JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Three weeks ago First Coast News looked into how often nurses are in public schools and found that each county's plan is different. Some have one in every school full-time, others rotate their nursing staff.
At the time when we aired the first report on Jan. 26th, the Duval County Health Department wasn't able to provide us with a person to speak about how the rotation works in Duval County Public Schools. Last week we were able to get that interview.
In Duval County, each school nurse is assigned around eight to nine schools and the nurse must rotate between. There are also ESE nurses that work with children with special needs, diabetic nurses, and health techs that work within the school system. We asked Dana Kriznar, the Executive Director of Multiple Pathways Support Services which oversees the nurses in schools, if it would be possible to get a nurse in every school full time.
"Being that we have 170 schools it is not feasible at this time. Of course, it would be ideal to have a nurse in every school, but currently we just don't have the funding for that," says Kriznar.
Currently the school nurse is in the school one day a week and sees sick children, goes over medical plans and makes sure immunizations are up to date among other responsibilities.
"Even though they are not in the schools as often as we would like them to be, they really do a yeoman's job of making sure that all those things are taken care of," tells Kriznar.
If there is a medical emergency and a nurse isn't at the school, who is there to care for your child?
Kriznar says there is staff trained at each school in basic emergency procedures. CPR and secondary schools also have staff trained on how to use an AED.
For the initial report from Jan. 26th, click here: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/293184/483/Some-First-Coast-schools-do-not-have-a-nurse-on-campus-all-day
First Coast News