Budget cuts=No school nurse?????

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I live in a small town in Virginia and am currently the school nurse for k-12 for about 600 students. The school boars has decided to cut my job next year because of budget cuts. I have decided that they have no idea what they're doing and I want to inform them. In one week I had a complete fracture of a kindergarten student, a 5th grader with acute appendicitis,who the secretary told her to suck it up and go back to class....oh yeah she was transferred by ambulance from one hospital to childrens hospital in D.C. where she spent 3 days. I could go on and on, but you understand what I'm saying.

I need help!!!! I want to provide statistics, case studies anything you can think of to show the benefit of having a school nurse.

Any Ideas????

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

Do you keep track of how many students you see, secure care for, do vision screenings for, etc? Every nurse should be doing this to help prove the need for our positions.

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The first thing I learned in nursing school was...IT YOU DON'T WRITE IT...IT NEVER HAPPENED..I write everything.Keep track of everything. I think that will be a great help to me. I was also looking for statistics and such.

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Specializes in school nursing.

There is some great info on NASN that you can print out. Studies have proved that schools without a nurse have higher student absence rates. Lower attendance means lower money for schools. Show them that by keeping you - they will save money by keeping kids in class!

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Specializes in LTC.

Wow ! This is Crazy. They have to be kidding. There is no way your school should be with out a school nurse. My school only has 400 kids and I can barely use the BR or take a lunch break without them running to me for something. I just can't imagine. Try writing the mayor or congressman. They just can't take you out of that school. Who will do assessments, give meds, deal with emergencies.

Well keep us posted and I'm so sorry to hear this.

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We do a monthly report every month that list the following for each day and then at the bottom it's shows the total for each ROW.This is on Excel and just the month is changed, you fill in the boxes for each day. You save it on your hard drive. We can print out for the principal or whoever, each month for proof of work.

Total seen by nurse

Phone calls

Adult/Employee visits

Medication/Procedure

Medication (oral, rect, top,ect)

Inhalers

Inhalation treatment

Glucose monitoring

Injections

Tube Feedings

Catherizations

Catherizations (delegated)

Diapering/Toileting

Screening

Vision

Hearing

Dental

Lice(screened)

Heights/Weights

Blood Pressures

An Screening

# Letters sent out

Pregnancy Services

Teaching/Staff Develoment

Hygiene Education

Bloodborne Pathogens

Communicable Disease

Reportable Diseases

Miscellaneous

Drug Assessments

Accident Reports

911 Calls

Parent Conf.(>10min.)

Teacher Conf.(>10min.)

ARD Meetings

Special Ed Evals

New Health Cards

Data Entry/Computer

Data Entry Health/Cards

Also include a letter that cite brief incidents of serious injuries/problems and state what you did and the nurse expertise performed and what could have happened if you weren't there.

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