Maine

Great story and nice to see that folks recognize they need MORE and not less nursing services!!!! Meanwhile in Manchester, NH they want the nurses inspecting food from home for potential allergens...with no way to identify or mitigate cross contamination....

Great article! I was actually talking with one of my students the other day and told them I didn't have a school nurse in my school when I was growing up and that across the country not every school had one today. Student was dumbfounded and thought that was ridiculous because I was very much needed. Warmed my heart a little, actually.

But I'm still the first full time nurse my charter school employed and overall I live in a state that hires more school nurses than any other state in the country.

I'm in MA and hear a lot about the crisis in Maine. One of my friends is married to a Nurse Practitioner who specializes in addictions during pregnancy (they live in ME) and I am curious why there is a such a crisis there. I know it is an issue everywhere, but really seems to be a huge issue in ME. Any insight?

If I am not mistaken, ME has the same latitude as Seattle WA. When I lived there in the early 00s, we had a heroin problem that many in public health attributed/linked to seasonal affect disorder. It gets cold and rainy by 4 PM this time of year and perhaps people were self-medicating. By the time you get out of the cold/rain in the spring, you've got an addiction.

Boredom. Alaska has the highest percentage of addicts. Could be correlated or even linked to the aforementioned SAD.

Meanwhile in Manchester, NH they want the nurses inspecting food from home for potential allergens...with no way to identify or mitigate cross contamination....

I was able to put a stop to this, this year. Presumably adults can read a label and I put my foot down about risking my license by authorizing homemade foods that could have manufacturing or cross contamination issues. Once I got approval from the principal and board to make the teachers responsible well...lets just say that wasn't met with enthusiasm.

I live and work in Maine (actually, the paper that published that article is my local newspaper). I can't speak 100% for why the opiod epidemic is such a problem up here. I think it's a multitude of factors, probably similar to what the rest of the country is facing. We are a fairly rural state, with a lot of blue collar workers who have a higher risk of getting injured at work. Prescription pain killers prescribed for an injury, prescription runs out and whoops, they are now addicted. We are easy to get to from the big cities like Boston and NYC- just a short jaunt up I95, cross the big green bridge and you're in Maine. Drug dealers have expanded their market! Our governor is more concerned with increasing law enforcement (this is NOT a post against law enforcement!) to treat drug addiction, rather than providing funding and easier access to treatment centers, especially in the REALLY rural parts of the state. Did you know that some towns in Maine don't even have names? They are called Township #29, etc. People in those places have to drive HOURS to get to a detox/treatment center.

If anyone is REALLY interested, this is a link to a 10 part series one of the newpapers did up here about the opiod crisis.

A deadly epidemic: Addiction to opioids has put an entire generation at risk - Portland Press Herald

About school nurses up here: In my area, the schools are fairly well-staffed with nurses. In my school district, we have 4 nurses. Two of those nurses stay full time at their respective schools, and 2 nurses split time between 2 schools each. I thought this was a well-written article that really highlights the role of school nurse as more than just a band-aid giver-outer.

I live and work in Maine (actually, the paper that published that article is my local newspaper).

If anyone is REALLY interested, this is a link to a 10 part series one of the newpapers did up here about the opiod crisis.

A deadly epidemic: Addiction to opioids has put an entire generation at risk - Portland Press Herald

Thank you for this and for the additional info. Do nurses have Narcan via standing order in schools? Or do you wait for EMS?

Thank you for this and for the additional info. Do nurses have Narcan via standing order in schools? Or do you wait for EMS?

In NH, where we have a horrendous problem with opiods, we are a local control state. Each district determines their need (want) and develop a plan. The rural nurse who is 30 min from EMS, is probably more likley to have Narcan than those of us who have paramedic level EMS right around the corner.

Our district chooses not to. I disagree, but not my call. They will be proven wrong when there is an OD and our local EMS is tied up on a mutual aid call in another town, but I digress.

Some schools having standing orders for Narcan. We do not as of right now. Our school resource officer has Narcan though. He actually came and asked me last spring if I have Narcan. I told him no and he said we might want to consider it, because (in his words) "It's (increased opiod use) coming to our area, and we are going to be seeing more problems with it."

I plan on bringing it up at our next nurse's meeting, and then seeing what we can do to get it in the schools (we have a school physician luckily) and getting the training to administer it.

ETA: Why did I not address this last year? I was just thinking this to myself... Then I remembered I had back surgery in May. I guess I can forgive myself for that one. :)