The shortage of nurses for schools in New York have reached a critical level. Dozens of school buildings each day are forced to go through the day without a full-time nurse to administer medications of students, especially those who have been diagnosed to be diabetics. Some students are left with untreated wounds because they don't have a school nurse.
School superintendents are scrambling to fill in the gaps with nurses under contracts. Sometimes, they would shuffle nurses around different public schools throughout the day. Sadly, such practice is putting school children at risk. The school heads find this situation unfortunate that the city government are only ready to react to a tragedy instead of preparing to prevent it.
A reliable source from the Office of School Health said that the assigning of nurses to schools in the morning can be likened to a chess game. They need to inform schools that they are not getting a nurse that day. This means that their asthmatic or diabetic students won't be assisted that day.
The rates of asthma and diabetes among school children are highest in the Bronx. Sadly, it is also the area where the demand for nurses are higher and the vacancies are a regular problem.
Sometimes, children with diabetes come to school unassisted with their medication because there isn't a nurse on duty for that day. In a separate occasion, a Catholic school had to go through the whole month of September without a nurse. The other staff members of the school step in to do the nurse's job and medicate the children.
At a public school in the Bronx last month, a principal broke the protocol set by the Department of Education and administered a child's ADD medication in the absence of a nursing staff. Sadly, preventive medication also takes the back seat because there no nurses show up in the schools. There are students who need pre-gym medication, but they don't get them because there is no nurse to do it.
Robert Platt, DOH Assistant Commissioner, said that this is the worst shortage he has ever seen in his entire service to the government. Citywide, the Department of Employment said that approximately 26 buildings do not have a nurse on a regular day.
DOE spokesperson Miranda Barbot said that they are coordinating with DOH for long-term solutions to the problem. She also emphasized that they are actively hiring for nurses to ensure that all schools come with nurses everyday. In addition, she mentioned that 100 nurses will have completed training next month and will be given school assignments soon after.
The nurses, on the other hand, said that the staffing shortage may be due to a sudden increase in the medical needs among students. The higher turnover of nurses in the DOH may be another cause too.
The United Federation of Teachers, who represent nurses from DOE, said that the school system should be prepared to hire more nurses to fill in more gaps. Furthermore, they emphasized that these positions cannot be left vacant for medically fragile students who need immediate assistance.
