On the front lines of preserving the mental and physical health of our children are school nurses. They help ensure pupils are healthy enough to flourish in the classroom and save school systems money by keeping instructors focused on teaching.Students mental health is more important in schools
There has never been a greater pressing need for health professionals to be present in every classroom. One nurse, however, divides their time between two, three, or even five different schools in some North Carolina school districts.
Now more than ever, our state’s decision-makers must prioritize the mental health of kids. School nurses are essential in promoting our children’s physical and emotional wellbeing.
Keeping Oneself and Others Safe
The NC legislature approved Senate Bill 476 in 2020. This significant law mandates the adoption of a school-based mental health policy by the State Board of Education and the adoption and implementation of a school-based mental health plan with training and a suicide risk referral process by K–12 schools. Although this law is important, there is still a lot we can do to assist young people who are in trouble.
Children require loving, well-trained people in their life who can assist them. School nurses have received training in recognising both physical health problems and the mental health difficulties that are frequently associated with them. So, school nurses are frequently a student’s initial point of contact for receiving the behavioural or mental health treatment they need.
Children who are exposed to risk factors can be watched out for by school nurses, social workers, and other support staff, who can also make sure they don’t have access to “lethal methods of self-harm” (like ability to access something like a gun or harmful prescription drugs). Their actions have the power to save lives.
Maintaining Teachers’ Attention on Education
Due to a dearth of school nurses in the state, instructors are required to give medical treatment to pupils while they are in class. All kids suffer when teachers aren’t able to concentrate on education. By effectively distributing school nurse monies around the state, state lawmakers may address this issue.
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The Statewide School Nurse Shortage
The National Association of School Nurses and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that each school site have a minimum of one registered school nurse on duty each day.
More than half of the school nurses in North Carolina work at least two schools simultaneously. They serve up to five people. For instance, in Johnston County, there are more than 2,000 pupils for each school nurse.
Nurses in Schools Save Money
As long as children are dependent on teachers, administrators, and other non-nurses for medical care, education funds will be supporting healthcare in schools. In a 2018 parliamentary study, the administration of medicine was the only illustration of a nursing service routinely offered to pupils by teachers or other non-nurses. The state spent over $15 million of its education budget on just giving pupils their medications in 2015–16.
Money is Required to Support Student Mental Health
A school nurse would be present in every building according to Bill 348, which would allocate $102 million annually. Increased money for temporary coronavirus relief has allowed state officials to hire more school nurses, social workers, and other essential support staff for our schools. These finances, nevertheless, are simply provisional. Our legislators must to set aside continuing money to guarantee that all pupils have continuous, regular access to school nurses and counselling services.
Health and education suffer from a lack of school nurses. School nurses are even more crucial in rural areas because children frequently have limited access to healthcare professionals. Kids’ primary sources of preventative healthcare are several. Lawmakers may use state appropriations and federal pandemic relief monies to eliminate the state’s school nurse shortfall, which would save the state money and make students safer. School health management system for school nurses to help to keep better mental and physical health of students.