The AFT believes that every child needs a school nurse. Why is it important for schools to have a school nurse?

I am a school nurse. I oversee about 5,000 students in three elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school and one high school. I have to delegate most of the nursing duties to secretaries and teachers. I believe this is dangerous, and I feel stressed a lot. This is a tremendous responsibility for me as well as the staff. I believe every school should have a school nurse. I am grateful for the staff that help me, but they work under my license: I train them, but they are only lay people and cannot assess a medical problem accurately. Children deserve to have someone trained and licensed to attend to their medical needs—a nurse.
Lois Dainack, Washington County, Utah

The nurse has the professional medical knowledge to identify many health concerns with students that may not be identified by a teacher. These assessments can mean the difference between life and death. Not always having a nurse in the building puts the burden of response ... on the teacher, who may not know the severity of a situation.
Marlaina Reel, Belleville, Ill

I cannot imagine a school without a nurse. It's like having a school without teachers, pupils, support staff or leaders! Especially for students who live in facilies that cannot afford to care for them. They are in poorer health and, therefore,  need the care and expertise of a school nurse.
Claudia Campa, Yonkers, N.Y.

Two years ago, I had a student with insulin-dependent diabetes. I was teaching two grades in one room. Several times during the day, I had to stop teaching and help him check his blood sugar levels. It would have been helpful to have a full-time school nurse to handle this, so there would have been less teaching time lost to being a nurse on top of all my other responsibilities.
Barb Grefe, Truman, Minn.