It’s disheartening to witness the trend of school nursing staff reductions across various districts, often attributed to the ending of COVID-19 funding. The potential loss of school nurse positions at the end of this school year is distressing considering the profound impact it will have on the well-being of the students. We need to plan ahead to be ready to speak out at upcoming school board meetings. I have compiled a list of suggestions to strengthen our advocacy efforts:
Acknowledge and Address Challenges:
It’s crucial to emphasize the unique challenges your school nursing team face daily. Highlight the diverse range of programs and the high acuity of medical complexities within the student population. Provide specific, compelling examples to underscore the necessity of your team’s expertise.
Emphasize Nurse-Student Ratios:
While ratios may not capture the full scope of your team’s responsibilities, stress their critical role in ensuring timely and effective healthcare. Present data demonstrating how the current ratio allows your team to meet the needs of students efficiently.
Showcase the Comprehensive Services:
Outline the extensive services your nursing team provides, including the management of medical complexities, support for alternative education programs, and contributions to the overall well-being of the student community.
Articulate Impact on Student Health and Academic Success:
Clearly articulate how the reduction in school nursing staff would directly impact student health and academic success. Share success stories that showcase the positive outcomes achieved through your team’s dedicated efforts.
Impact on Academic Performance:
Data showing the correlation between the presence of school nurses and student academic performance.
Impact on Behavioral Health Conerns: Shout out to our friend, Liz Clark, NASN’s Education and Practice Specialist, for adding this important point!
“Share the support that school nurses implement for students with behavioral health challenges. Behavioral health has been funded and will continue to be funded. School nurses are key members of school behavioral healthcare teams. They are often the first school health professionals to identify students with behavioral health challenges.” – Liz Clark, MSN, RN, NCSN
Learn About Streams of Funding, Including Grants and Budgets: Shout out to another good friend, Linda Morse, a retired school nurse and former NJ Dept of Education School Health Consultant who contributed the following content:
“I strongly encourage school nurses to learn about school funding in their state and community long before budget talks begin. Sometimes salaries for nurses and counselors are paid by multiple funding sources and it may be difficult to ascertain just where the money comes from. It may require some “detective” work to figure it all out. There may be other funding sources that the district has not tapped into and the nurse may need to help find them.
When I worked in a district, I tracked grant funding we had for health and asked the superintendent near the end of the school year to use the funds as required. He was amazed I even knew what was left in the account! Know what is mandated by the state and be able to articulate not only how that work gets done and who must do it but how those mandates impact student performance in school. School nurses must be able to clearly define their expanded role in the Whole School, Whole Community Whole Child (WSCC) model and look beyond the traditional concept of the health office which was blown apart by Covid. Too many administrators and BOE members do not understand anything except numbers–money and test performance. If you work as a school nurse, you owe it to yourself to be “educated” on how schools work. If you don’t take the time to do so (I know how busy you are) you may find that others impose their will.” – Linda Morse, MA, RN, CSN
Public Health and Safety:
Information on the role of school nurses in addressing public health issues, emergency preparedness, and the impact of their work on student attendance rates.
Community Engagement:
Encourage parents, students, and community members to attend the meeting in support of your nursing team. A unified front from the community can be a powerful advocacy tool.
Propose Collaborative Solutions:
Instead of solely opposing the reduction, propose alternatives or collaborative solutions that address budget concerns while preserving the integrity of the nursing team.
Demonstrate Willingness to Collaborate:
Express your team’s commitment to working collaboratively with the school board and administration to find solutions that balance budgetary constraints with the essential healthcare needs of the students.
Here are some recent articles that illustrate this growing trend:
Expiration of COVID funding could cost schools nursing positions
School nurses, district administrators would be laid off under budget cutting plan
Remember, advocacy extends beyond your school nursing team to the health and well-being of the entire student population. Your passion and dedication are invaluable assets in making a compelling case for maintaining the current nursing team.
Let’s reexamine the crucial need for appropriate, safe, and effective school nursing services in school districts nationwide. While school nurses might appear as an easy target for budget cuts, deeming us as expendable is both misguided and unsafe, because it can significantly impact the health and well-being of students, staff, and school communities. We have to be prepared to address our school boards in case these proposed budget cuts come to your district. Don’t let them sneak up on you!
