The News and Record published a letter to the editor from Dr. Martha Perry, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Care Division in Cone Health Medical Group. In it, Dr. Perry reminded the community of the need for more nurses in Guilford County Schools and the impact of that need on teachers.
Here is the text of the letter:
Nursing Shortage in Schools is Serious
Another school year has started and our teachers are again doing more with less. Now they are being asked to manage allergic reactions, treat asthma and give insulin shots to students.
Why would teachers provide health care? Because Guilford County has only 33 school nurses covering 125 campuses.
Statewide, there is one school nurse for every 1,177 students. This falls short of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommended ratio of one nurse for every 750 students, with at least one nurse per school. Guilford County, with one nurse for every 2,214 students, fails to meet even the state average.
Even some special-needs students are without a school nurse. Teachers and school staff have been asked to catheterize students for urine, manage ostomy bags and feeding tubes and even administer emergency seizure medications in the rectum. In our hospitals, medical professionals perform these technical procedures. Do we want our teachers to do them?
Guilford County can do better. The school nurse shortage is substantial. It may take years to add the nurses our children need, but, as the funders of the school nurse program, our Guilford County commissioners need to start.
Please join me in encouraging them to do so.
Martha F. Perry, M.D.
Greensboro