So far swine flu does not appear to be more dangerous than seasonal flu, which kills an estimated 36,000 Americans each year, but it appears to be more contagious and health officials are concerned that it could mutate and become deadlier.
Only 19 states require certain nurse-to-student ratios, and few states set money aside to pay for nurses, according to the nurses association.
Brenda Green, director of school health programs for the National School Boards Association, is urging school districts without nurses to partner with local health agencies, hospitals and nursing schools to prepare for swine flu.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
Providence, RI
Exclusive to HULIQ.com
sources: CDC, MSNBC
Posted September 26th, 2009 by Cheryl Phillips
