Thursday, December 15, 2005
School Nurse Shortage
An analysis of 2004 Census data by USA TODAY showed roughly 56,000 nurses worked full time at schools. That's one for every 950 students, a ratio that fails to meet federal guidelines that call for one nurse for every 750 students.
As a consequence, thousands of children with asthma, attention-deficit disorder, food allergies and other increasingly prevalent health problems must rely on teachers, other school staffers or the telephone.
"I tell everyone, 'If there's ever an emergency, don't even bother trying to find me - just call 911,' " says Kate Earnhart, the lone school nurse for 7,200 students in Tuolumne County, Calif.
Continued at USA TODAY
In other nurse-news:
A former nurse at the Denver veterans hospital is accused of killing an elderly World War II vet when she disabled a machine monitoring the oxygen level in his blood.
"Accused of killing" him? They make it sound like murder rather than what looks to me to be an accident or maybe bad judgement or a misunderstanding of code status. Wow. I don't know what to say about that, the article makes this nurse look like a horrible person. I'd be interested in finding out how this situation is resolved.
Posted by HypnoKitten at 12:30 AM
I'm also interested in seeing how that situation was resolved!!
My mom (RRT) always tells me to put 911 as an emergency contact, because, wtf is she gonna do so far away if anyone calls her? haha, i'm a travel ER RN, and my son is in school, and the school nurse looks at me crazy when I list 911 as an emergency contact.
well if it's a real emergency, please call 911, and call me later is how i feel.